Part 9

These are merely suggestions of a theory, which others, more qualified than myself, may be able to solve. Suger is said to have added to the _ante-pendium_ given by Charles le Chauve, and placed it over the altar as a retable;[55] therefore there would be nothing extraordinary in the 15th-century artist placing Charles kneeling as the original donor, and Suger celebrating, as the founder of the new altar, or reredos. Has the abbot Giles de Pontoise, who died in 1325, caused any confusion in naming this picture? There is another curious resemblance in the crowns borne by the Angels upon the retable, and the crowns of Guarrazar in the Hôtel Cluny. The latter are supposed to be of Byzantine workmanship, the largest bearing the name of Reccesvinthus, king of the Visigoths, who reigned from 649 to 672. Charles le Chauve died in 823; but, according to Grégoire de Tours, when Childebert returned from a campaign against the Visigoths in Spain, he brought away divers gold and silver treasures, including a gold cross from Toledo; therefore there must have been an extensive school of goldsmithy in Spain at that time, and Toledo is the very spot near which the Guarrazar spoils were discovered. Were they made there some 100 years or so after Childebert's death? Grégoire de Tours also speaks of the king setting up workshops in the Parvis Notre-Dame, doubtless in imitation of the Spanish school; and in his _Notice de l'Orfévrerie_, M. Alfred Darcel points out a similarity between the Merovingian and the Spanish style of work. "Ce qui ressort de la plupart des passages que nous venons de citer, c'est que l'orfévrerie mérovingienne a pour principal caractère l'alliance des pierreries aux métaux précieux. Ce caractère se retrouve dans l'ornamentation des couronnes de Guarrazar ... et dans l'orfévrerie Byzantine." Is it possible, then, that the _ante-pendium_ presented by Charles le Chauve to S. Denis was made at the workshops set up by Childebert in the Parvis Notre-Dame, in imitation of those he had seen at Toledo; and that the workmanship was also an imitation of the Spanish goldsmithy of a hundred years earlier?

But of all this beauty, of all this wealth, what have we now? Marvellously little; still, considering the robbers, royal and plebeian, the fires, the wars, and the undisciplined mobs, we ought to be thankful that so much has been preserved. That even the great churchmen were not above suspicion we see by the account of the coronation of Louis XIII.; the cardinal being obliged "to binde himself" to restore the "holy oyle" before the monks would let him take it into his hands; and the Prior of S. Remy, who had the custody of it, standing by and "looking sharplie to the holie oyle."

Of the few things which remain from the wreck, the following will be found in the Louvre and the Bibliothèque Nationale, commencing with the former.[56]

The beautiful Egyptian Amphora of porphyry transformed by Abbot Suger[57] into an eagle for service as an altar vessel. It is silver-gilt, and bears an inscription round the bird's neck: _Includi Gemmis lapis ista meretur et auro--marmor erat sed in his marmore carior est._[58] Suger himself thus describes it: "Un vase de porphyre, chef-d'oeuvre de taille et de sculpture; depuis longues années il était sans emploi dans l'écrin; d'amphore qu'il était, nous l'avons transformé en un aigle, au moyen de l'or et de l'argent, nous l'avons adapté au service de l'autel, et sur ce vase nous avons fait inscrire les vers qui suivent."

Another antique sardonyx[59] set by Suger, with a mounting of silver-gilt filagree and precious stones ornamenting it. Suger's account of this vase is as follows: "Nous avons acheté, pour le service du même autel, un calice précieux de sardonyx; nous y avons joint, en guise d'amphore, un autre vase de la même matière, mais de forme différente, sur lequel sont ces vers: _Dum libare Deo gemmis debemus et auro--Hoc ego Sugerius offero vas Domino._".... "Il était de ce sentiment que l'on doit employer à la décoration des autels tout ce que l'on a de plus précieux; il disait que si les juifs se sont servis dans l'ancienne loi de vases et de fioles d'or, pour ramasser le sang des animaux, à plus forte raison doit-on moins épargner, dans la nouvelle, l'or et les pierreries pour tout ce qui a rapport au saint sacrifice du corps et du sang de Jésus Christ." Twenty-four _plaques_ which decorated a book of the Gospels, in _cloisonné_ enamel, are of the 9th century. Some of them are ornamented with foliage, others with the four Evangelists. They belonged to the gold book-cover bearing the legend: _Beatrix me in honore Dei omnipotentis et omnium sanctorum eius fieri precepit_; which probably refers to Beatrix, grand-daughter of Hugues Capet and sister of Robert, king of France, wife of Ebles I., count of Reims.

A 13th century reliquary in _champlevé_ enamel.

The psalter of Charles le Chauve.

The beautiful antique rock-crystal vase, bearing the name of Aliénor d'Aquitaine. It was given by her to Louis VII., who presented it to Suger, who, in his turn, offered it to the Saints, as saith the inscription upon the foot: "_This vase was given by Aliénor to Louis, her husband. Mitadol gave it to her grandfather, and the King to me, Suger; and I, Suger, to SS. Rusticus and Eleutherius._"

The paten belonging to Suger's lost chalice. It is a serpentine disc incrusted with golden fishes.

A rectangular plaque of gold, _repoussée_ and gilt, bearing inscriptions in Greek.

A statuette of the Blessed Virgin, in silver, _repoussée_, chased, and parcel gilt and enamelled. The Virgin holds a _fleur-de-lys_, enriched with precious stones, in her right hand. It was given to the abbey by Jehanne d'Evreux, in 1334.

A sceptre with a statuette of Charlemagne upon a lily, of the reign of Charles V.

Another statuette of the Blessed Virgin in silver _repoussée_ and parcel gilt; with a little rock-crystal reliquary enclosing a piece of the swaddling clothes.

In the Bibliothèque:

A cameo (sardonyx) head of Augustus, formerly one of the gems of the reliquary containing the skull of S. Hilary. The reliquary was in the form of a mitred head, after the manner of that of S. Denis. The shoulders were vested in a cope, and this cameo set in the centre of the orphrey. The reliquary was made during the administration of Jérôme de Chambellan, grand prior from 1583 to 1606, but part of the mounting holding the pearls and stones seems to be of earlier date. There are three sapphires and three imitation rubies, separated by six bouquets composed of three pearls.[60]

A little chalcedony bust of Annius Verus as Bacchus, inscribed: _Verinus consulis probat tempora._ The bust bears a striking likeness to some medals and coins of the little son of Marcus Aurelius. It was the custom of the Roman consuls to send presents upon their appointments; thus, in sending this bust to a friend, some consul engraved the inscription, which signifies: _The little Verus will remind you of my consulate._ In the list by Dom Félibien of the treasury at S. Denis, this is called: _Tête d'un enfant faite d'une agate orientale._

One of the most precious of the treasures was the Bacchic cantharus, called the Cup of the Ptolomies. It is a sardonyx cup upon a pedestal, with handles of vine stalks, and covered with bas-reliefs. It is supposed to have gained its name from having belonged to Ptolomy XI., the husband of Cleopatra, who bore the surname of Dionysos or Bacchus. From the subjects of the bas-reliefs, it was undoubtedly consecrated to Bacchus. It has also been called the Cup of Mithridates, as having perhaps belonged to the celebrated collection of vases formed by the famous King. Singular though it may appear, this cup dedicated to Bacchus was given to S. Denis by one of the Carlovingian Kings; was it some blundering over the names, Dionysos and Dionysius? The gold foot was added to give it the form of a chalice, says Tristran de Saint-Amant, and the "grossier distique latin," placed upon this foot, "était profondément gravé sur l'or et la gravure remplie d'émail de couleur d'acier braze." The following inscription is easily read in the engraving in Félibien's history, but not the date: _Hoc vas Christe tibi mente dicavit tertius in Francos regmine Karlus._[61]

It has been thought that it was Charles the Simple who made the donation, but Félibien remarks that Charles le Gros as well as Charles le Chauve were also designated Charles III. In any case, it is known to have been in the treasury as early as the 9th century. In 1790, it was placed in the Cabinet de Médailles, but some years after it was stolen with the great cameo and other valuables. The thieves were arrested in Holland, and the cup and the cameo restored to the Bibliothèque; but the mounting of the latter and the foot of the cup had been melted up. According to a tradition referred to by Marion de Mersan, the queens of France drank consecrated wine from this cup upon their coronation day. Another tradition asserts that Henri III., in direful need of money, borrowed the cup, and pawned it to the Jews of Metz for a million of _livres tournois_.

A beautiful aqua-marine bust is the authentic portrait of the daughter of Titus, wife of Flavius Sabinus. It is signed Evodus, the name of a Greek artist known by two other signed gems. It formed part of the reliquary known as _escrain_ or _oratoire de Charlemagne_. Félibien speaks of it thus: "Ce reliquaire n'est qu'or, perles et pierreries. Sur le haut est répresentée une princesse que quelques uns estiment être ou Cléopâtre, ou Julie, fille de l'empereur Titus." Some of the stones are gone, but one of the remaining sapphires is an antique intaglio representing upon one side a dauphin, and upon the other a monogram surmounted by a cross of the 5th or 6th century. The letters of the monogram are [Greek: MATHY], possibly the initials of the owner, or the designation of the Virgin: [Greek: MARIA MÊTÊR THEOU] (_Marie, mère de Dieu_).

The Coupe de Chrosroës I., King of Persia, of the dynasty of the Sassanides (531-579) is of transparent rock-crystal, engraved with a representation of the King sitting upon his throne. In the history of the abbey, published in 1625, by F. I. Doublet, we find this cup mentioned as having been in the treasury, under the name of Solomon's cup, for more than ten centuries, "et donnée par l'Empereur et Roy de France Charles le Chauve." How it got into the hands of the King is not known. Chrosroës was defeated by Justinian, general of Tiberius Constantine, Emperor of the East; so that possibly the cup found its way to Constantinople after the battle. Félibien's description of it is: "Espèce de sous-couppe d'or ornée de crystaux de différentes sortes de couleurs. Au milieu l'on y voit un Roy assis dans son trône."

Such are a few of the treasures formerly at S. Denis. The church is lovely now, garnished only with its tombs and glass; what it must have been upon a great festival a couple of hundred years ago, or still farther back, imagination must be left to picture to itself. Even now, upon the fête of the Saint (October 9th), the effect of the procession, as it winds up and down the aisles and steps, is very fine, and quaint, too; for the Suisses wear black hats and feathers, cloaks, breeches, and stockings, after the style of Lawrence's "Kemble as Hamlet"; indeed, they seem to be the Dane, according to the courtly painter, personified. The costume of the boys, also, is different to that of the other churches. They wear violet cassocks, white cottas, scarlet capes with yellow edges, and red skull caps. The whole affair, the old canons bearing the relics, the boys in their quaint attire, the old-world vergers and beadles, the lights few and far between in the great dim church, the vistas of arched aisles ending in darkness, and the sparse congregation, give the impression of some period long before the end of this prosaic 19th century. The _châsses_ are in their old places upon the raised apse behind the altar; but they are of no artistic value. The setting of the jewels is there, but the jewels are gone. The church remains one of the grandest of its date, but its contents have been mended, patched, and re-made. Still, it is an exquisitely beautiful relic, left us by the ages of Faith.

S. Denis still goes barefoot, but not for love. Stern necessity keeps it so, or thrusts its cold feet into wooden shoes. It carries its red flag also, and waves it menacingly at all who love peace and quiet. Likewise, it perambulates in processions; but its relics are rags and hungry children. From a haven of rest, raised up with perhaps some grains of foolish superstition; from an artistic centre of all that was beautiful; from the trysting place of enthusiasts, diluted probably with a certain amount of bigotry, S. Denis has become faithless, hopeless, and restless; bigoted in its excessive Communism, unjust in its perversion of true Socialism, flaunting its Anarchic _oriflamme_ in the face of law and order. It is a strange contrast; but perhaps the cause and effect are nearer allied than is generally supposed.

SAINTE-ELIZABETH.

Situated in the Rue du Temple, the church dedicated to the great Hungarian princess formerly faced the entrance to the grim fortress of the Templars, where the poor little Dauphin sighed out his infant life. The church was built for the nuns of the third order of S. Francis, of which S. Elizabeth was a member; and the first stone was laid in 1628 by a very different sort of Queen, Marie de' Medici. The exterior, with its Doric pilastered doorway, and the interior, with its poor glass and indifferent sculptures, are alike utterly uninteresting; but the white marble font, bearing the date of 1654, and the woodwork which ornaments the aisle of the sanctuary, are worth a visit. The latter consists of a series of little panels representing scenes from the Old and New Testament in bas-relief, of the end of the 16th century, and are said to have been originally in a church at Arras. There is nothing in the building worthy of its patron, that most perfect of saints, whether we think of her as woman, as queen, or as mother.

"AVE GEMMA SPECIOSA! MULIERUM SYDUS, ROSA! EX REGALI STIRPE NATA, MUNDO LICET VIRO DATA NUNC IN COELIS CORONATA; CHRISTO TAMEN DESPONSATA. UTRIUSQUE SPONSALIA, SIMUL SERVANS ILLIBATA; SARAM SEQUENS FIDE PIA, ET REBECCAM PRUDENTIA, O DILECTA! O BEATA! NOSTRA ESTO ADVOCATA, ELIZABETH EGREGIA![62]

SAINT-ÉTIENNE DU MONT.

Upon the summit of the hill which rises up from the Seine, opposite and on the south side of Notre-Dame, is the church of S. Étienne du Mont. Some few years ago this "mountain" was an interesting hunting ground to the archæological explorer and the collector of _bric-à-brac_; but it has been so cut through by new streets and boulevards that it has almost been improved out of existence. At the foot of it, in a little street turning on from the Quai de la Tourelle, is all that remains of the famous college of the Bernardins, now used by the _sapeurs-pompiers_. The college was founded by an Englishman, Stephen of Lexington, Abbot of Clairvaux, in 1244, upon some ground belonging to the rich abbey of S. Victor; Alphonse, the brother of S. Louis, being the titular founder and protector of the establishment. The great church, begun in 1338 by Pope Benedict XII. and Cardinal Curti, to replace the one built by Stephen Lexington, was never finished, but was considered, in the 14th century, to be of great beauty. (Pope Benedict, as Jacques Fournier, was professor of theology in the college.) But more fortunate than the church, the refectory has remained intact in all its beauty until our own time, though unfortunately, in 1845, it was sadly mutilated in order to adapt it for use as a barrack. A portion of the cloister may still be seen in the Rue de Poissy, a pointed arch built into the modern wall of a house with square windows in between. It is time the municipality of Paris or the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings bestirred itself to restore the few fragments of old Paris which yet remain. The Revolution did much damage, but often it only put the conventual buildings to secular uses without destroying them, leaving for later governments, and those moreover professedly religious, to utterly demolish the mutilated monasteries and churches, in order to make straight streets and spacious boulevards, which, beautiful as they are, do not prevent us from regretting the past.

The convent of S. Geneviève was founded by Clovis, and so extensive were its lands and dependencies that ere long it drew to it a large population of workmen and labourers for the cultivation of its land. A priest, one of the monks of the abbey, was appointed to take spiritual charge of these people; and from this commencement grew the parish of S. Étienne. Originally the congregation met and worshipped in the crypt of the abbey church, which was dedicated to Our Lady; then the chapel was placed under the protection of S. John the Evangelist, and called St. Jean-du-Mont. But at the beginning of the 13th century the congregation outgrew its chapel, and in 1224 the Bishop of Paris authorised the building of a church by the side of the abbey, to be consecrated to the memory of S. Étienne, the proto-martyr. This first church, in fact, was only a part of the abbey; having had no separate entrance of its own, it could only be entered by a doorway from the choir of S. Geneviève. The reason for changing its name for the third time was probably the demolition of a church dedicated to S. Stephen to make space for Notre-Dame. The memory of the first of martyrs being dear to the citizens, nothing would be more appropriate than the naming of a new church to take the place of the old one, although upon a different site. The first mention of S. Étienne is in the History of Guillaume le Breton, in the year 1221.

This first church lasted three hundred years, and then again, the population having increased enormously, S. Étienne was found to be too small for its congregation, and another and finer church was projected. In 1491 it was deemed better to rebuild than to patch up and enlarge the church; but many years passed in projects and delays, and it was only in 1517 that the work was actually commenced. Abbot Philippe Lebel finished the choir in 1537, and in 1541 the Bishop of Mégare consecrated the altars in the name of the Bishop of Paris; but that the church was not finished in 1552, or even in 1563, the diocesan permission to apply the Lenten offerings to the work is sufficient proof. The _jubé_ was commenced in 1600, the porches nine years later, and the chapel of the Virgin (rebuilt) was only finished in 1661. It was Queen Marguerite de Valois, the lady who so strangely prances about Paris upon a white palfrey at dead of night in the much-admired controversial opera, who laid the first stone of the great portal in 1610; and, moreover, she gave a sum of three thousand _livres_ to aid the work; but what was this when so much was wanted? All was not complete until 1626, and meanwhile the alms during Lent were appropriated to the building fund. However, a glance at a slab of black marble on the north wall of the nave will tell us that on the 25th February, 1626, the Sunday called Sexagesime, under the pontificate of Urban VIII., and in the reign of Louis XIII. of gracious memory, the church and the high altar were dedicated to the glory of God and of the Virgin Mary by the "_révérendissime messire Jean-François de Gondi_," archbishop of Paris. Another inscription informs the reader of a wonderful accident which took place on this occasion:--

"Et pendant les cérimonies de la dédicace, devs filles de la paroisse tombèrent dv hauvlt des galleries du coevr, avec l'appvy et devx des ballvstres, qui fvrent miraculeusement préservées, comme les assistants; ne s'étant rencontré personne sovbs les rvines, vev l'affluence dv pevple qvi assistaient avs dites cérimonies."

Before the Revolution the _curé_ was always one of the regular canons of S. Geneviève. At the end of the 16th century he was assisted in his duties by a community consisting of twenty-four priests. In 1791, when the parishes of the city were reorganized, it was determined to remove the relics, the ornaments, and the monuments of the abbey church to S. Étienne, and to re-name the latter after the maid of Nanterre; but the decree was never carried out. Reforms and resolutions followed each other so rapidly that there was no time to put them into execution.

S. Étienne is a cruciform building, very much leaning to the right (as is so common in old churches), with a nave, two aisles, and nineteen chapels. The transepts scarcely project beyond the nave. The exterior is a mass of elegant ornamentation, and on the north side, under the windows, is a passage which connects the porch of the second bay with the _charnier_, a sort of cloister, built at the end of the Lady Chapel, exterior to the church. The enclosure within this cloister was formerly the little burial ground; the great cemetery being situated in the square which fronts the church.

There is something extremely coquettish and fascinating about the building, with its high-pitched roof, springing from a Renaissance façade, and its 15th century tower surmounted by a pepper-box lantern.

The old church of the abbey, which completely joined S. Étienne, has been entirely swept away to make room for the Rue Clovis; but the refectory and the tower still form a part of the Lycée Henri IV., a little turret at the easternmost angle of S. Étienne indicating the extremity of the monastery's domains.

Above the great doorway is a bas-relief of the stoning of S. Stephen and the legend: _Lapis templum Domini destruit, lapis astruit_. Right and left are statues of S. Étienne and S. Geneviève, the two patrons; above are Angels bearing torches. Upon the pediment is the Resurrection, and under the lintel we read: _Stephano archimartyro sacrum_. Two Angels above the great rose window bear the arms of Marguerite de Valois, and at the summit are the statues of S. Hilary and S. Benedict, patrons of two churches in the parish, now demolished.