Previous to the year 1755, the choir of Amiens cathedral had retained
its ancient and magnificent fittings,—altar, sedilia, jubé, all were
perfect; but at that fatal period, Mons. de la Mothe, a pious and
well-intentioned bishop, but a man of execrable taste, and devoid of all
feeling for true ecclesiastical architecture, conceived the unfortunate
project of modernizing this glorious choir: and, at an enormous expense,
the ancient works were demolished, to be replaced by the incongruous
masses of marble clouding and meretricious decorations that so wofully
disfigure this noble church. Then was it, and _not till then_, that the
great jubé was removed, that most wonderful book of stone, as Mons.
Duval most aptly terms it, in which the people had, for so many
centuries, beheld a lively representation of the life and sufferings of
our Lord. At the same time, eight of the unrivalled stalls were hewn
down to widen the choir gates; and the remainder of this matchless work
of Arnould Boulen were only suffered to remain on account of the immense
cost of replacing them by modern work.
These barbarous innovations were strongly opposed by many members of the
chapter, but the influence of M. de la Mothe prevailed, to the
irreparable loss of this mighty fabric.
It is worthy of remark that a pastoral letter of M. de Sebatier, the
predecessor of M. de la Mothe in the see of Amiens, is still preserved,
in which that prelate actually recommends the destruction and removal of
ancient imagery and furniture from the churches in his diocese, as
incompatible with _simplicity_ and _cleanliness_! Such were the ideas of
the men under whom the great churches of France were mutilated and
disfigured.
"Nous avons été surpris de voir que dans les églises où l'on avait fait
des dépenses considérables et de nouvelles décorations, on y eut étalé
les mauvais restes des tabernacles, des figures mutilées, et des autres
vieux ornements, dans d'autres endroits de l'église, où ils ne sont pas
moins difformes que dans l'endroit dont on les a tirés, et qui bien loin
de servir d'ornement, ne servent qu'à amasser de la poussière, et y
faire un nouvel embarras. Nous aurions donc souhaité que les figures
mutilées eussent été enterrées secrètement dans la cimetière, et les
vieux ornements, ou de bois ou de pierre, vendus, s'ils en valaient la
peine, au profit de la fabrique, plutôt que de rester dans cet état.
C'est aussi ce que nous espérons qu'on fera dans la suite pour éviter la
confusion qu'un amas inutile de ces vieux restes a coutume de causer
dans les églises dont la propreté et la simplicité doivent faire le
principal ornement."