or to one of his pupils, must also be dated in the fifteenth century.
The cards are distinguished by their form, number, and design; they are
round in shape, and much resemble Persian cards, are painted on ivory
and covered with arabesques, flowers, and birds. This pack, only a few
pieces of which now exist in some of the German collections, was
composed of fifty-two cards divided into four numeral series of nine
cards each, and with four figures in each series--the king, the queen,
the squire, and the knave. The suits or marks are the “Hare,” the
“Parrot,” the “Carnation,” and the “Columbine.” Each of the aces
represents the type of the suit, and they bear philosophical devices in
Latin. The four figures of the “Parrot” suit are of African character;
those of the “Hare” are Asiatic or Turkish; those of the “Carnation” and
the “Columbine” belong to Europe. The “kings” and “queens” are on
horseback; the “squires” and “knaves” are so similar that it is
difficult to distinguish them, with the exception of the knaves of
“Columbine” and “Carnation” (Figs. 222 to 227).
The English also were in possession of playing-cards at an early date,
obtaining them through the medium of the trade which they carried on
with the Hanseatic towns and Holland; but they did not manufacture cards
before the end of the sixteenth century; for we know that in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth the Government retained in its own hands the monopoly
of playing-cards, “which were imported from abroad.” The English, while
adopting indiscriminately cards of a German, French, Italian, or Spanish
character, gave to the _valet_ the characteristic appellation of
“knave.”[27]
[Illustration: Figs. 222 to 227.--German Round-shaped Cards, with the
Monogram T. W.
1. “King of Parrots.”
2. “Queen of Carnations.”
3. “Knave of Columbine.”
4. “Knave of Hares.”
5. “Three of Parrots.”
6. “Ace of Carnations.”
(Bibl. Imp. of Paris.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 228.--_La Damoiselle_, from a Pack of Cards engraved
by “The Master of 1466.” (Bibl. Imp. of Paris. Print-Room.)]
Wood-engraving, which was invented at the commencement of the fifteenth
century, and perhaps even before, must have been applied at the very
first and almost simultaneously to the reproduction of sacred pictures
and the manufacture of playing-cards. Holland and Germany have contended
for the honour of having been the cradle of this invention. Taking
advantage of this, they have also even thought themselves warranted in
laying claim to the credit of the original manufacture of cards;
[Illustration: Fig. 229.--The Knight, from a Pack of Cards engraved by
“The Master of 1466.” (Bibl. Imp. of Paris.)]
whereas the fact is that all they can claim is to have been the first to
produce them by some more expeditious method of making. According to the
opinion of several _savants_, Laurent Coster of Haerlem was only an
engraver of wood-blocks for cards and pictures, before he became a
printer of books. It certainly is a fact that wood-engraving, which was
for a long time limited to a few studios in Holland and Upper Germany,
owed a large share of its progress to the trade in playing-cards--one
which was carried on with such activity that, as we read in an old
chronicle of the city of Ulm, about the year 1397, “they were in the
habit of sending playing-cards in bales to Italy, Sicily, and other
southern countries, to exchange for groceries and various merchandise.”
A few years later, engraving on metal or copper-plate was employed in
producing playing-cards of a really artistic character, among which we
may mention those of “The Master of 1466” (Figs. 228 and 229), and by
his anonymous rivals. The pack of cards of this engraver exists only in
a small number of print-collections, and it is in every case incomplete.
As far as we can judge, it must have been composed of sixty cards,
consisting of forty numeral cards divided into five series, and twenty
picture-cards, being four to each series. The figures are the king,
queen, knight, and knave. The suits, or marks, present rather a strange
selection of wild men, ferocious quadrupeds, deer, birds of prey, and
various flowers. These objects are numerically grouped and tolerably
well arranged, so as to allow the numbers indicated to be distinguished
at first sight.
Thus, as we have seen, playing-cards made their way through Arabia from
India to Europe, where they first arrived about the year 1370. Within a
few years they spread from the south to the north of the latter country;
but those who, under the influence of a passion for play, had so eagerly
welcomed them, were far indeed from suspecting that this new game
contained within itself the germ of two of the most beautiful inventions
ever devised by the human mind--those of engraving and printing. There
can be no doubt that playing-cards were in use for many a long year, ere
the public voice had proclaimed the almost simultaneous discovery of the
arts of engraving on wood and metal, and of printing.
[Illustration: Fig. 230.--Coat of Arms of the Cardmakers of Paris.]
GLASS-PAINTING.
Painting on Glass mentioned by Historians in the Third Century of
our Era.--Glazed Windows at Brioude in the Sixth Century.--Coloured
Glass at St. John Lateran and St. Peter’s in Rome.--Church-Windows
of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries in France: Saint-Denis,
Sens, Poitiers, Chartres, Rheims, &c.--In the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Centuries the Art was at its Zenith.--Jean Cousin.--The
Célestins of Paris; Saint-Gervais.--Robert Pinaigrier and his
Sons.--Bernard Palissy decorates the Chapel of the Castle of
Ecouen.--Foreign Art; Albert Dürer.
We have already established the fact that the art of manufacturing and
colouring glass was known to the most ancient nations; and, says
Champollion-Figeac, “if we study the various fragments of this fragile
substance that have been handed down to our time, if we take into
consideration the varied ornamentation with which they are covered, even
the human figures which some of them represent, it would be difficult to
assert that antiquity was unacquainted with the means of combining glass
with painting. If antiquity did not produce what are now called
painted-windows, the real cause doubtless was because the custom of
employing glass in windows did not then exist.” Some few specimens of it
have, however, been found in the windows of the houses exhumed at
Pompeii; but this must have been an exception, for the third century of
our era is the earliest date in which traces are found in history of
window-glass being used in buildings; and we must bring down our
researches as late as the times of St. John Chrysostom and St. Jerome
(the fourth century) in order to find any reliable affirmation as to its
adoption.
In the sixth century Gregory of Tours relates that a soldier broke the
glass-window of a church at Brioude in order to enter it secretly and
commit robbery; and we know that when this prelate caused the
restoration of the Church of St. Martin of Tours, he took care to fill
its windows with glass “of varied colours.” About the same time
Fortunatus, the poet-bishop of Poitiers, highly extols the splendour of
the glass-window of a church in Paris, the name of which he does not
mention; but the learned investigations of Foncemagne with reference to
the first kings of France inform us that the church built at Paris by
Childebert I. in honour of the Holy Cross and St. Vincent, as well as
the churches of Lyons and Bourges, were closed in with glass-windows. Du
Cange, in his “Constantinople Chrétienne,” describes the glass-windows
of the basilica of St. Sophia, rebuilt by Justinian; and Paul, the
Silentiary,[28] dwells with enthusiasm on the marvellous effect produced
by the rays of the sun upon this assemblage of various coloured glasses.
In the eighth century, the epoch at which the use of glass-windows was
becoming general, the basilica of St. John Lateran and the Church of St.
Peter at Rome possessed coloured glass-windows; and Charlemagne, who had
caused mosaics of coloured glass to be made in a large number of
churches, did not fail to avail himself of this kind of ornament in the
cathedral erected by him at Aix-la-Chapelle.
Up to this time the only method of making glass was in small pieces,
generally round, and designated by the name of _cires_, a number of
which by means of a network of plaster, wooden frames, or strips of
lead, were used to fill up the windows. This material being, however,
very costly, it could only be introduced into edifices of great
importance. Added to this, it can scarcely be a source of wonder if, at
a time when all branches of art had relapsed into a sort of barbarism,
and glass was only exceptionally employed in ordinary purposes, no one
thought of decorating it with painted figures and ornaments.
With regard to mosaic, either in marble or coloured glass, Martial,
Lucretius, and other writers of antiquity, mention it in their works.
Egypt had a knowledge of it even before Greece; the Romans were
accustomed to employ it in ornamenting the roofs and pavement of their
temples, and even their columns and streets. Some magnificent specimens
of these decorations have remained to our time, and they are considered
as inseparable from the architecture of the emperors.
Some have desired to attribute the custom of employing coloured glass in
mosaics to the rarity of coloured marbles. Would it not be a more
probable hypothesis that the simultaneous use of marble and glass for
this purpose was the result of improvements in the art of making
mosaics? for glass that, by metallic mixtures, may be brought to a
variety of colours, is much more easily adapted to pictorial
combinations than marble, the tints of which are the result of the
caprices of nature. Seneca, alluding to the use of coloured glasses in
mosaic, complains of people not being able “to walk except on precious
stones;” this shows how prevalent the use of rich mosaics had become in
Rome. But this art must have singularly fallen into decay, for the few
examples of the kind we now possess, which date from the first centuries
of Christianity, are marked with a character of simplicity that fully
harmonises with the rudeness of the artists of those times. Among these
specimens must be mentioned a pavement discovered at Rheims, upon which
are represented the twelve signs of the zodiac, the seasons of the year,
and Abraham’s Sacrifice; another on which are depicted Theseus and the
labyrinth of Crete, in juxtaposition with David and Goliath. It is,
moreover, known that there existed in the Forum of Naples a portrait in
mosaic of Theodoric, king of the Goths, who had caused a representation
of the Baptism of Christ to be executed, in the church of Ravenna, by
the same process. Sidonius Apollinaris, describing the excessive luxury
of Consentius at Narbonne, speaks of arches and pavements ornamented
with mosaics. The churches of St. John Lateran, St. Clement, and St.
George in Velabro, at Rome, still display mosaics of this period.
Lastly, Charlemagne caused the greater part of the churches constructed
by him to be ornamented with mosaics.
To return to glass-work, we find that in the time of Charles the Bald,
in 863, mention is made of two artisans, Ragenat and Balderic, who
became as it were the heads of the race of French glass-makers. We also
learn from the chronicle of St. Benignus of Dijon, that in 1052 there
existed in that church a “very ancient painted window,” representing St.
Paschasie, which was said to have been taken from the earlier church. We
have therefore a right to conclude that at this period the custom of
painting on glass had long been common.
In the tenth century glass-makers must have acquired some degree of
importance, for the reigning Dukes of Normandy of that era established
certain privileges in their favour; but, says Champollion-Figeac, “as
all privilege was the prerogative of the order of nobility, they
contrived to give them to noble families whose fortunes were precarious.
Four Norman families obtained this distinction. But although it was
understood that in devoting themselves to the trade these titled
individuals incurred no degradation, it was never said, as is commonly
believed, that the profession of this art conferred nobility; on the
contrary, a proverb arose which long continued in use, namely, that ‘in
order to make a gentleman glass-maker, you must first take a
gentleman.’”
Although painting on glass was from that time carried on with
considerable activity, in many cases it was still very far from being
accomplished by the processes which were destined to make it one of the
most remarkable productions of art. The application of the brush to
vitrifiable colours was not generally adopted. In the examples of this
period that remain to our days, we indeed find large _cives_ cast in
white glass, upon which characters were painted by the artist; but, as
the colour was not designed to be incorporated with the glass by the
action of fire, with a view to ensure the preservation of the painting,
another transparent but thick _cive_ was placed over the first and
closely soldered to it.
While glass-painting was thus seeking to perfect its processes, mosaic
work gradually declined. Only a very small number of mosaics of the
tenth and eleventh centuries exist at the present day, and these,
moreover, are very incorrect in design, and entirely wanting in taste
and colour.
In the twelfth century all the arts began to revive. The fear of the end
of the world, which had thrown mankind into a strange state of
perturbation, was dissipated. The Christian faith everywhere stirred up
the zeal of its disciples. Magnificent cathedrals with imposing arches
sprang up in various places, and the art of the glass-maker came to the
aid of architecture in order to diffuse over the interiors consecrated
to worship the light, both prismatic and harmonious, which affords the
calm, necessary for holy meditation. But though, in the painted windows
of this period, we are forced to admire the ingenious combinatian of
colours for the rose-work (rose-windows), the case is very different as
regards the drawing and colouring of the designs. The figures are
generally traced in rough, stiff lines on glass of a dull tint, which
absorbs all the expression of the heads; the entire drapery of the
costume is heavy; the figure is spoilt by the folds of
[Illustration: Fig. 231.--St. Timothy the Martyr, Coloured Glass of the
end of the Eleventh Century, found in the Church of Neuwiller (Bas-Rhin)
by M. Bœswillwald. (From the “History of Glass-Painting,” by M.
Lasteyrie.)]
its vestments as if it were enclosed in a long sheath. This is the
general character of the examples of that period as they are known to us
(Fig. 231).
The painted windows which Suger made to adorn the abbey-church of St.
Denis, some of which exist in our days, date from the twelfth century.
The abbot made inquiries in every country, and gathered together at a
great expense the best artists he could find, in order to assist in this
decoration. The Adoration of the Magi, the Annunciation, the History of
Moses, and various allegories, are there represented in the chapel of
the Virgin and those of St. Osman and St. Hilary. Among the principal
pictures may be also observed a portrait of Suger himself at the feet of
the Virgin. The borders surrounding the subjects may be considered as
models of harmony and good arrangement of effect; but still the taste
shown in the selection and combination of colours is carried to the
highest point in the subjects themselves, the designs of which are very
excellent.
In the Church of St. Maurice, at Angers, we find examples of a rather
earlier date--perhaps the most ancient specimens of painted windows in
France; these are the history of St. Catherine and that of the Virgin,
which, in truth, are not equal in merit, as regards execution and taste,
to the ancient windows of the Church of St. Denis.
We still have to mention some fragments contained in the Church of St.
Serge, and the chapel of the Hospital, in the town of Angers; also a
glass-window in the Abbey of Fontevrault; another in the Church of St.
Peter, at Dreux, in which is represented Queen Anne of Brittany. We
will, in conclusion, mention one of the windows of the choir in the
Church of the Trinity, at Vendôme; it represents the Glorification of
the Virgin, who bears on her forehead an aureola, the shape of which,
called _amandaire_,[29] has furnished archæologists with a subject for
long discussions; some being desirous of proving that this aureola,
which does not appear to be depicted in the same way on any other
painted window, tends to show that the works of the Poitevine
glass-makers, to whom it is attributed, had been subject to the
influence of the Byzantine school; others assert that the almond-shaped
crown is a symbol exclusively reserved for the Virgin. Before we proceed
to the examples handed down to us from the twelfth century, we must
mention some remains of glass to be seen at Chartres, Mans, Sens, and
Bourges (Fig. 232), &c. We may also add, as an incident not without
interest, that a chapter of the order of the Cistercians, considering
the great expense to which the acquisition of painted windows led,
prohibited the use of them in churches under the rule of St. Bernard.
[Illustration: Fig. 232.--Fragment of a Church-window, representing the
“Prodigal Son.” Thirteenth Century. (Presented to the Cathedral of
Bourges by the Guild of Tanners.)]
“The architecture of the thirteenth century,” according to the judicious
remarks of Champollion-Figeac, “by its style of moulding, which is more
slender and graceful than the massive forms of Roman art, opened a
wider and more favourable field for artists in glass. The small pillars
then projected, and extended themselves with a novel elegance, and the
tapering and delicate spires of the steeples lost themselves in the
clouds. The windows occupied more space, and likewise had the appearance
of springing lightly and gracefully upwards. They were adorned with
symbolical ornaments, griffins, and other fantastic animals; leaves and
boughs cross and intertwine with one another, producing that varied
rose-work which is the admiration of modern glass-makers. The colours
are more skilfully combined and better blended than in the windows of
the preceding century; and although some of the figures are still
wanting in expression, and have not thrown off all the stiffness which
characterised them, the draperies, at least, are lighter and better
drawn.” Examples of the thirteenth century which have remained to our
time are very numerous. There is at Poitiers some painted glass composed
of small roses, and chiefly placed in one of the windows in the centre
of the church and in the “Calvary” of the apse; at Sens, the legend of
St. Thomas of Canterbury is represented in a number of small medallions,
called _verrières légendaires_; at Mans is glass representing the
corporations of trades; at Chartres, the painted glass in the cathedral,
a work both magnificent and extensive, contains no fewer than one
thousand three hundred and fifty subjects, distributed throughout one
hundred and forty-three windows. At Rheims, the painted glass is perhaps
less important, but it is remarkable both for the brilliancy of its
colours and also for its characteristic fitness to the style of the
edifice. Bourges, Tours, Angers, and Notre-Dame in Paris, present very
beautiful specimens. The Cathedral of Rouen possesses, to this day, a
window which bears the name of Clement of Chartres, _master glazier_,
the first artist of this kind who has left behind him any work bearing
his signature. We must, in conclusion, mention the Sainte-Chapelle,
Paris, which is unquestionably the highest representation of what the
art is capable of producing. The designs of the windows in this last
edifice are _legendary_, and although some few inaccuracies may be
noticed in the figures, the fault is redeemed by the studied elegance of
the ornamentation and the harmony of colours, which combine to render
them one of the most consistent and perfect works of painting on glass.
In the thirteenth century “_grisaille_” first made its appearance; it
was quite a new style, and has been often since employed in the borders
and ornaments of painted windows. “_Grisaille_,”[30] the name of which
is to some extent sufficient to describe its aspect, was used
simultaneously with the mosaics of variegated glass, as we see in the
Church of St. Thomas, Strasbourg, in the Cathedral of Freybourg in
Brisgau, and in many churches of Bourges.
The large number of paintings on glass belonging to the thirteenth
century, which may still be studied in various churches, has given rise
to the idea of classifying all these monuments, and arranging them under
certain schools, which have been designated by the names of
_Franco-Norman_, _Germanic_, &c. Some have even gone further, and
desired to recognise in the style peculiar to the artists of ancient
France a Norman style, a Poitevin style (the latter recognisable, it is
said, by the want of harmony in the colours), &c. We can hardly admit
these last distinctions, and are the less inclined to do so, as those
who propound them seem to base their theories rather on the defects than
the good qualities of the artists. Besides, at a period in which a
nobleman sometimes possessed several provinces very distant from each
other--as, for example, Anjou and Provence--it might so happen that the
artists he took with him to his different residences could scarcely
fail, by the union of their various works, to cause any provincial
influences to disappear, and would finally reduce the distinction
between what is called the Poitevin style, the Norman style, &c., to a
question of a more or less skilful manufacture, or of a more or less
advanced improvement.
In the fourteenth century the artist in glass became separated from the
architect; although naturally subordinate to the designer of the
edifice, in which the windows were to be only an accessory ornament, he
wished to give effect to his own inspiration. The whole of the building
was subjected by him to the effect of his more learned and correct
drawing, and his purer and more striking colouring. It mattered little
to him should some part of the church have too much light, or not light
enough, if a flood of radiance deluged the apse or the choir, instead of
being gradually diffused everywhere, as in earlier buildings. He desired
his labour to recommend him, and his work to do him honour.
The court-poets, Guillaume de Machaut and Eustache Deschamps, celebrate
in their poems several works in painted glass of their time, and even
give some details in verse on the mode of fabricating them.
[Illustration: Fig. 233.--Legend of the Jew of the Rue des Billettes,
Paris, piercing the Holy Wafer with his Knife. (From a Window of the
Church of St. Alpin, at Châlons-sur-Marne. Fourteenth Century.)]
In 1347 a royal ordinance was proclaimed in favour of the workmen of
Lyons. The custom existed at that time of adorning with painted windows
royal and lordly habitations. The artists produced their own designs,
adapting them to the use that was made, in private life, of the halls
for which they were intended. Some of these windows representing
familiar legends adorned even the churches (Fig. 233).
Among the most important works of the fourteenth century, we must
mention in the first place the windows of the cathedrals of Mans,
Beauvais, Évreux (Fig. 234), and the rose-windows of St. Thomas at
Strasbourg. Next come the windows of the Church of St. Nazaire at
Carcassonne and of the Cathedral of Narbonne. There are, besides, in the
Church of St. John at Lyons, in Notre-Dame of Semur, in Aix in Provence,
at Bourges, and at Metz, church-windows in every respect worthy of
attention.
[Illustration: Fig. 234.--Fragment of a Window presented to the
Cathedral of Evreux by the Bishop Guillaume de Cantiers. Fourteenth
Century.]