During the two tours just concluded we have visited all the most
important treasure-houses of thirteenth century glass.
There is, however, a very agreeable secondary tour. Regarded as a glass
pilgrimage, it is not to be compared with the two which we have
finished, but this must not be taken to mean that the glass will not be
worth inspection. Besides, most of the windows to be seen are of the
period, thus making it an essentially thirteenth century pilgrimage. To
one in whom the love of glass and devotion to the gentle sport of
automobiling is about equal, this trip will be much more attractive than
the last two. The scenery through which he will pass and the history
that will be recalled will add very much to the charm of this itinerary
and it is therefore particularly recommended to the automobilist and
especially to the exercise-loving bicyclist. The distances between the
towns are not great and the landscape is varied and delightful.
Beginning with Soissons, our road lies through the picturesque mediaeval
stronghold of Coucy-le-Chateau to the high-perched hill city of Laon,
then over the plain at its foot to battleworn St. Quentin, and lastly
across the rolling country to the splendid Cathedral of Amiens. Amiens
is on the line of the Paris-London expresses, so we have excellent train
service back to Paris.
We will let the traveller find his way as best he may from Paris to
Soissons and will join him there. He will soon observe that there has
departed from Soissons the ancient glory which was hers when under
Clovis, the great king of the Franks, she became the capital of his
strong province of Neustria. To-day we find a quiet provincial city
of only about 13,000 inhabitants, where the chief movement and life
seems to centre in the barracks. One noticeable feature of the town
is the really fine west front, all that remains of the Abbey of St.
Jean-des-Vignes, for nine years the home of the exiled Thomas a Becket.
Even from its present denuded state of desolate loneliness one realises
how splendid the complete building must have been, and the now empty and
staring rose window above the central portal makes us sigh for the
stained glass that must once have adorned that huge opening.
Soissons is one of the towns which benefited by the great love felt by
St. Louis and his mother, Blanche of Castile, for stained glass. The
northern rose of the cathedral is a proof of their beneficence, and is
an excellent example of its type. The central pane is occupied by a
figure of the Virgin Mary, and circling round her are the medallion
panels which are so much more satisfactory than the spokes-of-a-wheel
treatment so popular in the next century. Around the outside of the
medallions is a double border of panels containing the arms of the royal
benefactress, a field of red bearing the golden castles of Castile. As
for the rest of the interior, so much of its original glazing has been
destroyed that the effect of glow is entirely dissipated. The nave has
lost its coloured panels, and only fragments remain in the western rose.
The large lancets about the east end of the choir clerestory are most
decorative, and further, they provide an opportunity of testing our
ability to judge glass. At first sight we are convinced that they are of
true thirteenth century mosaic work, and might continue to think so, if
they were not betrayed by the comparison afforded by the two genuine
medallion lancets just below them in the Lady Chapel. Even then we may
remain undecided, which indecision is justified when we learn their
history. They were repaired and restored in 1816, much of the old glass
being retained and the old designs carefully followed. This explains not
only why they lack the depth of tone seen in the complete medallions
below them, but also why they were so deceptive until this touchstone of
comparison was applied. Notice the Adam and Eve window to the right, as
the design is very unusual. In the six scenes there depicted, one above
the other, Adam and Eve are of course nude, and appear always she on
the left side and he on the right of each little scene, with some other
personage or object between them in the middle. As a result we have a
perpendicular column of Eves on one side and of Adams on the other, the
light glass used to make the flesh colour forming a secondary border for
the window. The southern transept is an architectural freak, because
instead of a rose window it has a rounded end like the apse chapel
generally found at the eastern extremity of a church. As a novelty it is
agreeable, but it deprives the glazier of one of his rose windows.