One of the earliest calamities which the intemperate zeal of her
would-be reformers brought upon France was the entire confiscation of
all ecclesiastical property, this property being placed at the disposal
of the nation. Broken loose from the bonds of subordination, the people
misinterpreted this decree, and in the effervescence of a wanton and
licentious spirit demolished the sanctuaries of religion, persecuted
their ancient pastors and disturbed the tranquil ashes of the dead.
The National Assembly was finally compelled to acknowledge its
precipitate folly by ordering the committee which had charge of
alienated property to take measures for the preservation of those
monuments of art erected on the domains of the Church.
The municipality of the city of Paris nominated several literary men
and artists who were to point out what books and monuments should
be saved from destruction. These persons formed a “Commission des
Monuments.” The desecrated convent “_des Petits Augustins_”
was chosen for a deposit of sculpture and paintings and that of the
“Capucins” in the Rue St. Honoré for books and manuscripts.
This was shortly before the actual and final downfall of the Monarchy.
But when a few months later Paris was torn by strong convulsions and
the Republic ushered in amidst shrieks of murder and falling ruins,
it became the fashion to _talk_ of nothing but philosophy and
regeneration, while the demon of havoc made his devastating rounds.
An era of uproar, confusion, fierce fanaticism and mental darkness
overspread France.
Science and learning were perverted to the vilest purposes;
incendiaries and murderers, wearing the masks of patriots and
philanthropists, deluged France with blood.
A man of mild and unassuming manners, of spotless purity of principle,
of general and profound knowledge, and of inflexible perseverance,
devoted the labours of his life to collect and preserve from the
general wreck the monuments of his country. This man is Monsieur
Lenoir, the founder and director of the Musée des Monuments Français.
[Sidenote: WORK OF LENOIR]
This excellent man traversed France in every direction to save and
preserve the precious evidences of his country’s former exploits.
Examining the tombs of the dead, amidst crackling flames and temples
crushing to atoms, he rescued much priceless worth from the tempest of
destruction.
Both my wife and myself consider it one of the happiest events of our
lives to have been introduced to M. Lenoir and his lady. Grave, silent,
modest and pensive, his character and manner in speaking of his work is
that of an affectionate son who collects with tender care the ashes of
a murdered parent.
Monsieur Lenoir was for fifteen years the pupil of Doyen, by whom he
was presented to the municipality of Paris as a proper person to act
as conservator of the depôt of monuments, which by a decree of the
Assembly, January 4, 1791, was established in the convent des Petits
Augustins. He retained this post through all the anarchy and fury of
the years which followed. In many cases he was able to arrest the
hands of folly employed in beating down statues and tearing to pieces
valuable pictures and destroying the finest bronzes.
“From the Abbey de St. Denis,” says M. Lenoir, “the interior of which
the flames seem to have consumed from the roof to the bottom of the
graves, I have saved the magnificent mausoleums of Louis XII., François
I., Henri II., Turenne and many more. I have collected such of the
precious remains that I could restore, and I am already able to display
those of François I. and Louis XII. in all their splendour. Happy shall
I be if I succeed in making posterity forget the ravages of vandalism.”
When we consider the light which monuments throw upon chronology and
history, it is strange to hear M. Lenoir met with multiplied objections
from artists (such as David) against his preservation and accumulation
of the monuments of the Middle Ages--monuments which they explained
were of no service to art. Monsieur Lenoir met their objections by
affirming that their presence was necessary to complete his series,
and he also justly observed that nothing tends more to give a just
notion of any art than the view of its progress and the opportunity of
comparing distances between rudeness and refinement.
M. Lenoir collected into one establishment all paintings and statues
which had any reference to the history of France. “Such an imposing
mass of monuments of every period,” says he, “made me conceive the
idea of forming an historical and chronological museum in relation to
French art and French history, and, in despite of the malevolent and in
the face of great opposition, my plan was favourably received by the
Committee of Public Instruction of the National Convention, and on the
15th Germinal, year 4, the Museum was opened.”
M. Lenoir, after ten years of assiduous researches, is now able to
display five centuries and also a sepulchral chamber, containing the
fully restored tomb of François I.
This Museum embraces the sepulchral art of France, from the age of
Clovis to the present time.
Here French and English artists may find models of costumes and arms of
every age and rank in a regular series, from Clovis to Philip II. There
seems little variation in dress. Rapid changes in costume and fashion
appear only to have commenced after the return of the Crusaders.
We enter the Museum through the portico of the now demolished Château
d’Anet (immortalised by Voltaire in his _Henriade_). In the first
hall are the monuments of the Middle Ages; many, including that of
Fredegonde and her husband Chilperic, have been taken from the church
of St. Germains des Près.
The bones of Charlemagne, contained in a marble sarcophagus of
Roman origin, were sent from Aix-la-Chapelle by Dervailly, one of
the Republican Commissioners. The great conqueror, torn from his
magnificent tomb, now lies in a Museum!
[Sidenote: ST. DENIS AND BACCHUS]
One of the most ancient stone coffins is that of an Abbot of St.
Germains des Près, A.D. 990, in it his skeleton was found
extremely well clothed in a robe of satin of a faded red colour, a
long woollen tunic of purple brown, ornamented with an embroidery
upon which several figures were wrought, slippers of an extremely
well-tanned black leather served as shoes.
The southern gate of the Abbey of St. Denis, which is in this hall,
is a most important specimen of early art. The large bas-relief in
the middle represents the punishment of St. Denis and his companions
Rusticus and Eleutherus.
Denis is the saint to whom the temple was dedicated; but, what is very
remarkable, a sprig of vine, laden with grapes, is placed at his feet,
precisely in the form as a badge of Dionysus or Bacchus. M. Lenoir
says he cannot answer whether the priests who dedicated these temples
considered Denis and Dionysus to be the same person, or whether by
mere tradition they ordered that to be executed which would certainly
characterise both. But it is certain that all the ornaments which
decorate St. Denis are attributes of Bacchus. The vine, hunting and
tigers appear; Bacchus is cut to pieces by the Maenades; Denis has his
head cut off at Montmartre; Bacchus is placed in a tomb and bewailed
by women; the body of Denis is collected by holy women, who weep over
his remains and place them in a tomb; Bacchus rises again; Denis, after
undergoing execution, rises again, picks up his head and walks. On
this gate are two tigers, emblematical of the worship of Bacchus. It
presents as well a chronology of thirty-six Kings of France.
On entering the hall which contains the monuments of the thirteenth
century there are ceilings at angles, sprinkled with stars on a blue
ground, supported by posts, rudely decorated. These ceilings are also
adorned by the flowers of those times, three of which are emblems of
the Evangelists, the others consist of the cabbage and the thistle in
a variety of forms. The doors and the windows, constructed from the
remains of a ruined building of the thirteenth century, which had been
destroyed by the Jacobins, and which Lenoir collected at St. Denis,
have been arranged according to the revised taste in architecture by
the celebrated Montreau.
Three painted glass windows, representing moral subjects, and taken
from the refectory of St. Germain des Près, shed a gloomy light upon
the spot.
The tombs Louis IX. erected to his predecessors are only cenotaphs,
merely large confines of hollowed stone, in which the body was
placed and covered by another stone, the inscription, when there was
one, being engraven on the inside. According to St. Foix the tombs
of the Kings of the first race were small deep vaults of stone. On
these vaults neither figures nor epitaphs were to be seen, as it was
the inside that was engraven with inscriptions and laid out with
magnificence. Charlemagne was originally buried in a sitting posture.
His body after being enbalmed was seated on a throne of gold, clad in
the Imperial dress, with the sword Joyeuse by its side. The head of the
dead Emperor was ornamented with a golden chain in shape of a diadem.
He held a globe of gold in one hand, and a New Testament was placed
upon his knees. His gold sceptre and shield were hung on the wall
opposite to him.
After the cave had been filled with perfumes, aromatics, and much
treasure, it was shut up and sealed.
In the Hall of the Fourteenth Century are some very curious monuments,
which show the improvement in the art of design, which the Crusaders
brought back with them. A new species of decoration, the Arabian taste,
was introduced into architecture. The heavy edifices of the former
age gave way to more elegant buildings, and gilding and brilliant
colours ornamented the churches. This hall is decorated with the
ruins of the St. Chapelle in Paris, built about the year 1300. The
Apostles, sculptured in stone of natural size, were taken from this
chapel, and are remarkable for the naturalness of their expression and
excellent execution. Their habits give an exact idea of the stuffs and
embroidery then in fashion, the former of which being not unlike our
Indian shawls. The mosaics which cover the ceilings and the walls of
this hall were formed from materials taken from St. Denis. The painted
windows in this hall are of the same century, and were taken from the
“Celestines” and the “Bonshommes de Passy.”
[Sidenote: TOMB OF LOUIS XII.]
In the fifteenth century artists began to produce general plans, and
to connect the calculations of their minds with a grand and careful
execution. Gothic art in consequence disappeared. As Paris did not
afford many palaces or ornamented houses of this century, M. Lenoir
went several times among the monuments left by Cardinal d’Amboise, who
employed in the decoration of his palaces Jean Juste, a sculptor, born
at Tours, whom the Cardinal had sent at his own expense to Rome, for
the purpose of studying the revived Grecian art.
The ceiling, windows, and in general the whole embellishment of this
hall are composed on the type of the tomb of Louis XII., which stands
in the middle of it, together with the materials brought from the
Château de Gaillon, which has been lately demolished. The pillars which
support the gates are a present to M. Lenoir from the Administrators
of the Department of Eure et Loire, who, to M. Lenoir’s consternation,
pulled down the portico of the church of the St. Père at Chartres in
order to place its fragments at his disposal.
This portico was erected in 1509, and superadded to an ancient edifice
built by Hildnard, a Benedictine monk, in 1170. Two bas-reliefs in this
hall merit attention, one, representing God the Father in the midst
of angels, was taken from the Cemetery of the Innocents. The other,
from the church of St. Geneviève, represents the Pentecost. The violet
and blue grounds, the gilded framework and the carmined legend are
characteristic of the fifteenth century. Four marble medallions are
worthy of careful notice, purchased from the ruined château of Gaillon.
Anne of Brittany is represented as Minerva, Louis XII. as Mars, Gallas
and Vespasian occupy the remaining medallions.
In this hall stands a bust of Joan of Arc by Beauvollet, after an
ancient painting; this bust is placed beside that of Charles VII.,
whom she maintained on the throne of France. The Hall of the Sixteenth
Century contains many interesting figures, and its glass windows are
taken from Ecouen, Vincennes, Ault, and the Temple. The monument to
the historian Philippe de Comines is an admirable work, and rests on
a grand bas-relief, representing St. George and the Dragon. The tomb
of Louis XII. and Anne of Brittany, which occupies the centre of this
hall, is a superb monument. Unfortunately this fine mausoleum has
greatly suffered from the fury of the revolutionary fanatics.
Here are also the statues of François I^{er}, of Chancellor de
l’Hôpital; Montaigne, Prieur, Diane de Poitiers, Philip Desportes the
poet, Jean Goujon, the celebrated artist and sculptor, a magnificent
monument erected to the Constable of France, Anne de Condé, and the
tomb of the Valois, surmounted by statues of François I^{er} and his
wife Claude.
The Hall of the Seventeenth Century contains a fine monument erected
to the family of the Villeray; one to the celebrated historian de
Thou, the statue of Louis XI., the _chef d’œuvre_ of Girardon,
containing the celebrated group in marble designed by Lebrun, 14 feet
long and 6 feet broad, which forms the mausoleum of Cardinal Richelieu,
the inscription bears: “_Magnum disputandi argumentum_.”
This admirable sculpture, which had previously been mutilated by
anarchists who had forcibly entered the chapel, was afterwards injured
by the revolutionary soldiers, who bayoneted M. Lenoir for opposing
their destructive intentions; he still bears the scar of this wound on
his hand.
Cardinal Mazarin’s monument of white marble, executed by Coyzevox,
is equal in artistic merit to that of Richelieu. The Cardinal is
represented on his knees.
[Sidenote: EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY MONUMENTS]
An admirable group in white marble by Girardon represents Louvois, the
French Minister, and History in the form of a woman turning towards
him and pointing to her book. The First Consul was attracted to this
monument on his visit to the Museum, and gazed upon it a considerable
time. When he was in the Hall of the Thirteenth Century he said to M.
Lenoir: “Lenoir, vous me transportez en Syrie, je suis content.”
The fine statue of Louis XIV. which stood in the Place Vendôme, was
destroyed in 1792, but there is here an exact representation in bronze.
Monsieur Lenoir has also re-erected one from the ruins of that which
stood on the Place des Victoires. In this Hall of the Seventeenth
Century are the busts of all the great men who figured during that
period in France.
The Hall of the Eighteenth Century contains a vast number of subjects,
but few of them are very remarkable.
Here are busts of Louis XVI. and his Queen, and of Brissac, who with
the prisoners of Orleans was assassinated at Versailles. In the garden
belonging to this institution an elysium is formed in which above forty
statues are placed. Here and there on a mossy ground, pines, cypresses
and poplars shroud these monuments, and funereal urns placed on the
walls serve to diffuse an air of repose and melancholy over the whole.
In this enclosure a sepulchral chapel to the memory of Abelard and
Héloise has been formed out of part of the ruins of the Abbey of St.
Denis, in order to show the style of architecture adopted in that age.
Much remains yet to be done by M. Lenoir, but he has already effected
wonders, and without ostentation or bustle he has done more for France
than she has had the gratitude to acknowledge. Notwithstanding he is
extremely circumscribed in the sums allotted to him, being only allowed
£1000 per annum, he is always collecting and is continually in advance
for the benefit of the institution.
What a contrast does the life of this disinterested antiquarian present
to that of the conduct of that gang of philosophical thieves belonging
to the National Institute!
M. Lenoir related to me two curious circumstances connected with the
taking up of the bodies of the Kings, Queens, Princesses and celebrated
men who during the space of 1500 years had been buried in the Abbey of
St. Denis, which act of horrid indecency was ordered to be executed by
a special decree of the National Convention, for the sake of extracting
the lead belonging to these tombs. On October 12, 1793, the workmen
opened the tomb of Turenne and found the body of this great man in so
perfect a state of preservation that neither were his features deformed
nor his countenance altered.
M. Lenoir, who had an opportunity of examining it, stated that it
resembled in every way the pictures and medallions of the hero.
The body of Henri IV. was in a perfect state of preservation and the
features of his face unchanged.
A soldier who was present, moved by martial enthusiasm, threw himself
upon the body and embraced it, and after a long silence of admiration
cut off a long lock from the beard and exclaimed, “And I too am a
French soldier, henceforth I will have no other mustachios!” And he
placed it on his upper lip. “Now,” said he, “I am sure to conquer, and
I march to victory!” Immediately after this he disappeared, and was
never seen again in the town.