Part 4

_Boucher_: Large composition; _Vénus demandant à Vulcain des armes pour Enée_ (_Venus asking Vulcan for arms for Aeneas_), No. 46 of 1911 catalogue.

_Boucher_ and _Carle van Loo_: Four exquisite hunting panels, originally designed for the apartments of the King at Versailles.

_Boucher_: _Chasse au Crocodile_ (_Crocodile Hunting_), dated 1739 (No. 48). _Chasse au Tigre_ (_Tiger Hunting_), No. 47.

_Van Loo_: _Chasse à l'Ours_ (_Bear Hunting_), No. 356. _Chasse à l'Autruche_ (_Ostrich Hunting_), No. 359.

_Nattier_: _Portrait of Gresset_ (No. 266).

_Bachelier_: Two pictures forming pendants, _Un Ours de Pologne attaqué par des chiens_ (_Polish bear attacked by dogs_) No. 9; _Un lion d'Afrique attaqué par des dogues_ (_African lion attacked by dogs_), No. 10; and a very large composition (1761): _Les Amusements de l'enfance_ (_Childhood's Amusements_), No. 8.

_Quentin de la Tour_: _His own portrait_, the finest and most carefully finished of his portraits, painted about 1760 (No. 212) (_photo below_).

_David_: _Countess de Dillon_, lady of honour to Empress Marie-Louise, full length portrait, strictly academical (No. 108).

_Regnault_, contemporary of David and his school: _La Mort de Priam_ (_Death of Priamus_) (No. 290).

_J. Lefebvre_: Several paintings, especially _Portrait of Lady Godiva_ (No. 223).

2. Foreign Schools:

_Un buveur attablé_ (_Drinker at table_) (No. 427), attributed by the catalogue to the _Flemish School_ of the middle of the 17th century, would seem from its powerful realism and general composition, to have come from the studio of the _Brothers Le Nain_.

_Gérard de Lairesse_, late 18th century, Dutch painter, now forgotten, but who enjoyed considerable notoriety in his day: _Portrait of Duchesse Marie de Clèves_ (1671) (No. 206).

IV.--Collections of the Brothers Lavalard

1. Dutch School:

_Brekelenkam_ (1623-1688): _Le Savetier_ (_The Cobbler_) (No. 3 in 1911 catalogue).

_Gerritz Cuyp_ (1594-1651): _Portrait of a child_. _A Young Baron_ (No. 8).

_Van Goyen_ (1596-1696): _Le Port de Dordrecht_ (No. 12). _Le Départ pour la pêche_ (_Fishing Boats setting out_) (No. 13). _Un tour au bord d'une rivière_ (_River-side scene_) (No. 14, etc.).

_Van Mieris_ (1635-1681): _Liseuse_ (_Reading_) (No. 27).

_Salomon Ruysdael_ (1600-1670): _Soleil couchant_ (_Sunset_) (No. 38), and several other landscapes (Nos. 39 to 46).

2. Flemish School:

_Franz Hals_ (1581-1666): Several portraits (Nos. 94 to 96).

_Brouwer_ (1605-1638), pupil of Franz Hals: _Un buveur_ (_A Drinker_) (No. 77).

_Jordaens_ (1593-1678): _La Marchande de Volailles_ (_Woman selling fowls_) (No. 99).

_Gonzalès Coques_ (1614-1684): _Exécution de Charles I. sur la place de White-Hall en 1649_ (_Execution of Charles I, Whitehall, 1649_) (No. 81).

3. French School:

_Louis Boily_: _Un jeune Savoyard_ (_Young Savoyard_) (No. 125).

_Boucher_: _Esquisse pour le Triomphe d'Amphitrite_ (_rough sketch of Amphitrite's Triumph_) (No. 129). _Diane au bain_ (_Diana taking bath_) (No. 130).

_Chardin_: _Lapins de garenne_ (_Wild rabbits_) (No. 137), and several still-life studies (Nos. 138-140).

_Fragonard_: Several small paintings (Nos. 142-147), especially No. 144: _Les Lavandières_ (_Washer-Women_).

_Lépicié_, pupil of Carle van Loo: _Portrait de femme âgée_ (_Portrait of Old Woman_) (No. 167). _Studies of children's heads_ (No. 168).

_Nattier_: _Portrait de jeune femme_ (_Portrait of a young woman_) (No. 177).

_Hubert-Robert_: _Colin-Maillard_ (_Blindman's Buff_) (No. 188).

4. Italian School:

_Luca Giordano_ (1632-1705): _Musicien accordant sa guitare_ (_Musician tuning his Guitar_) (No. 211).

5. Spanish School:

_Le Greco_ (1548-1625): Very fine _portrait of a man_, the finest of this artist's paintings in France (No. 212) (_photo_ _p._ 43).

_Ribera_ (1588-1656): _La Messe du Pape Grégoire le Grand_ (_Celebration of Mass by Pope Gregory the Great_); very finely executed; one of this artist's greatest masterpieces; signed: Joseph de Ribera, Naples, 1654 (No. 239).

The museum also contains _interesting drawings by Puvis de Chavannes_ and a fine collection of _drawings_ by the _Brothers Duthoit_ of Amiens (1820-1870). In these latter drawings, more than 5,000 in number, are portrayed the _towns and villages of Picardy_, as they appeared before the disappearance of the local traditions and customs. This collection was seriously damaged by bombardment.

Several =old houses= of Amiens, saved from ruin by the Antiquarian Society of Picardy, have been rebuilt in the Museum grounds, viz.:

Late 15th century house with visible timber-work in left-hand corner.

Early 17th century (1619) façade, in right-hand corner. Note the fine decorative frieze of lions' muzzles.

Late 18th century façade, with entrance-door surmounted by a fine caryatid of bearded man supporting a graceful, wrought-iron balcony on his shoulders, against the right-hand lateral wall.

_Opposite the Museum is the_ =Prefecture=.

The PREFECTURE consists of two contiguous buildings. One, modern, is fitted up as offices. The other, which is the Prefect's residence, was formerly the headquarters of the Intendant of Picardy.

The latter building was erected in 1773-1774 from plans prepared by the Parisian architect _Montigny_. It was considerably damaged, both outside and inside, by bombardment (_photo opposite_).

_Separated from the Museum by the Rue Puvis de Chavannes is the_ =City Library=.

The LIBRARY is a modern building containing nearly 100,000 books and about 1,000 manuscripts, including several of great value. _(To visit apply to the curator)._ The colonnaded building in the rear was partly destroyed by bombardment.

_On leaving the Rue de la République, take on the right the Rue Puvis de Chavannes (continued by the Rue des Louvets) as far as the Rue de Beauvais (photo below). Turn to the right. At the corner of the Rue de Beauvais and the Rue Frédéric-Petit is the_ =Lycée=.

THE LYCÉE is located in the partly rebuilt structure which was formerly the _Abbey of St. John of the Order of Premonstrants_ (17th century); fine cloister.

The façade of the modern portion, looking on the Rue Frédéric-Petit, was grazed by shell splinters.

_Follow the Rue de Beauvais, continued by the Rue Alphonse Leuillier, as far as the_ HÔTEL DE VILLE (H _on detailed plan_); 18th century façade, finished in the 19th century.

Bailliage and House of the White Gable

_To the left of the Hôtel de Ville, take the Rue de la Malmaison, in which is situated the_ =Ancien Bailliage= (Old Bailiwick--_L on detailed plan)._

To see it, the tourist should enter the courtyard of the City Fire Station, at the bottom of which, on the right, is a narrow passage leading to a tiny court, facing which is the curious façade of the house. Gothic-Flamboyant in style, it is richly decorated with Renaissance motifs (_photos_).

A frieze of accolade-shaped arches with crockets runs along the building. Inside the arches, seven pure Renaissance medallions of men and women have been carved.

Two small Renaissance angels dated 1541 appear below, between the two rectangular windows. On the left side of the building, a pretty dormer-window with triangular pediment breaks the monotony of the large slated roof, as is customary in civil Gothic architecture. Two Renaissance medallions of a man and a woman appear on the dormer-window.

Inside, interesting 16th century keel-arched timber work still exists in the audience chamber of the Bailiwick, the ceiling of which is hidden by a cloth.

_Cross the Square behind the Hôtel de Ville. To the left of the Post-Office, take the Passage Gossart, at the end of which, under a vault, is the gate of a narrow alley leading to a small court._

On three sides of the latter is a curious house with wooden walls built about the year 1492 by a rich cloth merchant, Nicolas Fauvel, mayor of the city. This house, known as the =House of the White Gable=, is shown at F on the detailed plan. Abutting on the main building, which is the original structure, a kind of corbel-work gable was added over the exit from the Passage Gossart. This was probably used by the mayor as a tribune from which to harangue the people gathered together in the courtyard.

This tribune (_photo opposite_) is supported by a half-vault of wood, the arches of which abut against the stone corbels. At the outside corner, a console terminating in a flying angel forms a pendative, and is decorated with curious carving depicting a man in the dress of a 15th century burgess, having three heads.

One of his feet is bare, the other shod. On the opposite console is the figure of a man on horseback, probably Nicolas Fauvel, wearing the mayoral robes of Amiens. Part of the house with wooden walls was destroyed by a bomb, but the mayor's tribune escaped uninjured.

_Returning to the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, the tourist should turn to the right to see the_ =Ancien belfry= of the City of Amiens (_E on detailed plan_).

The lower portion only is old. Its heavy 18th century steeple contains a =bell= weighing eleven tons.

_Leaving the Belfry behind, continue to follow the Rue du Chapeau de Violettes as far as the Rue St. Germain, at the corner of which is_ =St. Germain's Church= (_D on detailed plan_), historical monument. A fine building in the Flamboyant style, dating from the middle of the 15th century, it was seriously damaged by a bomb which fell in the Rue St. Germain on the night of the 13th-14th May, 1918, destroying five houses.

House of the "Sagittaire"

The south façade, looking on the street, as well as that of the apse, suffered badly throughout their entire length.

Although the main body of the building remained standing, most of the ornamental carving was broken and the doorway torn open, while all the stained glass was destroyed, together with the greater part of the mullions of the windows. Inside, the vaults were pierced in several places.

The doorway in the Rue Pingré is uninjured (_photo above_). Part of the ornamental carving is of great delicacy, but the statues are modern. The door is of wood with Renaissance carvings. A square tower leaning towards the North flanks the doorway.

The interior of the church is beautifully proportioned and very simple in arrangement. The choir, slightly more modern than the nave, dates from 1478. The lateral chapels contain some 16th century stained glass and a reproduction of the Burial Scene dated 1506.

_Skirt the church by following the Rue St. Germain to the_ PLACE DU MARCHÉ DE LANSELLES (_curious old houses_).

_Cross the Square diagonally on the right, then take the Rue des Vergeaux._

_In this street (Nos. 57-59--K on detailed plan) is the_ =Maison du Sagittaire= (_Archers' House_), so called on account of two small figures of archers carved at the top of the keystones of the arcaded vaults on the ground-floor.

Pure Renaissance in style and dating from 1593, it is the finest and best preserved house in the old town (_photo opposite_).

The ground-floor comprises two broken-arch arcades, each of whose tympanums is ornamented with two semi-recumbent figures of women.

A frieze ornamented with medallions of Roman warriors extends between the ground-floor and first-floor.

Five magnificent lions' muzzles appear between Renaissance motifs in this frieze.

OLD AMIENS

_Return to the Place du Marché de Lanselles and take the Rue St. Martin, which is at the right-hand corner._ There are two =fine façades= in this street, one Louis XV. at No. 7, and the other Louis XVI. at No. 18.

A shell caused rather serious damage to the left-hand window on the first floor of the former. _At the end of the Rue St. Martin take on the left the Rue Flatters, which continues the Rue du Bloc. Leave the latter, taking on the right the Rue des Rinchevaux which leads to the_ Place des Huchers. (=Fine view= of old houses and cathedral--_photo below_).

_To the right of the Square take the Rue du Pont-Piperesse visible in the photo, p. 49_, then on the left, _the Rue des Gantiers and the Rue Hocquet. At the intersection of the latter with the Rue de Metz-l'Evéque take a few steps to the right in the last-named street, to get a_ =view= _of the picturesque_ Canal du Hocquet (_photo above_).

_Continue along the Rue du Hocquet and its continuation (Rue de la Barette). At the end of this street, turn to the left, cross the bridge over the Somme and go up the Boulevard de Beauvillé for several hundred yards, to get_ a pretty =view= of the town _on the left_ (_photo below_).

The "Hortillonnages"

In the foreground of the above photo is a "Hortillonage." This is the local name for the tiny islets in the vicinity, whose rich black soil is generally cultivated as kitchen-gardens by men and women called "hortillons" or "hortillonnes." These gardens are intersected by innumerable small canals fed by the Rivers Somme and Avre. The most important "hortillonnages" are at the east end of the town. Visiting is only possible in the long flat-bottomed boats with turned-up ends seen in the photo above.

Each morning in summer the boats go, loaded with fruit and vegetables, to the "floating market" of Amiens (_photo below_).

The soil of these gardens is wonderfully fertile, fruit and vegetable crops succeeding one another unceasingly all the year round. The total revenue exceeds two million francs, and a "hectare" (rather less than two and a half acres) often costs twelve thousand francs.

The St. Leu Quarter

_Return by the same way to the bridge, then turn to the right and follow the Port d'Amont as far as the first bridge_ (Pont du Cange). This bridge dates from the fifteenth century, and is the oldest of the many bridges which cross the canals.

_Cross the bridge, then turn to the left into the Rue Belu, which runs along the river-side. From here there is_ a pretty =view= of the Cathedral and the old town (_photo below_). _At the end of the Rue Belu, cross the Pont de la Dodane. To the left is the Place Parmentier, where the_ "Floating Market" _is held (p. 51). In front are the first houses of the curious_ Rue du Don, _seen in the centre of the photo below, and on the right of the photo on p. 53._

_Take a few steps to get a good view of this street (photo above), re-cross the Pont de la Dodane, then take on the left the Rue d' Engoulvent, which runs by the side of an arm of the Somme (photo p. 53), as far as the_ =church of St. Leu=. _The tourist may either go round the apsis of the_ church, _taking on the left the small Rue St. Leu which crosses the arm of the river, or continue straight ahead as far as the Rue St. Leu, via the Rue Graineville, which is the continuation of the Rue d'Engoulvent_.

=St. Leu Church= (hist. mon.) has undergone important alterations at various times. One of its façades is 15th century, and a steeple was rebuilt in the 16th century, in the Gothic style. A shell splinter

broke the mullions and stained glass of one of the windows of the apse (north side). This Church is in the centre of the old quarter or lower part of the city. It is there that the commerce and industry of the town have been centralised since the Middle Ages.

A maze of narrow, winding streets crossed by innumerable canals or arms of the Somme river, connected by bridges, forms this part of the town. Numerous small water-falls supply motive power to the local factories and works. Formerly, the workshops of the fullers and dyers, which crowded the banks of the canals, and where the cloth-fulling and woad-grinding were done, were driven by water-wheels (_see p. 2_).

The houses have kept their ancient aspect, and are curious for their wooden walls, sharply pointed gables, steep roofs with tiny dormer-windows, and daring corbellings overhanging the narrow streets and canals. The only means of access to the outside which some of them possess is a foot-bridge passing over the canal.

_Turn to the right into the Rue St. Leu, passing in front of the_ =Hôtel Dieu=. Rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries, except the St. John ward, which was built at the beginning of the 16th century in the Gothic-Flamboyant style, it is a spacious hall with two large roofs, the gables of which face the street. The vaulting is of wood, the ends of the beams being carved. The whole is in very bad condition.

_After crossing six successive lines of canals offering_ picturesque perspectives (_especially the_ Rue de Ville _and_ Rue des Coches), _the tourist arrives at the_ =Citadelle=.

The Citadelle, built in the 16th century, has since been dismantled and now serves as a barracks. The =Porte Monte-Ecu= (historical monument), built in 1531 under François I., is within its walls. It was through this Gate that the Spaniards entered Amiens in 1597. _To get a view of it, turn to the right after the Pont de la Citadelle and take the first street on the left (see detailed plan)._

_Return by the same way to the Rue St. Leu. A little beyond the Church of St. Leu, take the Rue Fernel on the right, in which several_ 15th century wooden

houses are still to be seen. No. 33, known as the "Ramoneurs," is especially worthy of note, though greatly deteriorated.

_Follow the Rue Fernel to the Place Samarobrive, to the left of which take the Rue des Bouchers_ (_photo below_--picturesque old houses, especially No. 33).

_At the end of this street, turn to the right into the Rue Haute-des-Tanneurs, which is continued on the other side of the Place Fauvel by the Rue Basse-des-Tanneurs._

At the end of the Rue Basse-des-Tanneurs, see the ancient dilapidated façade (1493) of the =Hotel Morgan de Belloy= (_B on detailed plan_), and the =Château d'Eau= (_A on detailed plan_), dating _from the 18th century_.

A natural history museum has been installed on the first floor.

_From the Hôtel Morgan there is a_ =fine view= _of the Cathedral and the lower town_ (_photo page 55_).

_If the tourist has time he should cross the Somme by the Pont St. Michel, then follow the Boulevard du Jardin des Plantes to visit the_ =Jardin des Plantes=, _which is on the right of the Boulevard_.

_Retracing his steps he should turn to the right after the Pont St. Michel, and follow the Port_

_d'Aral, then turn to the left and take the Boulevard du Port._

_On arriving at the Place du Marché aux Chevaux, turn to the right into the Rue du Faubourg-de-la-Hotoie as far as the_ =Promenade de la Hotoie= (_see coloured plan_), a magnificent _park_ of about 50 acres, continued on the north by the =Jardin Anglais= of the "Petite Hotoie," ten acres in extent.

The Promenade de la Hotoie was used by the military authorities as an automobile park during the War and is now in a deplorable state.

_Return via the Faubourg de la Hotoie, then take the Rue de la Hotoie which continues it beyond the Place du Marché aux Chevaux._

_At the end of this street in the Place St. Firmin, take the Rue St. Jacques on the right, then immediately afterwards the Rue Gresset on the left_ (_No. 11 was formerly the_ =Hôtel des Monnaies=--_18th century_).

Only the entrance door remains, the pediment of which is decorated with two fine figures of women.

_Continue along the Rue Delambre, cross the Place Gambetta, and follow the Rue des Trois Cailloux._

_After the Theatre, turn to the left into the Rue Robert de Luzarches which leads to the Cathedral._

CONTENTS

PAGES

CHIEF HISTORICAL FACTS 2

AMIENS DURING THE WAR 2 to 8

ITINERARY--VISIT TO THE TOWN 9 to 55

THE CATHEDRAL 9 to 34

PICARDY MUSEUM 38 to 44

OLD AMIENS 49 to 55

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