>., /' *. J V J ^M£p^q\\ ( \ / ^-J J A/A 4^50 COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE LIBRARY NA 4830.861™" ""'"™"^ '""'"^ """BlMlwaSS^^^^^^ '"" "escribed I Cornell University f Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924015421823 Famous Cathedrals FAMOUS MARVELS AND MASTERPIECES OF THE WORLD As Seen and Described by Great Writers Collected and Edited by ESTHER SINGLETON Famous Paintings Great Pictures Modern Paintings Great Portraits Wonders of the World Wonders of Nature Famous Women Romantic Castles and Palaces Turrets, Towers and Temples Historic Buildings of America Historic Landmarks of America Great Rivers of the World Famous Sculpture Famous Cathedrals Fourteen volumes in all. Profusely illustrated. Each sold separately. You can get any of the series where you bought this book and at the same price. Famous Cathedrals As Seen and Described By Great Writers COLLECTED AND EDITED BY ESTHER SINGLETON With Numerous Illustrations NEW YORK DODD, MEAD & COMPANY . Copyright, 1909, by DoDD, Mead & CompanV Published, October, igoff Preface NOTHING perhaps gives the American tourist greater pleasure during his European travels than his visits to the great cathedrals. In nine cases out of ten soon after his arrival in any city or town his footsteps lead him directly to the Cathedral. The great fabric, planned and built by so many minds and hands, and representing so many periods of art and architecture, astounds, delights and entrances him and he finds himself wandering again and again in its vi- cinity to gaze on its sculptured portals and facade when the gray stone glows with the roseate tints of morning or evening, or when it emerges from the mist like a palace of dreams, or towers in the moonlight with fantastic effect. He likes also to study the conglomeration of buildings at different angles, now from the great western entrance, now from the apse, now from the chapter-house and cloisters, with varied views of towers, windows and flying buttresses. If the great fabric charms him from the exterior, what are his emotions when he discovers the wealth of the inte- rior with its forests of columns, springing arches, magnificent carvings of stone and wood, and its glowing pictures of glass set in frames of exquisite tracery. Very aptly has Mr. Fergusson said : " Not only is there built into a Mediaeval cathedral the accumulated thought of all the men who had occupied them- selves with building during the preceding centuries, but you VI PREFACE have the dream and aspiration of the bishop, abbot, or clergy for whom it was designed ; the master mason's skilled construction ; the work of the carver, the painter, the glazier, the host of men who, each in his own craft, knew all that had been done before them, and had spent their lives in struggling to surpass the works of their fore- fathers. It is more than this : there is not one shaft, one moulding, one carving, not one chisel-mark in such a build- ing, that was not designed specially for the place where it is found, and which was not the best that the experience of the age could invent for the purposes to which it is ap- plied ; nothing was borrowed ; and nothing that was de- signed for one purpose was used for another. A thought or a motive peeps out through every joint; you may wander in such a building for weeks or for months together, and never know it all." It is manifestly impossible within the covers of a book of this size to include all the cathedrals familiar to and loved by the traveller ; but I have endeavoured to bring before the reader a varied list, at the same time not omitting those that all the world agrees are the most celebrated. I have also tried to vary the text as much as possible, making some selections that are architectural ; some that are descriptive ; some that are historical ; and adding a few impressionist pictures, like those of Bourges and St. Isaac's. For the information of the layman, Mr. Francis Bond has described the divisions of a cathedral as follows : " As regards the nomenclature of the parts of a cathedral it may be useful to mention that the high altar is to the east ; and that facing the east, the visitor has the south transept and south aisles on his right, and the north transept and north aisles on his left hand. Standing at the altar or PREFACE VII the choir-screen, and looking down the nave to the great doors, he has the north transept and north aisle of the nave on his right, and the south transept and south aisle of the nave on his left. " The western limb of the cathedral is called the nave. The term ' choir ' is sometimes loosely applied to the whole of the eastern limb. Strictly it applies just to that part of the church where the stalls are } and that part, as in St. Al- ban's and Norwich, need not necessarily be in the eastern limb at all, but in the crossing and in the easternmost bays of the nave, " In a cathedral with a fully developed plan, e. g.^ St. Alban's, or Winchester — the following ritualistic divisions will be met with in passing from west to east : — (i) The nave ; (2) the choir j (3) the sanctuary ; (4) the retro-choir, containing (a) processional aisle, (^) Saint's Chapel, (f) ante- chapel or vestibule to the Lady's Chapel ; (5) Lady's Chapel. Sometimes these ritualistic divisions correspond with the architectural divisions of the church ; sometimes they do not : e. g.^ the ritualistic divisions of the eastern limbs of York and Lincoln were not shown in the structure, but merely marked oiF by screens, most of which have been destroyed." In my endeavour to give as comprehensive a view as possible and at the same time to include the special features of each cathedral, I have sometimes been forced to cut ; but otherwise no liberties have been taken with the text. E. S. New ITorij Septembery /pop. Contents Rouen Cathedrai. . Benjamin Winkles . I St. Mark's, Venice Theophile Gautier . 9 Peterborough Cathedral W. J. Loftie 22 Amiens Cathedral Augustus J. C. Hare . 27 Oxford Cathedral Francis Bond 36 BouRGES Cathedral Arthur Symonds 45 St. Peter's Rome . Francis Wey . SO Pamplona Cathedral . George Edmund Street . 60 Ely Cathedral . W. D. Sweeting . 67 Strassburg Cathedral . Dr. Julius Euting . 76 Sens Cathedral . L. Cloquet . . 83 Durham Cathedral . Canon Talbot . 87 Aix-la-Chapelle Cathedral . Victor Hugo . 93 The Duomo, Florence . E. Grifi 98 Notre Dame, Paris S. Sophia Beale 104 York Minster Dean Purey-Cust . 114 Burgos Cathedral Edmondo De Amicis 123 Ch£lons-8ur-Marne Jean Jacques Bourassi 128 Winchester Cathedral Dean Kitchen '32 Tours Cathedral Stanislas Bellanger 138 St. Bavon, Ghent Frederic G. Stephens 142 Bayeux Cathedral H. H. Bishop 148 St. Stephen's, Vienna . Julius Meurer . IS3 EvREux Cathedral Benjamin Winkles . ^$7 Rochester Cathedral . W. J. Loftie . 162 Milan Cathedral Joseph Boldoritti . . 168 Chichester Cathedral . Francis Bond • 175 Reims Cathedral . Augustus J. C. Hare . 184 CONTENTS St. Isaac's, St. Petersburg NoYON Cathedral St. Paul's, London Cologne Cathedral CouTANCES Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral CoMO Cathedral . Vassili-Blagennoi, Moscow Gloucester Cathedral Chartres Cathedral St, Patrick's, Dublin SoissoNS Cathedral Tournay Cathedral Le Mans Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral Laon Cathedral Gerona Cathedral Beauvais Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral Poitiers Cathedral Thiophile Gautier . .191 Eugene Lefivre-Pontalis . 199 Dean Milman . . 204 Esther Singleton . .214 Paul Joanne . . 219 John Honey man . .222 John Addington Symonds 226 Thiophile Gautier . , 232 Dean Spence . . .236 H. J. L. L. Maui . 242 Dean Bernard . . 254 L. Cloquet . ■ . .261 Frederic G. Stephens . 264 Augustus J. C. Hare . 269 Francis Bend . . 274 Esther Singleton . . 282 George Edmund Street . zi-j Benjamin Winkles . . 297 W. J. Loftie . . 305 Jean Jacques Bourassi . 310 Illustrations Rouen Cathedral Frontispiece Facingfage St. Mark's, Venice lo Peterborough Cathedral 22 Amiens Cathedral 28 Oxford Cathedral 36 BouRGEs Cathedral 46 St. Peter's, Rome 50 Ely Cathedral 68 Strassburg Cathedral 76 Sens Cathedral 84 Durham Cathedral 88 Aix-la-Chafelle Cathedral 94 The Duomo, Florence 98 Notre Dame, Paris 104 York Minster 114 Burgos Cathedral 124 Chalons-sur-Marne Cathedral 128 Winchester Cathedral 132 Tours Cathedral 138 St. Bavon, Ghent 142 Bayeux Cathedral 148 St. Stephen's, Vienna 154 EvREUX Cathedral 158 Rochester Cathedral . . . . . . .162 Milan Cathedral 168 Chichester Cathedral 176 Reims Cathedral 184 St. Isaac's, St. Petersburg 192 NoYON Cathedral 200 St. Paul's, London 204 Cologne Cathedral 214 XII ILLUSTRATIONS CouTANCES Cathedral 220 Glasgow Cathedral > • 222 CoMO Cathedral 226 Vassili-Blagennoi, Moscow 232 Gloucester Cathedral 236 Chartres Cathedral 242 St. Patrick's, Dublin 254 SoissoNS Cathedral 262 Tournay Cathedral 264 Le Mans Cathedral 270 Canterbury Cathedral 274 Laon Cathedral 282 Lichfield Cathedral 306 Poitiers Cathedral 310 ROUEN CATHEDRAL BENJAMIN WINKLES ROUEN CATHEDRAL is of vast dimensions, of wonderful magnificence and (which constitutes its peculiar excellence) of the very best proportions. Other cathedrals have their peculiar excellencies, but they have at the same time some very obvious defect. Rouen Cathedral, having no such defect, may be considered, as a whole, su- perior to any other in France. Beauvais, for instance, has a choir and Evreux a transept and central tower to which there is nothing comparable in the corresponding portions of Rouen Cathedral, or indeed in any other portions of it ; but Beauvais has no nave and Evreux has a west front of mod- ern Italian architecture, and is, moreover, very defective in re- gard to its proportions. To say then that Rouen Cathedral is one of the first class is not enough ; it is undoubtedly among the first in that class, if it does not stand alone as altogether pre-eminent. Let the reader suppose himself standing immediately op- posite the great centre portal, and a few yards from it ; what a vast and splendid display of Gothic architecture is then before him. If he has been already dazzled by the south front of the transept of Beauvais Cathedral, what will he feel on first beholding the west front of the metropolitan church of Rouen, which, with all the richness of the former, and far greater delicacy of detail, has, at the same time, nearly four times its extent? This truly majestic fa9ade presents a 2 ROUEN CATHEDRAL breadth of 170 feet; the plan of it may be said to be the usual one, although with several peculiarities attending it. Thus, for instance, there are three portals, the centre one rising much higher, and having nearly double the breadth of the lateral ones, which is usual ; but then, in this in- stance, it also projects far beyond the others in the form of a porch, and is flanked by enormous pyramidal buttresses, exceedingly rich, which from their size and form deserve to be called turrets, with spires upon them. Again, it has two towers, which is usual, but their position is very unusual ; for instead of immediately flanking the west end of the nave, as in some instances, or its side aisles, as in others, they are built beyond even these last, with one side of each of them against the outer walls of the nave chapels on each side of the Cathedral, which gives to this front its noble and unusual breadth. The space thus formed between these towers and the west end of the nave, on either side of it, is filled up with arcades which are adorned with tracery and surmounted by open canopies, or pierced gables, which are crocketed and terminated by small statues. The slender columns which support this arcade are also terminated by crocketed pinnacles ; and it is further adorned with tracery, niches and statues, while above it rise four turrets, which were all once surmounted by spire-work of beautiful design and open carving ; but one only now remains in its original state, the other three were deprived of these elegant por- tions by a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning, which happened on the 25th of June in the year 1683. It is impossible for words to describe the gorgeousness of the porch and portal in the centre of this fa9ade — what more can Gothic architecture do ? It is rich, elegant and delicate in the extreme ; it abounds with niches and statues ROUEN CATHEDRAL 3 and an almost endless variety of open and free tracery of the most beautiful description, and may be, not inaptly, called a gigantic ornament of filigree in stone ; and a mon- ument both of the munificence of the cardinal, at whose expense it was wrought, and of the brilliant talents of the architects, who strove and who have done ample justice to that munificence by the production of this astonishing per- formance. The great gable which surmounts the portal with traceiy and bas-relief (except where the Cathedral clock is placed), and is attached to the flanking buttresses by a row of pointed arches, behind which runs a gallery with a front of carved stone. Above the porch, and partly concealed by its acute angled gable, is the large rose win- dow within a pointed arch, so often found in French cathe- drals, and under similar circumstances. Above this is a gallery adorned with a row of pointed arches with pinnacles and canopies, and above this again rises the gable itself of the nave of the Cathedral, enriched with sculpture and fretwork, and forming as it were a crown to the central part of this immense facade. The two lateral portals be- long to an earlier age, as is plainly to be seen by the style of them; they are both decorated with bas-reliefs. Upon the tympanum of that towards the Butter Tower, the Vir- gin is seen, surrounded with angels ; upon the tympanum of the other, Salome dancing before Herod ; and again the same Salome presenting the head of John the Baptist to her mother. We come now to the towers which terminate this facade at either end. That at the north end called the Tower of St. Romain, from the base to the upper story of it, is very simple when compared to that upper portion, and to the rest of the facade. It is terminated by a roof of wood cov- 4 ROUEN CATHEDRAL ered with lead, very graceful in its form and not unlike a martial tent ; and rising so high above the parapet as to malce this of equal height with the other tower. Of the beauty of that other, too much cannot be said. Lilce the Tower of St. Romain, the greater part of it is square, but unlike that in having angular buttresses deco- rated with statues, and a buttress also running up the centre of each side, adorned in the same manner. The spaces between the buttresses in the three lower stories of the tower are filled with mullions and tracery in the form of pointed windows ; above this portion of the tower are two open galleries of beautiful workmanship, one above the other, and between them, in each of the four faces of the tower, are four windows pierced but not glazed, and deco- rated with fretwork and surmounted with open canopies. Above these windows the tower takes an octagonal form and is pierced with a large pointed window in each side full of good tracery. It is also adorned with an intricacy of detail, beautiful indeed, but not to be described by words, and surmounted with a graceful open parapet adorned with delicate crocketed pinnacles thickly set, crowning the whole as with a diadem of stone. This tower, though vul- garly called the Butter Tower,* is also known by the name of George d' Amboise, at whose expense it was erected. The space between this tower and the west end of the nave is less than that between the same west end and the Tower of St. Romain, so that while the former is filled up with only three arches, the latter space has four. So much, however, is the eye engaged in contemplating the splen- 1 It was called the Butter Tower because the expense of building it was defrayed by the money which was procured by the sale of permis- sion to eat butter during Lent in the dioceses of Rouen and Evreux. ROUEN CATHEDRAL S dour of this facade, and so filled and enraptured as it gazes, that this irregularity is scarcely ever detected at first sight. A delight mingled with somewhat of awe steals upon the spectator on his first introduction into this vast and beauti- fully proportioned temple. It was once observed by a stranger entering King's College Chapel, in Cambridge, for the first time : " This is a place for angels to worship in " ; of the interior of the Cathedral of Rouen the stranger would describe his feelings by saying, — surely, this is the antechamber of the Divine Presence. Whether owing to this awe-inspiring quality, or to the more than commonly good taste and good feelings of the inhabitants of Rouen, or to mere accident, it is certain that the interior of this Cathedral has suffered much less than the exterior, and much less than most other cathedrals have in- ternally in the ravages of the Revolution. On entering, the eye enjoys an uninterrupted view of the whole length of the Cathedral, and through the intercolumniations of the apse the whole length of the Lady Chapel also. Noth- ing in architecture can exceed the beauty and mag- nificence of this general view of the interior of Rouen Cathedral. Above the pillars and arches of the nave runs another line of both in the place of a triforium ; above this again are two galleries, one above the other ; and higher yet, and crowning all, is seen the clerestory with its windows, so that there are five horizontal divisions in the walls of the nave which has no parallel in England. The vaulting is of the simplest kind, both of the nave and side aisles ; that of the latter springs from the level of the second row of pillars and arches in the nave, an arrangement to be found in only 6 ROUEN CATHEDRAL one instance in England ; namely, in the abbey church of Waltham. Eleven clustered columns and ten pointed arches on each side support the walls of the nave : the eight columns of the transept are of the same size and form, but the four col- umns which support the central tower, though of the same form, are nearly double the circumference, and more than thrice the height. The columns of the choir, fourteen in number, are cylindrical, six of them are in the apse, which is pentagonal. The arcades of the choir, both above and below, are pecul- iarly light and, elegant. The great altar is isolated and occupies the centre of the apse. The Cathedral is lighted by one hundred and thirty win- dows, some of which are still adorned with the original painted glass. The great windows of the nave, the tran- sept, and some of those in the choir are, however, of com- mon glass, with medallions and scrolls of painted glass in- serted at intervals. The other windows of the choir are adorned with painted glass, representing figures of saints and archbishops. That at the end represents the Saviour on the cross, above which is seen the sun and the moon ; in the glass next to this the Virgin is represented with the Apostles Peter and John, together with inscriptions in large letters. The painted glass in the Chapel of St. Romain is very much, and very justly, esteemed, and represents the principal actions of his life. Besides these windows already enumerated, the Cathedral is lighted also by three rose windows, one at each end of the transept and one over the organ at the west end of the nave. Those at the two ends of the transept are of white glass ornamented with medallions of stained glass, repre- ROUEN CATHEDRAL 7 senting various subjects from Scripture history. In respect of glazing, however, the rose window at the north end is greatly superior to that of the south. That of the west end of the nave is greatly superior to them both in point of the variety and beauty of its colours. The attention is caught equally by the architectural design of the rose, and the in- genious combination of colours in the glazing in which red and blue predominate. In the middle is what we would rather never see attempted, a figure to represent the Deity, surrounded by a multitude of angels, holding musical instru- ments of various kinds which occupy the other compart- ments of the rose. Around the great arch which serves as a frame to the rose window are placed ten figures of angels holding the instruments of the Passion in their hands. Be- fore this window runs a gallery of open carving very rich, with the two extremities cutting ofF the corners of the nave ; the same arrangement is to be seen in the transept of Evreux Cathedral ; underneath this runs another gallery composed of a beautiful arcade of pointed arches and slender columns, which unfortunately is in a great measure concealed by the vast organ which is placed in front of it. We now arrive at the transept with its side aisles and central tower, or lantern, as it is here called. It is seldom that a transept corresponds with the nave so entirely as in this instance, being nearly of the same date, and divided into a middle and side aisles by columns and arches of the same design. The extremities of the transept, besides the rose windows which light it, are adorned also with many niches, canopies and trefoiled headed arcades cut in the walls. At the end of the northwestern side aisle of the transept is a staircase of very beautiful Gothic design, in open tracery, which once led to the library and to the archives of 8 ROUEN CATHEDRAL the chapter. Near the staircase is a door by which the canons formerly went from the Cathedral into the Chapter- house. The Chapels of the Cathedral which add to its vastness, if not to its embellishment, are five-and-twenty in number, and still exhibit some remains of their former magnificence. ST. MARK'S, VENICE THfiOPHILE GAUTIER LIKE the mosque of Cordova, with which it offers more than one point of resemblance, the basilica of St. Mark has more width than height, unlike the usual Gothic church, which springs towards the sky with numerous arches, spires and pinnacles. The great central cupola has an elevation of only a hundred and ten feet. St. Mark's pre- served much of primitive Christianity when, scarcely out of the catacombs, it tried, not yet possessing any formulated art, to build a church with the debris of antique temples and the conceptions of Pagan art. Begun in 979, under the Doge Piero Orseolo, the basilica of St. Mark was built slowly, being enriched in each century with some new treasure and beauty, and, a strange thing that upsets all ideas of proportion, this mass of columns, bas-reliefs, enamels and mosaics, this mixture of styles, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Gothic, produces a most harmonious whole. This incoherent temple in which the Pagan would find again the altar of Neptune with its dolphins, tridents and sea-shells serving as holy water basins ; in which the Mo- hammedan might believe himself to be in the mirab of his own mosque on seeing inscriptions running around the vaultings, like Surahs from the Koran ; and in which the Greek Christian would find his Panagia crowned like an empress of Constantinople, his barbaric Christ with inter- 10 ST. MARK'S, VENICE laced monogram, the special saints of his calendar drawn in the style of Panselinos and the artist-monks of the holy mountain ; and in which the Roman Catholic feels living and palpitating in the shade of the naves illuminated by the tawny reflection of the gold mosaics the absolute faith of the early days, the submission to dogma and hieratic forms, the mysterious and profound Christianity of the ages of be- lief; this temple, made of fragments and pieces that oppose one another, enchants and caresses the vision better than could be effected by the most correct and symmetrical ar- chitecture ; its unity results from its multiformity. Round and pointed arches, trefoils, colonnettes, flower-work, cu- polas, slabs of marble, backgrounds of gold and bright colours of mosaic, — all this arranges itself with rare happi- ness, and forms a most magnificent monumental bouquet. The side facing the square has five porches leading into the church, and two opening under the exterior lateral gal- leries ; seven in all, three on each side of the great central porch. The principal doorway is marked by two groups of four columns of porphyry and verd-antique on the first story, and six on the second that support the spring of the arch. The other porches have only two columns, also in two stages. We only speak here of the facade itself, for the ' depth of the porches is adorned with other colonnettes of cipolin marble, jasper, pentelic, and other precious ma- terial. We will examine in some detail the mosaics and orna- ments of this marvellous porch. Beginning with the first arcade on the water side we notice over a square door closed with a grille a black Byzantine plaque in the form of a reliquary, with two angels embraced on the ribs of the ogive. Higher up, in the tympanum of the arch, is a large ST. MARK'S, VENICE ST. MARK'S, VENICE II mosaic on a gold background representing the body of St. Mark removed from the crypt of Alexandria and smuggled through the Turkish customs between two sides of pork — an unclean meat of which Mussulmans have a horror, and the contact of which would necessitate innumerable ablutions. The unbelievers are scattering with gestures of disgust, stupidly allowing the body of the holy Apostle to be carried ofF. This mosaic was executed after the cartoons of Pietro Vecchia, about 1650. In the springing of the archivolt on the right is an antique bas-relief representing Hercules with the Erymanthian Hind on his shoulders and trampling on the Lernaean Hydra ; and on the springing on the left (from the spectator's point of view) by one of those con- trasts so frequent in St. Mark's, we see the angel Gabriel standing, winged, booted and nimbused, leaning upon his lance — a singular pendant to the son of Alcmene and Jupiter ! In the second arcade is cut a door that is not symmet- rical with the other. This one is surmounted with a win- dow of three ogives in the head of which are two quatre- foils, surrounded with a band of enamel. The mosaic of the tympanum, also on a gold ground like all those in St. Mark's, has for its subject the arrival of the Apostle's body at Venice, where it is received on disembarkation by the clergy and the notables of the city. We see the ship, and the wicker crate that transported it. This mosaic is also by Pietro Vecchia. A St. Demetrius, seated, with sword half unsheathed, his name carved near his head, of a very savage and Lowrr Em- pire aspect, continues the line of bas-reliefs set in the fa- 9ade of the basilica as in the wall of a museum. The central doorway is, as it should be, richer and more 12 ST. MARK'S, VENICE highly ornamented than the others. Besides the mass of columns of ancient marble that support it and give it im- portance, three rows, two interior and one exterior, strongly outline its arc by their projection. These three toruses of ornaments carved, dug out and cut with marvellous pa- tience are composed of a bunchy spiral of leaves, branches, flowers, fruits, birds, angels, saints, figurines and chimaera of all kinds; in the last one, the arabesques spring from the hands of two statues seated at each end of the cordon. The door, garnished with bronze valves studded with snouts of fantastic animals, is crowned with a niche with wings gilded, trellissed and pierced like those of a triptych, or cabinet. A Last Judgment of great size occupies the top of the arcade. The composition was by Antonio Zanchi, and the translation into mosaic by Pietro Spagna. The work dates from about 1680, and was restored in 1858 in accordance with the original design. It is above this porch, on the gallery that runs around the church, that are placed, having ancient pillars for bases, the celebrated horses that for a short time ornamented the Carrousel triumphal arch. Opinions greatly differ regard- ing their origin. Some insist that they are Roman work of Nero's day, transported to Constantinople in the Fourth Century ; others consider them Greek work of the Isle of Chios brought to that city in the Fifth Century by order of Theodosius, and used to decorate the hippodrome ; and still others affirm that these horses are the work of Lysippus — what is certain is that they are antiques, and that in 1205 A. D. Marino Zeno who was Podestat at Constanti- nople for the Venetians had them removed from the hip- podrome and given to Venice. These horses may be ST, MARK'S, VENICE I3 classed among the most beautiful relics of antiquity. They are historic and genuine — rare qualities. Their action shows that they were harnessed to some triumphal quadriga. Their material is no less precious than their form. It is said that they are of Corintftian bronze, the greenish surface of which is visible through a gilded varnish scaled by time. In the lower part, the fourth porch presents the same dis- tribution as the second. The tympanum of the arcade is occupied by a mosaic representing the Doge, senators and patricians of Venice coming to honour the body of St. Mark extended on a bier and covered with a brilliant blue drapery. In the corner is a group of Turks in despair at having al- lowed the robbery of such a treasure. This mosaic, most brilliant in tone, was executed by Leopoldo del Pozzo after the design of Sebastian Rizzi, in 1728. It is very beauti- ful. In the springing of the archivolt adjoining the great doorway, we see a St. George, in Greco-Byzantine style ; in the other, an angel, or unknown saint. The fifth porch is one of the most curious of all. Five little windows of gold trellis work and varied cutting fill the lower part. Above, the four evangelical symbols in gilt bronze, the ox, lion, eagle and angel, as fantastic in form as Japanese chimaera gaze suspiciously at one an- other, whilst a strange cavalier mounted on what may be either Pegasus, or the pale horse of the Apocalypse, caracoles between two gold rosettes. The capitals of the columns are also of a more savage, archaic and bushy taste than any- where else. Higher up, a mosaic, the work of an unknown Twelfth Century artist, contains a picture of great interest, a view of the church constructed to receive the relics of St. Mark as it was eight hundred years ago. 14 ST. MARK'S, VENICE The line of bas-reliefs ends on this side with a Her- cules carrying the Calydonian boar. Under this are two lions rampant, and, a little lower still, an antique figure holds an inverted amphora on his shoulder. This theme, given doubtless by chance, has been happily repeated in the rest of the edifice. This row of porches which forms the first story of the facade is bordered by a balustrade of white marble; the second contains five arcades, the central one of which, larger than the others, arches behind the horses of Lysippus, and instead of mosaic is glazed with round glasses and adorned with four antique pilasters. Six bell-turrets, composed of four open columns forming a niche for the statue of an evangelist separate these arcades, the tympanum of which is round arched while the ribs are ogival. The four subjects of the mosaics are the Ascen- sion, Resurrection, Jesus raising Adam and Eve and the Patriarchs out of Purgatory, and the Descent from the Cross by Luigi Gaetano, after cartoons by MafFeo Verona, in 1617. In the springings of the arcades are nude figures of slaves of natural size with urns and amphorae on their shoulders. In the ogival point of the great central window, against a dark blue ground sewn with stars stands out the lion of St. Mark, gilded, nimbused, with outspread wings, and paw on an open testament on which are inscribed the words : Pax tibi, Marce, evangelista mens. Above this symbolical representation of the Evangelist, St. Mark, this time in hu- man form, stands and seems to receive the homage of the neighbouring statues. On each gable stands a statue, St. John, St. George, St. Theodore and St. Michael, wearing a nimbus for a hat. ST. MARK'S, VENICE 1 5 At each end of the balustrade are two flag staffs painted red, for flying flags on Sundays and fete days. The lateral facade, looking on the Piazzetta and touch- ing the Ducal palace also deserves attention. It is carved with antique bas-reliefs of various subjects. Incrustations of malachite, various enamels, two little angels in mosaic displaying the linen that retains the Di- vine imprint, a great barbarian Madonna presenting her son to the adoration of the faithful, and flanked by two lamps which are lit every evening ; a bas-relief of peacocks spreading their tails, perhaps coming from an ancient temple to Juno ; a St. Christopher loaded with his burden, and capitals of basket work and the most charming caprice : such are the riches presented by this corner of the basilica to the promenaders in the Piazzetta. The other lateral face looks on a little square, an exten- sion of the Piazza. It is fronted by the palace of the Pa- triarch of Venice and the church of San Basso. Entering the Cathedral, the door is surmounted by a St. Mark in pontifical robes, after a cartoon by Titian, by the Zuccati brothers. This mosaic has a brilliancy that ex- plains why jealous rivals accused the able masters of having employed painting instead of confining themselves to ordi- nary resources. There is nothing that can be compared with St. Mark's, Venice, — not Cologne, Strassburg, Seville, nor even Cordova with its mosque : it produces an astonishing and magic ef- fect. The first impression is that of a cave of gold incrusted with gems, splendid and sombre, at once dazzling and myste- rious. We ask ourselves whether we are in an edifice or in an immense casket. The cupolas, vaults, architraves and walls are covered l6 ST. MARK'S, VENICE with little cubes of gilded crystal, made at Murano, of an unalterable splendout, on which the light plays as on the scales of a fish, and which serve as a field for the inexhaust- ible fancies of the mosaists. Where the gold base stops, at the height of the column begins a casing of the most precious and varied marbles. From the vault hangs a great lamp in the form of a cross with four branches, with points of fieur de lis, attached to a golden ball cut in filigree, of marvellous efi^ect when it is lit. Six alabaster columns with fantastic Corinthian capitals of gilt bronze support elegant arcades on which runs a gallery almost all around the church. The cupola, with the Paraclete for a hub, rays for spokes and the twelve Apostles for circumference, forms an immense wheel of mosaic. In the pendentives, tall serious angels display their black wings against tawny tones. The central dome, which digs into the intersection of the arms of the Greek cross formed by the plan of the basilica, shows in its vast cup Jesus Christ seated on a sphere in the middle of a starry circle upheld by two pairs of seraphim. Above Him, the Divine Mother, standing between two angels, adores her Son in His glory ; and the Apostles, each separated by a naive tree, that symbolizes the Garden of Olives, form a celestial court, for their Master. Theological and cardinal virtues are niched in the intercolumniations of the windows of the small dome that lights the vault. The Four Evangelists, seated in cabinets of castellated form, are writing their precious books beneath the pendentives, the extreme points of which are occupied by emblematical figures pouring out of an urn tilted on their left shoulder the four rivers of Paradise : Gihon, Pison, Tigris and Euphrates. Further on, in the next cupola, the centre of which is ST. MARK'S, VENICE 1 7 filled with a medallion of the Mother of Godj the four familiar animals of the Evangelists, free this time from the supervision of their masters, are devoting themselves to guarding the sacred manuscripts, in chimerical and mena- cing attitudes, with a plenitude of teeth, claws and great eyes that would equip the dragon of the Hesperides. On the back of the hollow that gleams vaguely behind the high altar, the Redeemer is represented under a gigantic and disproportioned figure to mark, according to the Byzantine custom, the distance between the Divine person and the feeble creature. The atrium of the basilica is filled with Old Testament history : the interior contains the entire New Testament, with the Apocalypse for epilogue. The Cathedral of St. Mark is a great golden Bible, ornamented, illuminated and flowered, — a Mediaeval missal on a grand scale. For eight centuries, a city has turned over the leaves of this monu- ment like a picture book without growing weary in its pious admiration. Beside the illustration is the text : everywhere, mount, descend, and circulate that world of angels, apostles, evangelists, prophets, and doctors with every kind of face that people the cupolas, vaults, tympanums, arches, pillars, pendentives and the smallest wall space. Here, the genealogical tree of the Virgin spreads its bushy branches which bear for fruit kings and holy personages, and fills a vast panel with its strange branchings. There, gleams a Paradise with its glory, its blessed, and its legions of angels. This chapel contains the history of the Virgin ; that vault displays the whole drama of the Passion, from the kiss of Judas to the appearance of the holy women, passing also through the Agony in the Garden of Olives, and Calvary. All who have testified for Jesus, whether by prophecy. 1 8 ST. MARK'S. VENICE preaching, or martyrdom, are admitted into this great Chris- tian Pantheon. Here we see St. Peter crucified head down- wards, St. Paul beheaded, St. Thomas before the Indian King Gondoforo, St. Andrew suffering his martyrdom : not one of the servants of Christ is forgotten — not even St. Bacchus. Greek saints, with whom we Latins have very slight acquaintance, augment this sacred multitude : St. Phocas, St. Dimitrius, St. Procopius, St. Hermagoras, St. Euphemia, St. Erasma, St. Dorothea, St. Thecla, and all the beautiful exotic flowers of the Greek calendar that one would think painted after the receipts of the manual of painting of the monk of Aghia Lavra come to blossom upon these trees of gold and precious stones. At certain hours when the shadows deepen, and the sun casts only an oblique ray on the vaults and cupolas, strange effects are produced for the eye of the poet and the vision- ary. The gold grounds flash with dull gleams. Here and there the little cubes of crystal glitter like sunlit waves. The contours of the figures waver in this network of light. The stiff folds of the dalmatics seem to soften and float ; a mysterious life flows into inscriptions, and legends in Greek, Latin, Leonine verses, lines, sentences, names, monograms and specimens of calligraphy of all lands and all ages. Everywhere the black letter traces its pothooks and hangers on the golden page across the medley of the mosaic. It is the Temple of the Word rather than the Cathedral of St. Mark ; an intellectual temple, which, without caring about any particular order of architecture, builds itself with verses of the old and the new faith and finds its ornamentation in the display of its doctrine. We should like to be able to convey an impression of the dazzle and vertigo produced by these immobile Byzantine ST. MARK'S, VENICE I9 people ; the fixed eyes turn ; the arms, of Egyptian gesture, move ; the fixed feet begin to walk ; the cherubim wheel upon their eight wings ; the angels spread their long feathers of azure and'purple nailed to the wall by the implacable mosaist ; the genealogical tree shakes its leaves of green marble ; the lion of St. Mark rises, yawns and stretches out his clawed paw ; the eagle sharpens his beak and plumes his feathers ; the ox turns on his litter and ruminates as he swings his tail. The martyrs arise from their grills, or get oiF their crosses. The prophets converse with the evangelists. The doctors make observations to the young saints, who smile with their porphyry lips. The people of the mo- saics become processions of phantoms that go up and down the walls, circulate around the galleries, and pass before you shaking the hairy gold of their nimbuses. It is all dazzle, vertigo and hallucination ! When we lower our eyes to the ground, we see on the left the little chapel built for a miraculous Christ which bled when struck by a profane hand. Its dome, supported by columns of exceeding value, two being of black and white porphyry, is crowned by a ball consisting of the big- gest agate in the world. At the end, is the choir, with its balustrade, its porphyry columns, its row of statues carved by the Massegne broth- ers, and its great metal cross by Jacopo Benato ; its two pulpits of coloured marble ; and its altar, visible under a dais, between four columns of Greek marble, carved like Chinese ivory work by patient hands that have inscribed the whole story of the Old Testament in little figures four inches high. The pala of this altar, called the pa/a tToro, has for its cas- ing a compartment picture in the style of the Lower Empire. 20 ST. MARK'S, VENICE The pala itself is a dazzling mass of enamels, cameos, niello work, pearls, garnets, sapphires, open gold and silver work, a picture of precious stones representing scenes of the life of St. Mark, surrounded with angels, apostles and prophets. This pala was made in Constantinople in 976, and restored in 1342 by Giambi Bonasegna. The black altar, the cryptic altar, has remarkable col- umns of alabaster, two of which are extraordinarily trans- parent. Near this altar is the wonderful bronze door on which Sansovino has left beside his own portrait those of his close friends, Titian Palma and Aretino. This door leads to a sacristy the ceiling of which is an admirable mo- saic in arabesque by Marco Rizzi and Francesco Zuccato, after designs by Titian. It is impossible to imagine any- thing more rich, elegant and beautiful. The mosaic pavement which undulates like the sea, on account of its age, offers the most marvellous medley of arabesques, tendrils, ileurons, lozenges, interlacings, checker work, cranes, griffons, and chimaera winged and clawed, in heraldic attitudes. There is sufficient material here to fur- nish designs for the Gobelins and Beauvais manufacturers for centuries. One is awed and overwhelmed by the cre- ative faculty displayed by man in the realm of ornamental fancy. What time, care, patience and genius, what expenditure were required for eight centuries to collect this immense mass of treasures and masterpieces ! How- many golden sequins were melted down into the mosaic ! How many ancient temples and mosques gave up their pillars to sup- port these cupolas ! How many quarries have exhausted their veins for these slabs and columns and casings of marble, granite, alabaster, verd-antique, porphyry, serpen- ST, MARK'S, VENICE 21' tine and jaspar, of all tints ! What armies of artists, gen- eration after generation, have designed and carved in this cathedral ! Apart from the forgotten and humble workers, what a list might be made of names worthy to be inscribed in the golden book of art ! Among the painters who furnished the cartoons for the mosaics, for there is not a single painting in St. Mark's, we find Titian, Tintoret, Palma, the Paduan, Salviati, Aliense, Pilotti, Sebastian Rizzi and Tizianello, At the head of the masters of mosiac, we must place Petrus the Elder, the author of the colossal Christ that occupies the back wall of the church. Then come the Zuccati brothers, Bozza, Vincenzo Bianchini, Luigi Gaetano, Michaele Zambono and Giacomo Passerini. Among the sculptors, who were all of such prodigious talent that we are astonished that they are not better known, are Pietro Lombard, Campanato, Zuane Alberghetti, Paolo Savi, the Delle Massegne brothers, Jacopo Benato, Sansovino, P. Zuana delle Campane, Lo- renzo Breghno, and a thousand others, one alone of whom would suffice to glorify an epoch. PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL W. J. LOFTIE PETERBOROUGH is on the Nene, and borders the great fen country of Lincoln and Cambridgeshire, but stands itself within Northannptonshire, having a suburb across the river in Huntingdonshire. Several of the largest and most important of English ab- beys were in this neighbourhood among the fens, such as Ely, Crowland, Ramsey, Thorney, Kirkstead, and Oseney. There is an ancient rhyme in which Peterborough is men- tioned : — " Ramsey, the rich of gold and fee, Thorney, the flower of many a tree, Crowland, the courteous of thine meat and drink, Spalding, the gluttons, as all men think, Peterborough, the proud, Sawtrey, by the way ; That old abbey Gave more alms in one day Than all they." The abbey was originally known as Medehampstead, and is said to have been founded by King Penda in the Seventh Century. It was rebuilt for Benedictines, by Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester (963-984), and was dedicated to St. Peter, whence the little town was called Peterborough. The lord abbot was a Peer of Parliament, like his neighbour at Ramsey. " All, of what degree soever who entered the < Bi Q a < o E J O «! O CQ 0< w H u a. iL_:-,..„i^dk- PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 23 great gate, did so barefoot." No wonder it was called proud ! The approach is eminently monastic, through a Norman arch over which is the chapel of St. Nicholas. A fine view of the best feature of Peterborough, the west front, is imme- diately opened with a foreground of smooth turf. The great portico, with its three arches, eighty feet high, of pure Early English style, is unlike anything else in England, and inspires universal surprise and admiration. It was built on the old Norman church, but does not actually touch the western wall. The nave was completed in the Norman style by Abbot Benedict between 1177 and 1193; the transepts and choir are earlier, all being strictly Norman, with a nearly flat pointed roof. The northwest tower was built for a belfry about the middle of the Thirteenth Cen- tury. The western transept was built before 1200 by Ab- bot Andrew, only one of the transeptal bell-towers being completed, that to the north, which tell the close of the Seventeenth Century had a spire. The west front, with its three magnificent doorways and the original wooden doors, was the work of Abbots Zachary and Robert of Lindsey, about 1200 to 1222. The gables of the west transept are of the same date. In 1272, the Lady Chapel was built. It has disappeared. Another chapel across the axis of choir is behind the eastern apse, and has a beautiful vault of fan-work tracery. The win- dows are nearly all Perpendicular within Norman arches. The north side of the church is very grand, rising in five stages in the nave, the triforium being parted from the aisles by a tier of small lights. The north transept has seven stages, three occupied by windows, two of arcades with blind arches in the battlemented gable, which is flanked by 24 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAE octagonal turrets. The clerestory of the choir and transept consists of a noble round-headed arcade. The spires of the portico are of different sizes and de- signs. The northern does not group well with the tran- septal tower behind it, and there is a certain confusion to the eye when so many towers are in our view. The south- ern transeptal tower was never carried above the roof. The central tower, over the choir, after being repeatedly repaired and restored, fell in 1884, destroying the interior fittings and stalls, but, on the whole, doing less damage than might have been expected. The tower has been rebuilt, but not to the old pattern, and the four corner turrets have disap- peared. Mr. Pearson is the architect. We enter the church through a curious Perpendicular porch within the central arch of the great portico or screen. Though it does not rise to more than half the height of the arch above it, this low porch has a parvis, or upper chamber, in which is the cathedral library. These have successively been three west fronts — one behind the screen, and another, the first, at the second bay of the nave. The nave now consists, between the western end and the choir-screen, of eleven Norman bays. The wooden roof is painted. The choir is now refitted for the second or third time ; the old stalls, screen, and throne erected by Blore in 1830 having been removed after the fall of the tower. The south transept has aisles, of which the western forms a Chapter-room and the eastern is divided into the three chapels of St. Oswald, St. Benedict and SS. Kineburga and Kenswitha. The north transept has no western aisle. In the eastern are two chapels St. James and St. John. The sanctuary ends above in an apse, with five Norman windows filled with Perpendicular tracery. Beyond the altar is the PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 25 beautiful retro-choir, known as The New Building, with space for five altars side by side, and reminding us of the nine altars of Durham. This retro-choir is exquisitely vaulted in fan tracery. To the southward of the nave are the cloister walls — all that is left. On the same side are the ruins of the Early English Infirmary with the chapel of St. Lawrence, refec- tory and lower cloisters. The Abbot's Lodge is now the Bishop's Palace. There are many ancient features in it. The monuments in Peterborough Cathedral have suffered much. At the Reformation the church was in danger of being pulled down, and the lead of the roof was sold for con- veyance, it is said, to Holland, but the ship foundered at sea. Chief Justice Oliver St. John obtained a grant of the Minster, and conveyed it to the inhabitants as a parish church, after which the wreck was stayed. The principal monuments now to be seen are Abbot Alexander of Hol- derness, died 1226, an effigy in the choir; a curious altar, possibly a tomb, of marble, with figures of Apostles (?) formerly supposed, owing to a passage in the forged chron- icle of Ingulph, to be the Saxon monument of Abbot Hedda and his monks slain by the Danes in 833. It is of Twelfth Century work. In the nave is a memorial of a sexton, R. Scarlett, who died in 1594 — *' Hee had intered two Queenes within this place And this Townes Householders in his Life's space Twice over," according to the epitaph on his picture near the west door. Queen Katharine of Aragon died at Kimbolton on the 8th January, 1535, and was buried in Peterborough Abbey church in July of the same year. A dark-blue slab marks 26 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL her grave in the north aisle of the choir. After the tragical death of Queen Mary of Scotland, at Fotheringay Castle in February,. 1587, her body lay unburied even longer than that of her predecessor in misfortune, but was brought to Peterborough Cathedral, and there interred on the ist of August. James I. let five-and-twenty years elapse be- fore he removed his mother's body to the Chapel of Henry VII. The gravestone remains at Peterborough at the east end of the south choir aisle. It contrasts in our minds with the sumptuous " marble hearse " at Westminster. AMIENS CATHEDRAL, AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE THE first bishop of Amiens was S. Firman the Martyr (beheaded by the Roman magistrate Sebastianus Valerius), to whom the third bishop, S. Firman the Con- fessor, built the first Cathedral. The early church, devas- tated by repeated invasions of the Normans, was totally de- stroyed by fire in 12 18. The present glorious Cathedral of Notre Dame was begun by £vrard de Fouilloy (forty- fifth bishop) in 1220, from plans of Robert de Luzarches. The first designs were enormous, but want of funds caused their restriction in 1238. Under the next bishop, GeoiFroi d'Eu, Thomas and Regnaud de Cormont succeeded to the direction of the works, which were not finished till the end of the Thirteenth Century. The upper part of the towers and the facade were not completed till the Fifteenth Cen- tury ; the chapels of the nave were added in the Fourteenth Century. The present spire of 1529 replaces one of 1240, which was destroyed by lightning. It is difficult to realize that it is higher than that of Salisbury, being 422 feet above the pavement, as the gigantic roof reduces it to such insig- nificance that it is wholly inadequate to relieve the monot- onous outline which is a characteristic of this Cathedral externally. The whole building has undergone restoration of late years, under Viollet-le-Duc. The Cathedral of Amiens is the largest church in the world except St. Peter's at Rome, St, Sophia at Constant!- 28 AMIENS CATHEDRAL nople and the Cathedral at Cologne. It is difficult to ob- tain any good general external view. The magnificent west facade is preceded by a parvis, which supplies the difference in level between the east and west ends of the building. Here the central Porch of Le Beau Dieu d" Amiens takes its name from the figure of Christ on its cen- tral pillar, which at the time of its erection was " beyond all that had then been reached of sculptured tenderness " (Ruskin). To the right and left of the stylobate are medallions rep- resenting the Virtues and Vices; the Arts and Trades practised at Amiens at the time of the building of the church; and even two allegorical fables (the fox and the crow, the wolf and the crane). On the jambs of the portal are the wise and foolish virgins ; the Last Judgment is rep- resented in the tympanum. At the angles of the porches are the prophets. " Note that the Apostles are all tranquil, nearly all with books, some with crosses, but all with the same message, — ' Peace be to this house. And if the Son of Peace be there,' etc. But the Prophets — all seeking or wistful, or tor- mented, or wondering, or praying, except only Daniel. The most tormented is Isaiah; spiritually sawn asunder. No scene of his martyrdom below, but his seeing the Lord In His temple, and yet feeling he had unclean lips. Jere- miah also carries his cross — but more serenely " (Ruskin, The Bible of Amiens). The right Porch of the Virgin has, on its central pillar, a figure of the Virgin, simple and admirable in drapery, crushing a human-headed monster with her foot. Below are Adam and Eve and their expulsion from Paradise. The great side statues represent the Annunciation, the Visita- »■! nil] Mjiiii.,' j'sa- .-1 Gaddi, Orcagna, Filippo di Lorenzo and many others. Brunellesco began the Dome in the year 142 1 and finished it in the year 1434, keeping his word to build it without any scaffolding or supports — a wonderful enterprise - il^K O z A O O S o D Q w X H THE DUOMO, FLORENCE 99 which, even in the present day after all the progress made in mechanical arts, would be found anything but an easy task. There is sufficient space between the two Domes, placed one above the other, to admit of a staircase between them. This Dome is about three metres higher than that of St. Peter's at Rome. The Church was consecrated with great solemnity by Pope Eugenius IV. in the year 1435. In 1437, Brunellesco began to build the lantern on the top of the Dome, but did not see it finished, as he died in 1444. The last stone of the lantern was laid by the Archbishop and by the Gon- faloniere in the year 1456. The bronze ball cast by Andrea del Verrocchio was placed upon it on the 27th of May, 147 1 — the cross shortly afterwards. On the 30th of the same month the Capitolo della Metropolitana ascended the ball and sang the Te Deum. The ball was frequently struck by lightning. The most remarkable instance of this kind occurred on the 5th of April, 1492, three days before the death of Lorenzo il Magnifico. The present ball is larger than the former and dates from 1602. For the ex- ternal decoration of the Dome, Brunellesco designed the terrace, of which only an eighth part was finished (1515). The facade was finished in 1886 and was solemnly un- veiled on the 1 2th of May, 1887, in the presence of the King and Queen of Italy, with great popular rejoicings which found an echo throughout the whole of Italy. The new facade is a never ending subject of pride to the modern Florentine. It is without doubt the most impor- tant artistic work accomplished in Italy in modern times. The facade has an imposing aspect and harmonizes per- fectly with the rest of the building. It is, like the other parts of the Cathedral, composed of marbles of different 100 THE DUOMO, FLORENCE colours : white marble from Carrara, green from Prato, and from Maremma. It is adorned with many statues, bas-reliefs and mosaics which have given opportunity to many artists to share in this colossal structure. It is divided in three parts by four pilasters. The numerous coats-of-arms carved upon it belong to citizens of every class who subscribed to the building. Now let us walk around the building noting the various points of interest. The outside of the Cathedral is en- crusted with marbles of three different colours, and on both sides, between the two side doors the different height of the windows marks the point where the original design by Arnolfo was changed into a larger one by Buontalenti. The windows are narrow and long ; ornamented with very fine carving in marble, spiral columns and elegantly wrought statuettes. Only the larger windows nearest the transepts admit light — the others towards the western extremity are merely ornamental and their spiral columns and tracery are pamted. The four side-doors are four beautiful monuments of ornamental sculpture of different ages. Entering the Cathedral, the soul is filled with admiration by the majestic solemnity of the architectural lines. The sentiment inspired by the Duomo of Florence is more im- posing, more filled with mystic asceticism, more religious than that suggested by the greatest Roman temple. Pius IX., coming to Florence and visiting the Duomo, said : " In St. Peter's man thinks; in Santa Maria del Fiore, man prays ! " The interior of the building (restored in 1842) is divided in two large parts — the nave and the tribune, or apse. The nave is divided in three parts by two aisles formed by four pointed arches on either side of the nave supported by four THE DUOMO, FLORENCE lOI large pilasters in pietra serena. The capitals are carved in rustic leaves. The key-stones of the arches are decorated . with various insignia and devices. The tessellated pave- ment in white, red and blue marble, is attributed to Michel- angelo, Baccio d' Agnolo and Francesco da San Gallo. Over the principal front door is a mosaic by Gaddo Gaddi representing the Coronation of the Virgin, according to Vasari the most perfect work of the kind in all Italy. On the two sides are frescoes (not well restored in 1842) by Santi di Tito, representing Angels. Over the front door to the right an equestrian portrait in grisaille by Paolo Uccello, represents John Hawkswood {d. 1394), better known in Italy under the name of Giovanni Aguto, an English captain of free companies (Coiiclottiere) who served the Republic in the year 1392. At his death a magnificent funeral was accorded him by the Florentines. Over the left door is a portrait of the Condottiere Niccolo Marucci da Tolentino {d. 1434) by Andrea del Castagno, The beau- tiful stained glass windows of the facade, with their rich deep colouring, are the work of Bernardo de' Vetri after the designs of Donatello and Ghiberti. The Dome is painted in fresco with colossal figures representing the Last Judgment. The painting of the Dome was begun in 1572 by order of the Grand-Duke Cosimo I. by Vasari, then quite an old man. At his death Francesco I. consigned the work to Federigo Zuccaro who finished it in the year 1579. The three rose windows of the drum are of beautiful stained glass, representing: I. The Presentation in the Temple (after a design of Ghiberti) ; II. The Coronation of the Virgin (design by Donatello) j III. The Adoration (design by Paolo Uccello). 102 THE DUOMO, FLORENCE The marble enclosure of the choir (substituted for the former wooden by Donatello) and the high altar are by Bandinelli, assisted by eighty-eight of his pupils. They were both executed by order of Cosimo I. The wooden crucifix over the high altar is by Benedetto da Majano. Behind the choir is the Pieta, an unfinished work of Michel- angelo, executed when he was eighty-one years old (1555). This fine piece of work showing a deep artistic feeling combined with a profound anatomical knowledge, especially denoted in the lengthened figure of the Saviour, was placed here by order of Cosimo I. to substitute the Adam and Eve by Bandinelli now in the National Museum (Bargello). It was the last work of Buonarroti which he intended to have placed over his tomb. But, unfortunately, he left it unfinished. The windows in the southern transept (to the right) are good works of Domenico Livi da Gambassi. The designs are attributed to Ghiberti and Donatello. Their date is about 1434. Going out of the church through the door by which we entered, and turning to the right, we admire the Campanile di Giotto (the Bell-Tower), one of the most beautiful, most solid and elegant constructions of its kind. It was begun by Giotto (28th of July, 1334) in order to replace the old bell-tower of Santa Reparata that had existed on the other side of the church and had been destroyed by a fire in 1333. It is supposed to occupy the site of a small church dedicated to San Zanobi, in which the " Seven Servants of the Blessed Virgin " were miraculously called to lead a life of contemplation. Giotto built the first floor, then when the Gran Maestro died (1336), Taddeo Gaddi continued the work, assisted by Andrea Pisani and Francesco Talenti ; the latter finishing it in 1342. THE DUOMO, FLORENCE I03 The Campanile is encased in marbles of various colours ; but it is utterly impossible, simply by words, to give an idea of the beauty of the whole and elegance of the details. The Campanile is divided into five stories by strongly marked horizontal courses. The last three, only, have windows, the third and fourth having each two windows of two openings on each side ; the last one is a single window of three openings on each side. These windows, especially in the details, are rightly considered as the most beautiful ex- amples of Italian Ogival style. They were made by Fran- cesco Talenti. The last story, being the farthest away from the spectator, is about twice the height of the lower stories. The proportions existing between the different parts of the building and the skilful placing of the windows, all testify to the artistic taste of Giotto. NOTRE DAME, PARIS S. SOPHIA BEALE THE Cathedral is now open on all sides and the coup ct cell is fine when seen from the Place du ParvU — Notre Dame or from the garden at the east end ; but to ob- tain these fine views many buildings of interest have been sacrificed, — ^the cloisters, the churches of S. Jean-le-Rond and S. Christophe, the episcopal palace, the oldest parts of the hospitals of the Hotel Dieu and Les Enfants-Ttouves, and the chapel constructed in the Fourteenth Century by Oudart de Mocreux. The history of Notre Dame is in a great measure the history of France. It was there that the TV Deum was sung after successful battles, and where the standards which were taken from the enemy were suspended during the con- tinuance of the wars. There, too, in the early part of the Thirteenth Century S. Dominie preached from a book given him by the Blessed Virgin, who appeared to the Saint after an hour's silent meditation, radiant with beauty and dazzling as the sunlight. Some fifty years ago the Cathe- dral, and, indeed, all Paris, was stirred by the conferences held there by one of S. Dominie's own children, Pere La- cordaire, who, with his friends Lamenais and Montalembert, made an effort to free the Roman branch of the Catholic Church from the fungi which had grown on it, an efForl which was as fruitless as that undertaken by his predecessor Savonarola four hundred years before him. < w" < Q H O S5 NOTRE DAME, PARIS lOJ On the 27th of November, 143 1, the child Henry VI. of England, was crowned King of France in the choir of the Cathedral. But the pomp of this ceremony was soon effaced, for on the Friday in Easter Week, 1436, a Te Deum was sung to celebrate the retaking of Paris by the troops of Charles VII. In the Thirteenth Century the Feast of the Assumption was celebrated with great pomp; the whole church was hung with valuable tapestries and the pavement covered with sweet-smelling flowers and herbs ; but two centuries later, grass from the fields of Gentilly seems to have suf- ficed to do honour to Our Lady on her fete day. The same custom prevailed here as at the Sainte-Chapelle and other churches of letting fly pigeons and throwing flowers and torches of flaming flax from the windows in celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, The western facade, though not so rich as that of Reims, is, nevertheless, extremely beautiful. It is divided into three parts in width and into four stories in its eleva- tion. All the six doors of Notre Dame bear distinctive names — the Porte du yugement, the Porte de la Vierge and the Porte Ste. Anne^ at the west end ; the Porte du Cloitre, the Porte St, Marcel and the Porte Rouge at the east end. Each of these is divided into two openings by a central pier, sup- porting a figure and surmounted by a tympanum, over which is a deep voussure, peopled with sculptures innumerable. Tradition formerly recorded a flight of thirteen steps rising to the west front ; but the excavations made in 1847 proved this to have been a mistake. If steps existed any- where, they were probably on the side of the episcopal 106 NOTRE DAME, PARIS palace near the southern tower and leading down to the river. At the same time there is no doubt that the church would gain in effect were it raised above the roadway as is the case at Amiens. At present it is even a little lower than the Place^ but allowing for the rising of the ground during seven centuries, it is quite possible that the Cathedral had not the sunken appearance it has at present. In the niches upon the great buttresses are four figures ; S. Denis and S. Etienne at the extremities and two women crowned in the centre. These represent a very common conceit of the Middle Ages, the Church and the Synagogue, the one triumphant, the other defeated. Above the portals is the gallery of the Kings of Judah, the ancestors of the Virgin, and perhaps typical of the sovereigns of France. The gallery of the Virgin is still higher, and upon it in the centre stands the Queen of Heaven with attendant Angels, Adam and Eve being above the side doors. Higher still we come to the tower galleries presided over by delightful monsters of various zoological tribes. Nothing gives a visitor to Notre Dame a better notion of the richness of its sculptures than mounting to this gallery, whence he obtains a full view of the roof and the towers, with their numerous pinnacles, crockets, finials, gargoyles and statues. Unfortunately the great central portal was hopelessly wrecked by Soufflot in 177 1, in order to increase its width for processions ; it is one of the many examples which prove the fact that the " stupidity of man " has done more harm to old buildings than time or even disastrous riots and revolutions. In 1773 and 1787, so-called restorations, by architects who ought to have known better, still further mutilated the chui'ch. NOTRE DAME, PARIS IO7 Viollet-le-Duc did his work better than most restorers j but of the old church nothing remains but the shell — even the surface of the stone has been scraped and scrubbed, giv- ing the building as new an appearance as that of the churches of S. Augustin and La Trinite. Hugo's words, directed against the architects of Louis XIV. and Louis XV., apply equally to those of our own time : " If we could examine with the reader one by one the divers traces of destruction imprinted on the ancient church, those by Time would be the least and the worst by men, particularly by men who followed art." The great destruction occurred between 1699 and 1753. Louis XIV., the great destroyer of men and of their works, in order to carry out the " Vceu de Louis XIII," made away with the old carved stalls, the jub'e, the cloisters, the high altar with its numerous chasses and reliquaries, its bronze columns and silver and gold statuettes, the tombs and the stained glass. It 1771 the statues above the great west doors disappeared when Soufflot began his evil work of widening them. Another great loss to the church was the destruction of the statue of S. Christopher, a huge colossal figure as celebrated in the Middle Ages as the relics of the Sainte-Chapelle. It stood at the entrance of the nave and was the work of Messire Antoine des Essarts in 1443 in gratitude to the saintly giant for having saved him from the Burgundians. Miracle-working Virgins, Philippe-Auguste posing as S. Simon Stylites and two bishops of Paris like- wise upon columns were amongst some of the former treasures. Whether three great figures in wax of Gregory XL, his niece and nephew, which tumbled into decay in 1599, are equally to be regretted, is doubtful ; but the de- scription of an equestrian statue which stood in the nave, I08 NOTRE DAME, PARIS the man in armour and the horse in emblazoned trappings, sounds fascinating. When the Revolutionary period began, little remained to be done in the way of destruction, but that little the votaries of Reason did pretty well as regards everything pertaining unto royalty ; for to be just we must remember that any- thing that could be construed into philosophy or art was spared. In August, 1793, it was decided that eight days should be allowed for the destruction of the gothiques simulacres of the kings upon the portals. Later on the Saints were ordered to share the same fate but Citizen Chaumette stepped in and saved the sculpture by assuring his colleagues that the astronomer Dupuis had discovered his planetary system on one of the portals. The central portal is a mass of wonderful sculpture. The lower part of the stylobate bears lozenge-shaped com- partments enclosing roses and lilies. Above this are the Virtues and Vices, the former being figures of women bear- ing their emblems ; the latter little scenes describing each particular vice. Above the Virtues and Vices are the Twelve Apostles, placed over the Virtue which in their lives they especially displayed. Nothing in these sculptures was done without a purpose ; thus S. Paul stands over Courage and S. Peter above Faith ; indeed, the whole door- way was designed to carry out a particular idea, and to il- lustrate the main doctrines of Christ, whose statue stands upon the central pier, giving the benediction to all who enter. On each side of the doorway are the Wise and Foolish Virgins and in the tympanum, which is divided into three zones, is the Resurrection of the Dead. Souls are being weighed 5 and under one scale a mean little demon may be NOTRE DAME, PARIS 109 seen pulling it down with a hook, in case the poor soul's sins should not be sufficient to weigh it down. It may be noted that the Mediaeval theologians evidently considered the nails which pierced our Blessed Lord's body of more honour than the tree unto which He was bound ; for here we see an Angel holding the cross with bare hands, while another envelopes the nails in a napkin. In the Voussure are rows of personages ; the lower ones belonging to the Judgment, the upper ones to the Resurrection. Then come the Angels, Prophets and Doctors of the church (tak- ing precedence at Notre Dame of the Martyrs, by reason of Paris being a great seat of learning). Following them are the Martyrs and Virgins. Didron gives an account by an Armenian bishop of a visit to Paris in 1489-96, in which he describes these sculptures exactly as they now ap- pear, and speaks of the beauty of their colouring and gilding. The sculptures of the two other doors are of the same character as the Porte du Jugement, but the subjects are taken severally from the histories of the Blessed Virgin and of S. Anne. In the Porte de la Vierge the Mother and Child hold the central place and in the tympanum are the Assumption and the Glorification of the Virgin. The Porte S. Anne is the oldest of the three portals and the sculptures being the most ancient of the church, it has been assumed that they were brought from an older edifice. The central figure is S. Marcel, ninth bishop of Paris, who died in 436. The tympanum is ornamented with the History of Joachim and Anna, the Marriage of the Virgin and the Budding of S. Joseph's staff. The beautiful ironwork of the doors of Notre Dame are worthy their reputed origin; they are said to have been no NOTRE DAME, PARIS finished in a single night by his Satanic Majesty in conse- quence of the dilatoriness of Biscornette, the blacksmith. The legend has probably grown from the design of a part of the ironwork, a little man with horns and the tail of a fish, who sits upon the branch of a tree. It appears that Biscornette was charged to forge the ironwork of the doors in a given time; but finding himself behindhand in his work, he determined to call in the aid of the Devil. This personage arrived, put on the leathern apron, and set to work so vigorously that by dawn it was finished. At the foot of the southern facade is the inscription which gives the name of the architect and the date of the church. The beautiful little Porte Rouge is of the end of the Thirteenth Century. In the tympanum a king and queen are represented kneeling at each side of our Lord and His Mother, very probably S. Louis and his wife, Marguerite de Provence. The interior of Notre Dame is imposing though some- what heavy in character; and although the nave and choir were sixty years in construction, there is scarcely any differ- ence in style, except in the details. There is a certain clumsiness about the great round shafts of the nave, but the carving upon the angles of the plinths and of the capi- tals helps to relieve this efFect. Most of the capitals are ornamented with examples of the flora of Parisian fields. At the west end is a gallery now occupied by the great organ, but which formerly was the stage upon which Mir- acle-plays were performed. The choir is by far the most beautiful part of the church ; and being filled with stained glass, it has not that painfully cleaned-up appearance which is the result of over-restoration. Some parts of it, the bays which separate the side-aisles from the crossings. NOTRK DAME, PARIS III are of the Fourteenth Century ; and the little Angels blow- ing trumpets, which surmount the archivolt, are beautiful specimens of sculpture of that period. The capitals of some of the choir columns being the oldest in the church (the early part of the Twelfth Century) are very rich in the quaint style of decoration delighted in by Medijeval artists — masses of foliage with heads of grotesque animals peeping out and biting off the leaves and flowers. One capital (between the seventh and eighth southern chapels) is interesting as showing the transition between the use of personages and animals, and that of foliage only, which was customary in the later period. The subject is very unecclesiastical, as was so often the case in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries — two Harpies, male and female, with human heads and bird bodies, issuing out of the foliage. Much of this is treated in the most realistic manner and we find specimens of the oak, the ivy and the trefoil. The Lady Chapel, or Chapel of the Compassion, and the two on either side, are painted and gilded, a good deal of the old colouring having survived as a guide. There is some good carving, and in front of the tabernacle hang seven lamps of elegant design. These, added to the beauty of the old stained glass, make this end of the church by far the most beautiful part. This Chapel also contains an in- scription, bearing the name of the founder. Bishop Simon MatifFas de Bucy, who died in 1304. The church was rich in glass up to the year 1741, when a demon in human shape one Levieil, the author of a trea- tise upon the art of glass painting, set to work to re-adorn Notre Dame. He describes the matter himself; what he found and what he transformed. In the choir and the apse 112 NOTRE DAME, PARIS the windows were ornamented with colossal figures eighteen feet high, representing bishops, vested and bearing pastoral staves, without the usual crook termination. A border of lozenge-shaped coloured glass framed the figures and filled up the divisions of the compartments. These windows Levieil dated no later than 1 182, and he adds that there were many fragments of much older glass, probably ema- nating from the ancient basilicas which preceded the pres- ent church. A little remains of the Fourteenth Century : some Angels holding the instruments of the Passion, a Pelican and its chicks ; a Christ draped in red ; and a little figure of the Virgin. But the glory of the church is the glass of the rose windows, which continues the subjects portrayed upon the sculpture of the doors over which they are placed. In the western rose the Virgin is in the central compart- ment, crowned and bearing a sceptre ; on her left arm is the Infant Christ giving the benediction. The twelve prophets surround her and we again see the Signs of the Zodiac and the work special to each month during the year. Virtues and Vices, Judges, Priests, Prophets and Kings of Judah ; Saints and Martyrs with the instru- ments of their martyrdom or palms, decorate these exquisite windows, masterpieces of the art ; equal to the windows of Metz and Strasburg and contemporary with the stone walls which surround them. The bells of Notre Dame were justly celebrated ; but of the thirteen which were formerly in the towers only one remains, the great bourdon, heard all over the city on great occasions; as for mstance on Holy Saturday, when at High Mass, during the Gloria it peals forth, giving the signal for all the other church bells to break their forty-eight NOTRE DAME, PARIS II3 hours' silence. It was given by Jean de Montaigu in 1400, who named it Jacqueline, after his wife Jacqueline de la Grange; and in 1686 it was refoundered and rebaptized — Emmanuel-Louise-Therese in honour of Louis XIV. and Marie-Therese of Austria. The exterior decoration of Notre Dame is very rich. Gargoyles, monsters of the most grotesque type, called also tarasques and magots are there, encircling the towers and disputing their importance with the Angel of the Judgment. The monsters stand, as they did centuries ago, gazing down upon Paris and its doings for good or for evil. Think of the events they have witnessed from the burning of fifty- four Templars in a slow fire by Philippe IV. to the horrors of the Commune. And all the ages through the brutes have had the same expression of scorn, of spite, of diabolical ugliness, that one feels it to be a comfort that they are fixed safely to the gallery of the towers, out of the way of work- ing mischief. Amongst the great ceremonies which have taken place in the Cathedral are the marriage of Marie Stuart with Fran- cois II. of France in 1552; the marriage of Henri of Navarre and Marguerite de Valois upon a platform erected outside the great porch to prevent Protestant contamina- tion of the church, upon the eve of S. Bartholomew, the i8th August, just six days before the great work of mas- sacre on the 24th ; the coronation of Napoleon by Pope Pius VII., in 1804; the marriage of the Due de Berry and the baptism of the Due de Bordeaux (Comte du Chambord) in 1816; the funeral of the Due d'Orleans, son of Louis Philippe in 1853 ; the marriage of Louis-Napoleon in 1853 » the baptism of his son in 1857; and a certain number of episcopal consecrations. YORK MINSTER DEAN PUREY-CUST " TT"^ ^"^^ fl"^ florum sic est domus ista domorum " are the words which some unknown hand has inscribed upon the walls of our Minster, and we who love the habi- tation of His house and the place where God's honour dwelleth venture to think that these are " words of truth and soberness " even now, though we remember that when they were written there were many features of art and taste adorning the great fabric which have long since passed away. Still York Minster is " a thing of beauty," in spite of ruthless improvements and fanatical zeal and Puritan Philistinism and indiscriminating utilitarianism and ignorant restorations. In 1 154, when Archbishop Fitz-Herbert died at York, Canterbury Cathedral must have been in the zenith of its beauty, and we can well imagine the anxiety of Robert the Dean and Osbert the Archdeacon to secure the election by the Chapter of Roger, who had been Archdeacon of Canter- bury from 1 148, and who had no doubt already given promise of that architectural ability and liberality of char- acter which eventually made him the most munificent ruler that ever presided over the See of York. Becket succeeded him in the archdeaconry until 1162, when, elevated to the See of Canterbury, the two quondam archdeacons of Can- terbury were at the very helm of the Church of England. Roger seems at once to have commenced the reproduc- A O YORK MINSTER II 5 tion at York of this great work, by substituting for the short simple chancel of the iVlinster a complex eastern building, which, making due allowance for its want of equal dimensions with Canterbury choir, was yet evidently planned on the same system, with the aisles square-ended instead of an apsidal, and the flanking towers made to per- form the part of eastern transepts. Of this choir, portions only of the crypt still survive. The base of the beautiful western entrance doorway to the north aisle can still be seen by adventurous explorers. The ordinary visitor can still admire the substantial and elaborately incised columns, which once supported the floor of the choir above, and see the arches, with the bold zigzag mouldings which once rested on them, but which were removed in the days of Edward I. to support a stone platform behind the high altar, on which was erected the shrine of William Fitz- Herbert, then canonized as " St. William of York," to pro- vide for the northern province a counter-attraction to St. Thomas of Canterbury. But there were munificent laymen as well as clergymen in those days for Lord Wil- liam de Percy gave the church of TopclifFe, with all things pertaining to the church of St. Peter at York, as a perpetual alms for the repairing and building thereof, a gift which still remains in the possession of the Dean and Chapter and he and his successors continued to assist the development of the Cathedral with munificent contributions of wood until the completion of the nave, when his statue was placed to commemorate his liberality above the west door on the right hand of Archbishop Melton, the Metropolitan at that time. On his left hand stands another figure commemo- rating equally liberal benefactors : Mauger le Vavasour, who gave a grant of free way for the stone required for the Il6 YORK MINSTER foundation of the Minster by Archbishop Thomas ; his son Robert le Vavasour, who gave ten acres and half a rood of his quarry in Thievesdale in free, pure and perpetual alms ; and their descendants who in like manner presented almost all the material required for the present buildings even as late as the great fire in 1829, when Sir Edward Vavasour, although a Roman Catholic, at once placed his quarries at the service of the Dean and Chapter for the restoration of the choir. Geoffrey Plantagenet, who succeeded Roger, had not the opportunity, even if he had the capacity, to extend the buildings of the Minster. Walter de Gray completed the south transept, in boldness of arrangement and design and in richness of decoration without a peer. And there his body rests in the grave which received all that was mortal of him on the vigil of Pentecost, 1255, still surmounted with the effigy of the great man in full canonicals carved in Perbeck marble, under a comely canopy resting on ten light, graceful pillars, hidden, alas ! by a crude and modern screen of iron, by the well-intentioned addition of Archbishop Markham some eighty years ago. And Providence had associated with Walter de Gray one worthy of such a fellowship, John le Remain, the treasurer of the church, an Italian ecclesiastic, who, tradi- tion says, smitten with the charms of some dark-eyed beauty of the south, gladly associated himself with the clergy of a church, where celibacy at that day, at least, was not de rigueur. He it was who completed the great work his superior had commenced, raised at his own expense the great tower, built the north transept, designed " the Five Sisters," and filled it with the exquisite grisaille geometrical glass, which has been the admiration of successive genera- YORK MINSTER II 7 tions for six hundred years. And his son, exalted to the archiepiscopate in 1286, inherited the taste and munificence of his father. Perhaps for that very reason the Chapter selected him when only Prebendary of Warthill in the Church to be his successor, and his ten years of office, if too short to do much, was sufficient to initiate the great work of building a nave consistent with the transepts. Another style of architecture was setting in, the Decorated, and where could it be better inaugurated than in such a church as this ? For one hundred and fifty years the good work went on. Four prelates in succession, Henry de Newark, Thomas de Corbridge, William de Greenfield, William de Melton, each, during his tenure of office, strove to promote the completion of the grand design his prede- cessor had indicated in that full perfection of ecclesiastical architecture. No efFort was spared, no personal self-denial evaded ; clergy and laity alike shared in the enthusiasm of the moment, the Plantagenet kings, for the most part resident in York, by offerings and by influence, encouraging and stLliulating the good work. Archbishop Melton con- tributed many thousands of pounds from his own purse, and had the privilege of seeing the grand conception com- pleted ; and there he sits above the central doorway graven in stone in his archiepiscopal attire, with his hand still raised in bei.ediction; over his head one of the finest Flamboyant windows in the world and on either side the representatives of tie houses of Vavasour and Percy, bearing in their arms emblems of the wood and stone which they had ofFei d. ^ d concurrently with the great work, another, in per- fect iarmony therewith, was proceeding, viz., the Chapter H' le, with its great circumference, occupied with stalls. Il8 YORK MINSTER surmounted by elaborate and delicate canopies, enriched with innumerable quaint and suggestive carvings of heads and features, some as warnings, some as encouragements, to those who have eyes to see, and of graceful foliage of trefoil and other plants, specially the planta benedicta, which illustrated the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the love of God girdled with a simple yet emblematical wreath of the vine ; while the varied foliage rises again in the glass, bor- dering the noble windows, rich with heraldry and sacred subjects until lost in the stately roof, which, spanning the whole area without any central column, and once glowing with emblematical figures and stars, is centred with a majestic boss of the Lamb of God. Alas that Willement ever essayed to restore it, scraped the paintings from the walls, plastered the ceiling, repaired the floor and ruined the last window which he had taken to pieces and found himself incompetent to put together again ! Still though but the survival of its ancient glories, it is " the flower of our flowers," the focus of all the beauties which in their wanton profusion extend on all sides around us. Melton's days closed under the dark shadow of his de- feat at Myton by the Scotch, and Zouche, Dean of York, his successor, though he wiped ofFthe stain thereof by his triumphant victory over them at Neville's Cross, and took care of Queen Philippa and her children during the absence of Edward III. in his French wars, did little to promote the material dignity of the Minster save to build the chapel which bears his name, and which he had intended for a place of sculpture for himself. But Thoresby, a Yorkshire- man from Wensleydale and a Prebendary of the Minster, his successor in 1352, Bishop of Worcester and Lord Chancellor, was a man of very different temperament. He YORK MINSTER I19 had the further development of the glories of the Minster thoroughly at heart. At once he sacrificed his palace at Sherburn to provide materials for an appropriate Lady Chapel, gave successive munificent donations of ;^ioo at each of the great festivals of the Christian year, and called on clergy and laity alike to submit cheerfully to stringent self-denial to supply the funds. During his tenure of office of twenty-three years the Lady Chapel was completed, a chaste and dignified speci- men of early Perpendicular style, into which the Decorated gradually blended after the year 1360, and unique in its glorious east window, seventy-eight feet high ai>d thirty- three feet wide, still the largest painted window in the world, enriched with its double mullions, which give such strength and lightness to its graceful proportions, and with its elaborate glass executed by Thornton, of Coventry, at the beginning of the following century. But Roger's choir, which was still standing, must now have looked sadly dwarfed between the lofty Lady Chapel and the tower and transepts. Alexander Neville, his immediate successor, probably did not do much to remedy this, for he soon became in- volved in Richard IL's rash proceedings and had to fly to Louvain, where he died in poverty. Neither did Arundel or Waldby, his successors, for the former was soon trans- lated to Canterbury, the latter soon died. But Richard Scrope, who was appointed in his place, would naturally be earnest and vigorous in the new work, for he was a York- shireman by birth, son of Lord Scrope of Masham, kinsman of Lord Scrope of Bolton, and, during the short nine years which elapsed between his installation and his wanton cruel murder by Henry IV., the building seems to have 120 YORK MINSTER made rapid progress. This was energetically continued by Henry Bowet, who followed him, and who, invoking the aid of Pope Gregory XII. to enforce his appeal for funds, and enlisting the aid of Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, one of the greatest architects of Mediaeval times, glazed the great east window, raised the lantern on the central tower, com- pleted the groining of the choir aisles, rebuilt Archbishop Zouche's chapel, the treasury and vestry and commenced the library. Little now remained to be done. Robert Wolvedon and John de Bermyngham, two munificent treasurers in succes- sion, helped to bring matters to a prosperous conclusion, the former filling some of the windows with painted glass, the latter raising the southwestern tower. The northwestern tower was added probably during the archiepiscopate, if not by the munificence, of Archbishop George Nevill. The organ screen, with its elaborate cornice and canopies en- riched with angels, singing and playing instruments of mu- sic and its stately niches filled with figures of the Kings of England, from William I. to Henry VI., by Dean Andrew, himself the friend and secretary of the last-named monarch. And the great church was solemnly reconsecrated as a com- pleted building on July 3, 1472, when an ordinance was passed by the Dean and Chapter that " on the same day the feast of the Dedication shall be celebrated in time to come." I have no space to dwell on all the innumerable details of architectural ornament or quaint Mediasval devices which decorate the walls, neither on the many interesting monu- ments scattered throughout the aisles, such as the delicate piscinas, or the fiddler, a modern reproduction of an old figure which had crowned the little spiral turret of the south transept, intended as a portrait of Dr. Camidge, the organist, YORK MINSTER 121 at the beginning of this century j or the tomb of good Arch- bishop Frewen, the first prelate of the Province after the Restoration. But even a sketch of York Minster would not be com- plete without some mention of the glass, for if the beauty in the form of our '•'■ flos florum" is due to its architecture, very much of its beauty in colour depends on the glowing and mellowed tints with which its windows are filled. But It is a large subject to enter upon, for as regards quantity there are no less than one hundred and three windows in the Minster, most of them entirely, and the remainder, only excepting the tracery, filled with real old Mediaeval glass. Some of the windows, too, are of great size. The east win- dow, which is entirely filled with old glass, consists of nine lights and measures seventy-eight feet in height, thirty-one feet two inches in width. The two choir transept windows, that in the north transept to St. William, and the south to St. Cuthbert, measure seventy-three feet by sixteen feet. They have both been restored, the latter very recently, but by far the greater part of them is old glass. On each side of the choir, the aisles contain nine windows measuring fourteen feet nine inches by twelve feet, only the tracery lights of which are modern ; the same number of windows fill the clerestory above, the greater portions of which are ancient. The famous window of the north transept, the Five Sis- ters, consists of five lights, each measuring fifty-three feet six inches by five feet one inch, and is entirely of old glass. There are six windows in the north and six in the south aisles of the nave, with only a little modern glass in the tracery. The superb Flamboyant window at the west end of the centre aisle measures fifty-six feet three inches by 122 YORK MINSTER twenty-five feet four inches, and consists, I believe, en- tirely of old glass, except the faces of the figures. The clerestory windows are studded with ancient shields, but a great part of the glass is, I fancy, modern ; those of the vestibule, eight in number, measuring thirty-two feet by eighteen, are of old glass, including the tracery lights. And in the Chapter House, the seven windows of five lights each are filled with old glass. The east window has been clum- sily restored by Willement. In the side windows of the transept there is some old glass, and the great rose window over the south entrance still retains much of the old glass ; while far overhead in the tower there are some really fine bold designs of late, but genuine, design and execution. Altogether, according to actual measurements, there are 25,531 superficial feet of Mediaeval glass in the Minster, /'. *., more than half an acre — a possession, we should think, unequalled by any church in England, if not in Christen- dom. Truly at the Reformation, the building must have been '■'■flos florum" enriched with everything which the taste of man could devise or his sicill execute. The massive walls, fashioned according to the highest canons of Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular architectural taste, the great windows glowing with painted glass of each successive style, the vast area subdivided by stately screens of carved wood and stone into countless chapels and chantries ; shrines glittering with offerings of precious and jewelled metals, and adorned with coloured gilding; the treasury stored, as the fabric roll tells us, with gold and silver plate in rich profusion ; and vestments of the most costly and approved fabrics. BURGOS CATHEDRAL EDMONDO DK AMICIS THE Cathedral of Burgos is one of the largest, hand- somest and richest monuments of Christianity. Ten times I wrote these words at the head of my page, and ten times the courage to proceed failed me, so inadequate and pitiful I felt my mental powers in face of the difficulty of the description. The facade is on a small square, from which one may take in at a glance a part of the immense edifice ; around the other side run narrow tortuous streets, which impede the view. From all the points of the immense roof rise slender and graceful spires, overloaded with ornaments of brown ^ chalk colour, rising above the highest buildings of the city. On the front, to the right and left of the facade, are two sharp bell-towers, covered from base to summit with sculpture.pierced, chiselled and embroidered with a bewitch- ing delicacy and grace. Further in, about the middle of the church, rises a tower also very rich with bas-reliefs and friezes. On the facade, on the points of the bell-towers, on all the surfaces, under all the arches, on all the sides, there is an innumerable multitude of statues of angels, martyrs, warriors and princes, so crowded, so varied in at- titude, and placed in such clear relief from the light forms of the edifice, as almost to present a lifelike appearance, like a celestial legion posted to guard the monument. On raising one's eyes up over the facade to the furthest point 124 BURGOS CATHEDRAL of the exterior spires, grasping little by little all that harmo- nious lightness of line and colour, one experiences a delicious sensation liice hearing music, which gradually rises from an expression of absorbed prayer to the ecstasy of a sublime inspiration. Before entering the church your imagination mounts far above the earth. Enter. . . . The first emotion that you experience is a sudden fortifying of faith, if you have any, and a leap of the soul towards faith, if it is wanting in you. First you turn your eyes vaguely about you, seeking the confines of the edifice, which the enormous choir and pilasters conceal from you ; then your glance darts among the columns and high arches, falls, mounts, and runs rapidly over the infinity of lines which follow each other, cross, correspond and lose themselves, like rays that cross in space, up in the great vault ; and your heart rejoices in that breathless admiration, as if all those lines issued from your own mind, inspired by the mere act of looking at them with your eyes ; then you are seized suddenly with a feeling almost of terror, a feeling of sadness that there is not time enough in which to contem- plate, nor intellect with which to comprehend, nor memory to retain the innumerable marvels, half seen, crowded to- gether, piled upon one another, and dazzling, which one would say came from the hand of man, if one dared say so, like a second creation from the hand of God. The church belongs to the Order called Gothic, of the epoch of the Renaissance ; it is divided into three very long naves traversed in the middle by a fourth which separates the choir from the high altar. Above the space contained between the altar and the choir, rises a cupola formed by the tower which is seen from the piazza. You turn your eyes upwards, and remain open-mouthed for a quarter of an < « X h < U o o n BURGOS CATHEDRAL 1 25 liour : it is a maze of bas-reliefs, statues, little columns, tiny windows, arabesques, hanging arches, aerial sculpture harmonized in a grandiose and elegant plan, which at first sight produces both a tremor and a smile, like the sudden ignition, burst and glow of a great display of fireworks. A thousand vague imaginings of Paradise that delighted your infantile dreams surge up all together from your state of ecstasy and mounting like a cloud of butterflies, settle on the thousand reliefs of the highest vault and circle and be- come confused, and your eyes follow them as if they really existed, and your heart beats, and your breast heaves with a sigh. If you lower your eyes from the cupola and look around you, a still more stupendous spectacle presents itself. The chapels, by their size, variety and richness, are so many churches. In every one of them a prince, or a bishop, or a grandee is sepulchred : the tomb is in the centre and on it is the statute representing the buried man, with his head rest- ing on a pillow, and hands joined above his breast ; the clergy dressed in their most splendid robes, the princes in their armour, and the ladies in gala costume. All these tombs are covered with a big cloth that falls to the ground, and, accommodating itself to the angular reliefs of the statue, makes it look as if underneath were really the rigid members of a human body. In whatever direction you turn, you see in the distance, among the enormous pilasters, through the rich grilles, in the uncertain light that falls from the lofty windows those tombs, those funeral trappings and those rigid corpse profiles. Approaching the chapels, you are amazed at the profusion of carvings, marbles and gold which adorn the walls, vaultings and altars : every chapel contains an army of angels and saints carved in marble and 126 BURGOS CATHEDRAL wood, painted, gilded and clothed ; on whatever point of the pavement your eye falls it is forced upwards from bas-relief to bas-relief, from niche to niche, from arabesque to ara- besque, from painting to painting, till it reaches the vault, and from the vault, by another chain of sculptures and paintings, it is led back to the pavement. On whatever side you turn your eyes, you meet eyes that are gazing at you, hands that are beckoning you, cherub heads that are peeping at you, scarfs that seem to wave, clouds that appear to rise, crystal suns that seem to tremble ; an infinite variety of forms, colours and reflections that dazzle your eyes and confuse your brain. A volume would not suffice for the description of all the masterpieces of sculpture and painting which are scattered throughout this immense Cathedral. In the sacristy of the Chapel of the Constables of Castile is a lovely Magdalen attributed to Leonardo da Vinci ; in the Chapel of the Presentation is a Virgin attributed to Michael Angelo; in another is a Holy Family attributed to Andrea del Sarto. The author of none of the three paintings is known with certainty ; but when I saw the covering curtains drawn aside, and heard those names uttered in reverent tones, a thrill ran through me from head to foot. For the first time I felt with full force what a debt of gratitude I owe to the great artists who have made the name of Italy revered and loved in the world. How many smiles, how many hand- shakes, how many courteous words from strangers we owe to Raphael, Michael Angelo, Ariosto, and Rossini ! He who wants to see this Cathedral in one day must hasten by the masterpieces. The sculptured door which leads into the cloisters is celebrated as being, after the doors of the Baptistery at Florence, the most beautiful in the BURGOS CATHEDRAL 1 27 world ; behind the high altar is an enormous bas-relief by Filippo di Firenze, representing Christ's Passion, an im- mense composition for which, one would think, a man's whole lifetime insufficient ; the choir is a real museum of sculpture of the most prodigious richness ; the cloisters are full of tombs with recumbent statues, and all around is a profusion of bas-reliefs ; in the chapels, around the choir, in the sacristy halls, and everywhere else are pictures by the greatest Spanish artists, statuettes, columns, and ornaments ; the high altar, the organs, the doors, the staircases, the ironwork, — all is grand and magnificent, and arouses, and at the same time awes, our admiration. But why multiply words ? Could the most minute description give even a faint idea of the thing ? And if I had written a whole page for each picture, each statue, each bas-relief, should I have succeeded in exciting in another mind, even for an in- stant, the emotion that I experienced? chAlons-sur-marne JEAN JACQUES BOURASSlS ST. ALPIN, made a bishop in the Fifth Century, is re- garded as the first to raise a Christian altar in this city. Clevis favoured the Church, and St. Vincent's be- came the Cathedral, the name of which vi^as changed to St. Stephen. During the wars of the Tenth Century, the building twice suffered from fire ; and, during the Twelfth Century, lightning reduced it to a heap of ruins. It was rebuilt; and consecrated amid great rejoicings in 1147. Eighty-three years later, it was again almost totally des- troyed by lightning and fire. Its restoration was entirely carried out by Philippe II. de Nemours de Merville. New additions were made by Gilles de Luxembourg and Henri Clausse. The former built a fine wooden spire on the north tower which was regarded as one of the marvels of its tinie. The latter enlarged the nave with two bays. This addition necessitated the destruction of a porch of great merit, and in perfect accord with the rest of the mon- ument. A heavy and ugly facade took its place in 1628, which was characteristic of the fatal principles that more than a century before had dethroned Mediaeval Christian art. In 1668, a terrible fire again wrought almost total de- struction ; but the Bishop Vialart de Herse soon found means to remove all traces of the calamity. A terrible tempest in 1769 destroyed the rose window in CHALONS-SUR-MARNE, CATHEDRAL CHALONS-SUR-MARNE 1 29 the southern porch ; and to complete the list of disasters, it was found necessary to demolish the two spires in 1821. The exterior aspect of the Chalons Cathedral is not want- ing in grandeur and majesty, although not so picturesque as many other Mediaeval churches. The large faces are not ornamented with those numerous arches whose grace- ful curves resemble arms stretched out towards the Cathe- dral to beautify as well as to strengthen it. The buttresses do not exhibit that boldness and symmetry that are so pleasing in a big monument. The exterior of the apse es- pecially does not present that distribution of projections and hollows that produces a striking perspective. The western porch can arouse only severe strictures. The northern porch, although in a sad state of mutila- tion, yet deserves the attention of antiquaries. It is a great pointed arch with deep vaultings filled with six rows of statuettes. The dais, pinnacles, colonnettes, fleurons and leaf-work were cruelly damaged during the Revolution, in 1792. The statues were the first to be sacrificed to that amazing fury of destruction that seemed to have taken pos- session of all minds. This monumental doorway to-day gives but an imperfect idea of its ancient splendour. The great rose window that still remains above it is its principal ornament ; it is a match for any of the famous ones. The various compartments that join and interlace to compose it are of aerial lightness. The work and disposition of the mullions indicate the close of the Thirteenth or beginning of the Fourteenth Century. The neighbouring tower is a curious study ; it has been held that its base is of Carlovingian architecture ; but the characteristic parts incontestably denote the Eleventh Cen- 130 chAlons-sur-marne tury. The windows are round headed ; and are accom- panied by colonnettes with capitals belonging to the second- ary Romano-Byzantine epoch. The two stone spires, rebuilt in 1821, are far from de- serving of their reputation. It would be hard to find stone more heavily laid, with ornaments more coarsely cut. In the interior of the Cathedral we find parts of the high- est merit, with a few slight faults. The plan is in form of a Latin cross. As at Metz, the transept is closer to the apse than in the other great Gothic cathedrals. This dis- position has necessitated the enlargement of the choir at the expense of the width of the transept, and even of the great nave. Starting from the pillars of the transept, the apse contains only seven bays, and finds itself destined solely for the sanctuary. Around the head, we admire three magnificent apsidal chapels, the central one of which is dedicated to the Virgin. Nothing more graceful than the work of these chapels exists anywhere. The heavy columns and compact vault of the apse itself is assuredly not contemporaneous with the elegant columns, light vaults and marvellous windows of these three chapels. The chapels along the aisles of the nave indicate an epoch of decadence. They are small and ill-disposed, ex- cept one which bears the imprint of Renaissance art. The architectural decoration belongs to that transitional period. . The great nave is one of the most majestic of all French cathedrals. It is composed of ten bays and supported by eighteen pillars. These are cylindfical, and worthy of par- ticular notice. Their appendiculate bases indicate a more ancient date than their capitals of leaf-work. The lower part really belongs to an older epoch than the upper which must have been rebuilt after one of the numerous catastro- chAlons-sur-marne 131 phes that on various occasions injured or destroyed the building. The vaults have been recently almost entirely rebuilt. They have been executed with care and intelligence. We cannot say as much for the organ loft, which is a mean construction covered with Gothic ornaments in plaster which are already crumbling away. The windows generally are wide and beautiful. Those of the sanctuary, particularly, open out with much elegance. They harmonize with the open galleries and communicate to all the upper part of the building a remarkable lightness. It is greatly to be regretted that most of them have lost their magnificent glass, and are filled with reproductions of the original subjects. The Chalons Cathedral is very rich in monuments of an- other kind. Almost the entire pavement is composed of tombstones of fine execution. They are of various periods, and the majority are well preserved. Unfortunately, by an inexplicable vandalism, many of them have been cut. Frag- ments, still admirable in spite of their mutilation, are to be found set here and there at haphazard. WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL DEAN KITCHEN IN the fair valley of the Itchen, where the downs on either hand draw near together, has stood from pre- historic days a little town which grew to be Winchester, one of the most important capital cities of England. The first authentic records of it are those which have been dug out of the soil, not written in books. There is a doubt whether the Saxon cathedral was on the site of the present building, or a little to the northward of it; at any rate, whatever Saxon work there may be in it has been com- pletely incorporated, and we shall not go far wrong if we consider that the existing church was begun by Bishop Walkelyn in 1079. The magnificence of Norman skill and piety may still be understood by any one who will make careful study of the two transepts, which remain almost as Walkelyn left them in 1093. From them we may picture the glory of the long and lofty nave, its massive piers, broad, deep triforium and dignified clerestory. The orig- inal tower, however, was not destined to stand long. Soon after William Rufus was buried under it, in 1 100, whether from faulty construction, or uncertain foundations in the wet ground, or from being weakened by excavating too near the piers ; or whether, as the resentfully pious held, from the cankering wickedness of the Red King's bones — from whatever cause — in 1107 the tower fell in with a mighty crash over the monarch's tomb. Walkelyn, however, left < a! Q w K h < O b! M h W a; u z WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 1 33 funds to the church, and a new tower was carried out with massive firmness. There is but little in the church of Decorated or Middle- Pointed style ; four bays of the choir, unrivalled in grace and richness of mouldings and the tracery of one or two windows, are all that Winchester can show of the most beautiful and exuberant period of English architecture. Satiated with the rich ornamentation and variety of the period, men, in the latter half of the Fourteenth Century, turned towards a harder and a simpler manner of building, a severe architectural Puritanism. They trusted for effect to height and repetition even to monotony, and to the upward pointing of reiterated vertical lines. Winchester Cathedral was the first to feel the influence of this change of taste. First, Bishop William of Edyndon, then the more famous William of Wykeham, attacked and 'f reformed " the mass- ive and noble Norman work. Edyndon began at the west end, altering the facade completely, and converting to mod- ern style two bays on the north and one on the south. The huge west window, which forms the main feature of the facade, has been mercilessly criticised and condemned by Mr. Ruskin in his Stones of Venice^ who first draws a caricature of the window, and then condemns his own creation. The work thus set in hand by Edyndon was carried through by William of Wykeham, who, through his col- leges, has imposed the unimaginative Perpendicular style on England. He did not pull down the ancient Norman nave, but encased the columns with poor mouldings of this later Gothic. Bishop Fox built up the east end of the choir, placing on the central pinnacle a lifelike statue of himself. To him also is due, in its striking height and exquisite 134 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL, elaboration of detailed canopy work, the great reredos, which is repeated, with less happy efFect of proportion, at St. Albans. Just before, and in his day. Priors Hunton and Silkstede pushed out the Lady Chapel some twenty-six feet in the later Perpendicular manner. This additional bay of the Lady Chapel, with its stiff ornament and half-obliterated frescoes, made this church the longest in England. With the death of Bishop Fox in 1528, the structural changes in the fabric almost came to an end. Later addi- tions or alterations were but small ; such as the closing of the fine Norman lantern of the tower with a wooden groin- ing, erected under the eyes of Charles L, as we see by the bosses and ornaments; there is the royal monogram in many forms and royal badges and the initials of the King and Queen, C. M. R, (Carolus, Maria R.), and a large cir- cular medallion displaying in profile the royal pair them- selves ; in the centre is an inscription giving us the date of this work, 1634. The library, a lean-to along the end of the south transept, was built to hold Bishop Morley's books after his death in 1684 ; and the porch at the west end was restored in the present century. Within the walls the most striking object of interest is undoubtedly the famous Norman font of black basaltic stone, which was probably placed in the church in the days of Walkelyn ; it portrays in bold if rude relief the life and miracles of St. Nicholas of Myra. Next after the font may perhaps be noted the fine carved spandrels, Fourteenth Century work, of the choir-stalls, with the quaint misereres of the seats ; then Prior Silkstede's richly carved pulpit of the Fifteenth Century, and the very interesting and valuable Renaissance panels of the pews, put in by William Kings- WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 13S mill, last prior and first dean in 1540. The chantries and tombs in this church are of unusual beauty and interest. In no English church, except Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's, lie so many men of name. For just as the fea- tures of the Cathedral represent all the successive phases and changes of the art of building, until it has been styled a " School of English Architecture," so it may be said to be the home and centre of our early history. Long is the roll of kings and statesmen who came hither and whose bones here lie at rest. Cynegils and Cenwalh, West- Saxon kings, founders of the church, are here ; Egbert was buried here in 838 j Ethelwulf also and Edward the Elder and Edred. The body of Alfred the Great lay a while in the church, then was transferred to the new minster he had built, and finally rested at Hyde Abbey. And, most splen- did name of all, the great Cnut was buried here, as was also his son, Harthacnut, as bad and mean as his father was great. The roll of kings was closed when Red William's blood-dripping corpse came jolting hither in the country cart from the New Forest. In this great church many stirring scenes of English his- tory have been enacted. The early kings made Winchester their home and the Cathedral their chapel. Here it was that Egbert, after being crowned in regem tot'tus Brittania, with assent of all parties, issued an edict in 828, ordering that the island should thereafter be always styled England and its people Englishmen. Here King Alfred was crowned and lived and died. Here in 1035 Cnut's body lay in state before the high altar, over which was hung thenceforth for many a year, most precious of relics, the great Norseman's crown. Here William the Conqueror often came, and wore his crown at the Easter Gemot i 136 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL here, too, clustered many of the national legends : St. Swithun here did his mighty works, and here were the forty dismal days of rain ; hard by is the scene of the great fight between Colbrand the Dane and Guy of Warwick ; in the nave of the church Queen Emma trod triumphant on the red-hot ploughshares as on a bed of roses ; hither came Earl Godwin's body after his marvellous and terrible death, one of the well-known group of malignant Norman tales. It was in Winchester Cathedral that Henry Beauclerk took to wife his Queen, Matilda, to the great joy of all English- speaking folk. Here Stephen of Blois was crowned King ; and here, on the other hand, the Empress Maud was wel- comed by city and people with high rejoicings ; here, too, was drawn up and issued the final compact, in 1 153, which closed the civil war of that weary reign, and secured the crown to the young Prince Henry. He in his turn often sojourned in Winchester, and befriended, in his strong way, the growing city. The Cathedral witnessed another compact in the dark days of King John : the King was here reconciled to the English Church in the person of Stephen Langton; Henry III. and his Queen, Eleanor, were herein 1242 ; and on May-day of that year "came the Queen into the chapter-house to receive society." In 1275 Edward I., with his Queen, was welcomed with great honour by the prior and brethren of St. Swithun, and attended service in the church. The christening of Arthur, Prince of Wales, elder brother of Henry VIII., was here; and here Henry VIII. met his astute rival, the Emperor Charles V. It was in Winchester Cathedral that the marriage of Philip and Mary took place, and the chair in which she sat is still to be seen in the church. The Stuart kings loved the place. Here in the great rebellion was enacted that strange scene when, after WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL I37 the capture of the city, the mob rushed into the Cathedral, wild for booty and mischief, and finding in the chests noth- ing but bones, amused themselves by throwing them at the stained windows of the choir. It was at this time that Colonel Nathaniel Fiennes, a Parliamentary officer and an old Wykehamist, stood with drawn sword at the door of Wykeham's chantry, to protect it from violence. Since the days of the Merry Monarch, who was often at Winchester, and loved it so well that he built his palace here, no striking historical events have been enacted within its walls. The church by degrees recovered from the ruin of the Common- wealth time, and has had a quiet happy life from that time onward, a tranquil grey building, sleeping amidst its trees, in the heart of the most charming of all South English cities. TOURS CATHEDRAL STANISLAS BELLANGER THE church of St. Gaticn, the first bishop of Tours, bore his name and that of St. Maurice, the brave chief of the Theban Legion, indiscriminately, until the Fifteenth Century. It was consumed by fire in 559 ; and again, in 1 160. Bishop Jocion then determined to rebuild and make it more beautiful than ever. The Gothic era of architecture had just begun. It was under the inspiration of this new style that Jocion had his basilica reconstructed. The work, undertaken with ardour in 1170, soon began to halt, and at the end of ninety years, so far there had been built only the fifteen chapels of the apse, the sanctuary, the choir, the transept and the nave up to the second column. Vincent de Permil personally pre- sided over these last constructions, and, fifty years later, the two porches of the transept were completed. In despair at the slow rate of progress, and fearing lack of funds to complete the work, the Chapter in 1375 erected a bell-tower of wood over the nave. It nearly proved fatal to the new edifice ; for, in 1425, it was set on fire and destroyed by lightning. In 1426, the completion of the twin towers was undertaken ; and four years later the church was ordered to be entirely finished. The generosity of three popes and an archbishop greatly assisted the work in stimulating activ- ity and devotion, which soon bore fruit. The grand facade was finished in 1500; and the two towers, those two marvel- TOURS CATHEDRAL TOURS CATHEDRAL 139 lous gems that are still waiting for the case that Henry IV. later wished for them, received their crowns between. 1507 and 1547. Bishop Robert de Lenoncourt built the stone staircase that leads to the top of the southern tower that bears on the keystone of its little dome the inscription recording the completion of the work. This marvellous, spiral, open- work staircase of such bold construction seems to hang in the air. Thanks to so much generosity and devout zeal the basilica, begun in 11 70, was finished in 15,47, whence comes the popular Touraine proverb when an interminable matter is in question : " It is the work of St. Maurice." The interior, by its proportions, by the boldness of its vaults, the number and delicacy of its columns, the pictur- esque arrangement of its bays, and the openings of its numer- ous windows fills the soul with religious admiration. In extent, this basilica can not compete with those of Reims, Chartres, Burgos, or Rouen ; but it may well bear compari- son if it is a question of grace, proportion, purity of style, elegance and variety of form, and it certainly excels them all in lightness of construction. The strongest impression however is not produced by these united marvels ; it comes especially from the choir windows with their painted stories, the galleries, chapels, and rose windows, the lively colours of which glow with a light from on high, in rubies, sapphires, topazes, emeralds, on the tiles, walls and columns. These windows, charming productions of the two great periods of glass painting, in the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, number fifteen, and represent the Passion of the Saviour, the Tree of Jesse, the History of the Virgin, the legends of St. Martin, St. Maurice, St. Eustatius, St. Vin- cent, St. Thomas and St. Denis, visions from the Apocalypse, 140 TOURS CATHEDRAL the Creation, portraits of bishops and priests who have con- secrated their fortunes to the building of the temple, and the arms of the city. Finally, over the great door, are the patron saints of the donors, members of the illustrious family of Laval-Montmorency, whose brilliant coat-of-arms stands out at the feet of the statues. The exterior of St. Gatien is no less remarkable : all the parts are equally beautiful, according to their period. The buttresses, the flying arches and the galleries are grouped and designed iii delightful perspective ; the bases are ma- jestic and robust, particularly in the apse, where the head of the Cathedral raises itself with all the richness of Chris- tian architecture. The Cathedral of Tours possesses what many churches can never buy, a complete facade, with three porches and twin towers whose beauty would be better appreciated if barba- rians had not laid sacrilegious hands upon this facade, if the niches were not denuded of their saints, if the bas-reliefs were intact, and if all the designs preserved their original purity. In its general- construction, St. Gatien has passed through five periods : to the last phase of the Romano-Byzantine style belong some arcades at the base of the two towers, which perhaps belonged to St. Gregory's church ; to the first Ogival period belong the apse, choir and apsidal chapels ; to the second Ogival period, the transept and the two bays of the nave ; to the third Ogival, the nave, its accessory chapels and the great doorway ; finally, to the Renaissance period, the upper part of the towers, the gallery of which is reached by 305 and the top by 392 steps. Before the Revolution, this splendid edifice had a ring of six bells: Lidoire, weighing 7,108 lbs.; Brice, 5,158 lbs. j TOURS CATHEDRAL 14 Martin, 3,001 lbs.; Marie, 3,203 lbs,; Maurice, 16,145 lbs. Finally, the sixth bell, Gatien, cast in 1627, by Jean Jacques, a skilful bell founder of Paris, weighed 20,875 lbs. It was famous as one of the most perfect bells known, for contour, profile and harmony. In 1793, all these rare and beautiful bells were melted down to make copper coins and guns. Later their place was taken by the great bell of Cormery, Chrisius, weighing 1,850 kilograms, and Maur, from the abbey of Villeloin, weighing 1,250 kilograms. A beautiful white marble tomb, placed in the chapel near the organ door, is the sole monument among several conse- crated to the memory of various bishops that attracts the attention of an artist. Erected by Anne of Brittany to the four children (three sons and a daughter) which that prin- cess had by Charles VIII., and who all died in infancy, the mausoleum was first placed in the centre of the choir of the church of St. Martin. On the destruction of that beautiful temple, it was transported into the Cathedral. ST. BAVON, GHENT FREDERIC G, STEPHENS AS it now appears, this edifice is an example of late Gothic architecture, which is singularly free, as Mr. Fergusson says, from the vices of the Renaissance. At the time of its erection most of the buildings in France and England were but mockeries of art, or displayed the re- sults of attempts to foist the ornaments of one style upon the forms of another, without consideration for the uses and true characteristics of either. The plan of St. Bavon's Church is cruciform, with chapels round the aisles and east end; the choir is apsidal, with a retro-choir going com- pletely round it. The chapels are twenty-four in number ; these, although having special invocations, are best known by numbers which begin on the right of the west door. The exterior is heavy and plain, but redeemed to some ex- tent and dignified by the noble tower which rises above the western entrance. Begun on the 26th of May, 146 1, when the first stone was laid by Philippe Courould, Abbot of St. Pierre, this tower was completed in 1534, from the designs of Jean Stassins. In 1533, on the 7th of August, the nave and transept were begun to be rebuilt on the older founda- tion ; they were unfinished in 1550, when Charles V. gave 15,000 crowns of Italy, " each of the value of thirty sous," towards its completion. The platform which now terminates the tower is two hundred and sixty-eight feet from the ground ; from its z w O o > ST. BAVON, GHENT 143 summit may be seen Brussels, Antwerp, Mechlin, Bruges, and Vlissingen ; there was originally a fine wooden spire, de- stroyed by lightning in 1603. As it exists, this tower is divided into three stages pierced by four tiers of lancets, with moulded archivolts and deeply recessed, with crockets and a finial to each ; the upper stage is octagonal, having four detached buttresses, or counterforts, connected to the tower by flying buttresses. The west door is very deeply recessed, not a common thing in Belgium, and has rather clumsy mouldings about it. There is no parapet to the roof of this church, except under the gables of this transept, which are flanked by two long and slender octagonal turrets. Over the west door is a sort of minstrels' gallery — so we should call it in England ; this has a parapet of panelled quatrefoils. Nearly the whole of this structure is enclosed by houses or lanes so narrow that it is impossible to obtain a good view of the exterior for the camera. For this rea- son it will be best to turn to the interior in order to gain an idea of the celebrated church. Although late, this interior is a very noble one ; the nave is wide, so is the transept (1534-54), which is aisleless. The choir (begun in 1274) is very large, and completely occupies the space from the crossing to the apse, and is raised much higher than the nave floor ; this grand feature, which appears in several English cathedrals, is induced by the existence of an enormous crypt remaining at the east end, and part of the ancient church. The columns of the nave arcade (c. 1533) are clustered; the triple vaulting- shafts descend from the roof to the bases of the piers in the nave; the crossing, on account of its breadth and height, is singularly effective ; the triforium, or rather gal- lery of the nave and transept, is hidden by a long row of 144 ST. BAVON, GHENT panels of arms of knights of the Golden Fleece, painted on a black ground ; the triforium of the choir, which is very large and fine, consists of pointed arches enclosing coupled openings with trefoil heads ; the clerestory, which contains none but modern stained glass, is very handsome j that of the choir (c 1320) is expansive and noble. The ends of the transept are pierced by two enormous Flamboyant windows, which display armorials in stained glass of the Sixteenth Century ; in the treasury of this Cathedral are drawings of the stained glass which formerly filled the clere- story. The choir-screen is one of those abominable shams of the last century which deform so many noble Gothic interiors in Belgium; of ^^eWa-classic form, it is painted in black and white on wood to imitate marbles, and has gigan- tic pictures in camaieu in mockery of sculpture. The stalls of the choir are in the worst rococo manner ; on the wall above them appear more camaieu pictures (1774). The pulpit in the nave is an exaggerated example of what is vulgarly called " the thunder and lightning style " ; it cost no fewer than 33,000 francs (1745) and effectually mars the beauty of the surrounding architecture. This church is remarkable for its enormous quantity of bad furniture ; e. g., at the north end of the transept is a font in which Charles V. was baptized, a bowl of granite enclosed in brass and sustained by angels. Above this ap- pears a sort of transparency representing a dove hovering over the bowl; this trick which is quite worthy of Vaux- hall Gardens, and painfully startling in a Gothic cathedral, is not uncommon in Belgium, as a similar toy in the church of St. Quentin at Tournay testifies ; it is produced by making a hole in the wall behind the font to receive the transparency. The high altar is an enormous gewgaw, of ST. BAVON, GHENT I45 which the statues of SS. Bavon, Livinus and Amandus alone cost about 100,000 francs, or rather more than the tower of the Cathedral. It is composed of huge gilt rays, marble (pancake) clouds, a broken entablature, and what not, con- trasting painfully with the beautiful arcade of the aisle and chevet. In front of the altar are four tall copper candle- sticks, bearing the arms of England in relief, brought from Whitehall after the execution of Charles I.; they were purchased (1669) for this Cathedral by Bishop Trieste, whose monument stands near them at the side of the altar. It is the work of Jerome Du Quesnoy, sculptor of the fa- mous Mannekinpis at Brussels. The guide-books are, of course, enraptured by this statue, — " It represents Bishop Trieste contemplating the cross of the Saviour," say they, which it certainly does not, for the Bishop as he is placed could not see the cross, which a heavy Amarim holds up at his feet. There is a certain kind of technical skill shown in the carving of this and its companion tomb, especially that of Bishop Maes, by Pauwells, which satisfies all who do not look for genuine expressiveness and fidelity. With the exception of the figure of Bishop Maes nothing can be more corrupt in style than these works ; they are as low in that respect as Bernini's carvings, but without that bravura which is at least picturesque and effective, if not sculptur- esque and honestly pathetic. The brass gates of the altar are very good of their kind, the work of W. De Vos (c. 1700). In the chapels of St. Bavon there is a multitude of pic- tures ; of these few call for notice here. Among others IS the Decollation of St. John by G. De Crayer, in the First Chapel. In the Sixth Chapel, as we ascend to the upper part of the church is Christ with the Doctors^ by F. 146 ST. BAVON, GHENT Pourbus, containing, with many others of the same period, powerful portraits of Charles V., Philip II., and the painter. In the Fourteenth Chapel is one of the masterpieces of Rubens : it represents St. Bavon received into the convent which St. Amandus of Maestricht founded here. It is a masterpiece of art in art, wonderfully vigorous and exuber- antly splendid in painting, a triumph of robust execution, but might as well be styled an incident in the life of Theo- dosius as in that of St. Bavon. It was formerly the altar- piece of the Cathedral. The Eleventh Chapel is styled the ChapelU de P Agneau^ on account of its containing tHe fa- mous pictures by Hubert and John Van Eyck representing the Adoration of the Lamb as described in Revelation chap- ter vii. verse 9; and in the minor compositions surround- ing this, the glory of God, and the life, redemption and punishment of men. The central picture, which was be- gun by Hubert Van Eyck, is remarkable for its character- ization, vigour and depth of colouring, and the variety of the expressions ; it is one of the most perfect examples of the early Flemish school in the hands of the Van Eycks, 1420-32. The chapel containing it was appropriated to, if not erected by, Jodocus Vydts, Lord of Pamelle, his wife, Isabella Borluut, and family as a chantry and tomb-house for themselves; the pictures are placed on the east side above the altar. The whole now comprises twelve parts, which may be considered as divided into two lines — the up- per one of seven and the lower of five pictures. The most important element is the central picture of the lower row, which, although begun by Hubert, was finished by John Van Eyck ; it has given a title to the whole compo- sition and is named above. This shows the wounded Lamb standing upon an altar. His blood pouring into a ST. BAVON, GHENT I47 chalice, while at the sides are kneeling angels, singing or rapt in adoration ; some bear the emblems of the sacrifice — the spear, nails and sponge — others hold the cross and the pillar; two angels kneel in front tossing censers. The crypt, which extends under the whole choir of this church, is the most ancient part of the edifice and one of the oldest and largest in Belgium. It was constructed by St. Transmarus, of Noyon, in 941, and reconstructed some time in the Thirteenth Century and retains, for the most part, its original form. It is divided by twelve massive piers of various dates, some of them earlier and others coeval with the chancel above. The vaulting is rather flat, and covers no fewer than fifteen chapels. Several of these are of great size, and still used. There are some good incised slabs ranging from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century. In the treasury and sacristy of St. Bavon are many valuable works of ancient art, e. g., a beautiful chandelier of iron painted (Fifteenth Century) with statuettes of saints and a pyramidal roof with dormers, etc., the silver shrine of St. Macarius (Sixteenth Century), embroidered vestments, illu- minated books, reliquaries and other articles. BAYEUX CATHEDRAL, H. H. BISHOP A REMARKABLE and rich specimen of the " Nor- man " style of architecture is the nave of the Cathedral of Bayeux. It is only the lower part of the nave that is of the Nor- man date : up to the triforium string. And in front of each of the great clustered piers stands a pair of shafts (twin shafts under a common abacus) and above them the many zigzags and mouldings of the main arcade. The spandrels are covered with the diapered patterns, varied in different bays, which give a richness to the design possessed by no other Norman work of the kind. When we come to inquire the date of this fine Norman work of Bayeux, the records of history tend as much to raise doubts as to allay them. It is impossible to imagine William the Norman as a subject ; but he might have proved a better one than his turbulent half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. From 1049 to 1098 he held the See, and for thirty-eight years of that time his Cathedral was being built and he lived to see it completed. The consecration took place in 1077 ; but, though consecrated in 1077, Bayeux was not then com- pleted, the consecration being of a part only, as was almost universal, and as was natural when the works must neces- sarily occupy so many years. Taking then Inkersley's dates we learn that the Cathedral was burnt in an attack upon the city by Henry I., in 1 106, restored by him and BAYEUX CATHEDRAL BAYEUX CATHEDRAL 1 49 burnt again during an incursion by Henry II. in 1159. After this damage the repairs are said to have been made by Philip Bishop from 1142 to 1164. It will thus be seen that it may be extremely difficult to decide to which of these many buildings and rebuildings these noble piers and arcades of the nave of Bayeux really belong. At Bayeux the only " Norman " work remaining visible consists of the western towers and these finely clustered piers, rich arches and diapered spandrels of the nave. The piers have a girth of twenty-four feet seven inches, nearly the same as those of Ely. I was quite prepared to find this Norman work fine and noble, but scarcely prepared for so noble and beautiful a church altogether. Of course it is all painfully new, for it has been " restored," But we have to put up with that. In France we must now expect to find the ancient monu- ments of her history either in a state of utter desecration and ruin, or spick and span, with every venerable stain of the past centuries carefully scoured away. But not even such a " restoration " as this can make us insensible of the beauty of the Cathedral of Bayeux. It is about the same size as Beverley Minster. Its Norman west towers have later buttresses and spires, plain, but of admirable outline and design. Grouping with them is the central tower, square below, of our Decorated style, then an octagonal story Flamboyant with a dome and fleche which has, I suppose, taken the place of a classical one, translating it into Flamboyant form. The extreme points of the three towers seem of equal height; and Bourasse gives the central fleche as 244^ feet and the western spires as 241^ feet. But the dome of the central tower raises its mass higher. 150 BAYEUX CATHEDRAL Externally there is little of the Norman work visible. Striking is the effect of the lofty early Gothic clerestory of the nave with its quatrefoils and circles in the spandrels re- minding us at once of such early English work as that of the presbytery and east front of Ely. The great apse is circular on the plan and has very fine flanking turrets which, from without, appear to stand wholly within the clerestory wall, but from within no sign of their existence appears. This is an arrangement of which this part of Normandy shows many examples and is evidently a method of adding weight to bring the resultant pressures more into a vertical direction at the important point of the spring of the curve of the apse. The west front has five arches as for five portals as at Bourges, but the outer one on each side is not pierced. The central doorway is later and poorer than the others and has no gable. The others nave deep and rich series of mouldings and small circles, etc., in the gables which sur- mount them. But the great windows of the west front and transept are not circles, but windows of the ordinary form as we have them in England. Entering the Cathedral of Bayeux by the west door, we find a descent of six steps to the pavement of the nave. The transepts and the circumscribing aisle of the choir are again six steps below the nave, all of which arrangement brings about striking results in the perspective. The cen- tral tower has been ably shored up and underbuilt, but (I suppose) with the transformation of the arches of the nave nearest to it. The great arches of the crossing seem to have a slightly " horse-shoe " form. The lantern is not open as it is in so many of the churches of Normandy, but vaulted at the same level as the nave and choir — seventy-six feet BAYEUX CATHEDRAL 15^ from the ground. All the vaults are quadripartite with the usual simple beauty of that form, as at Salisbury. The very fine ground story of the nave, of the richest Norman work, supports an equally remarkable clerestory taller than itself. Though too slender to be quite in keep- ing with the massive work on which it stands, yet with its very long windows and clustering vaulting shafts, it is a most beautiful design. There is no triforium, but merely a trefoil arcade in its stead ; and this, as well as the very lofty proportions of the clerestory, all seems like an antici- pation of a later age. This clerestory and the triforium and clerestory of the choir and apse are of the " plate- tracery " style of the nave of Lincoln, but (I think) a step further in development. As at CoUtances, there is the beautiful double tracery of the clerestory windows ; per- haps almost too simple to be called " tracery," but doubled shafts and circles, as at Stone, Kent ; like a precursor of the clerestory of the " Angel Choir " at Lincoln. The choir and apse (except for being an apse) looks as " Early English " as Salisbury, or as the presbytery of Ely, which, indeed, it more nearly resembles in having its noble tri- forium unusually lofty for its age. This in fact seems more lofty than the clerestory above it, and is in most marked contrast with the small substitute for it which runs beneath the lofty clerestory of the nave ; and I think that it is a fault in the design. Yet I am almost ashamed to name anything as a fault in a work so pure and lovely as this is. The doubled pillars of the apse do not stand alone as at Coutances, but with shafts beside them, as in the " Round " of the Temple Church. These are quite detached. But it is a grief to see the doubled pillars fluted. How that came 152 BAYEUX CATHEDRAL to be done no one appears to know. Probably some genius of the Seventeenth Century wished to give a civilized aspect to the barbarous effort of the Thirteenth. I do not know what authority there may be for attribu- ting any share in the production of this glorious choir and apse to the English Bishop, Henry de Beaumont, 1 205. With greater probability it may be assigned to Bishop Guido, 1 238-1 259. Beneath it is the curious crypt of the Eleventh Century. We take leave of Bayeux Cathedral to treasure up the remembrance of its exceeding beauty. ST. STEPHEN'S, VIENNA JULIUS MEURER THE beautiful spire of St. Stephen's is the first land- marlc which greets the traveller from afar as he draws near to the city ; and the venerable Cathedral, whose grey stones have witnessed the changeful history of five cen- turies, is generally the goal towards which he first bends his footsteps. As early as the Twelfth Century a chapel to St. Stephen stood on this spot and was transformed into a church. Destroyed during a disastrous fire in 1258, it was rebuilt on a more extensive scale in the Romanesque style. The west front, with its two so-called Heathen Towers {Heidentiirme), dates from this period. Gothic Art, however, then in its infancy, soon began to assert its influence, and this it is what renders St. Stephen's Cathedral of such importance to the history of art. For as it was centuries in building, it was, when finished, a living history in itself of Gothic architecture, illustrating its rise, zenith and decline. Duke Rudolph IV., the founder, to whom Vienna is also indebted for its University, pushed on the work vigorously. In 1359 he laid the foundations of the nave and steeple. The latter was completed in 1433, and the former was vaulted thir- teen years later. In 1450 the north steeple was begun, but when twelve years afterwards it had attained the height of 143 feet, the work was suspended. The present unlovely superstructure was added in later years. The south steeple 154 ST. STEPHEN'S, VIENNA is 445 feet high, being only slightly lower than the spires of Cologne and Strassburg. The Cathedral was completed in 1506. All the later work bore rather the character of res- torations. Since 1850 the gables have been completed and the steeple rebuilt under the direction of the two great Gothic authorities, Leopold Ernst and Friedrich Schmidt. Among the earlier architects were Wenzel Helbling, who built the steeple ; Peter von Pracatitz about 1430 ; Hans Puchsbaum, his successor; and lastly Master Anton Pil- gram, who built the graceful Singertor., the pulpit, etc., about 1500. The Cathedral is in the shape of a cross, which is formed by the triple nave and choir attached thereto and the tran- sept with the porches at either end. The length of the in- terior is three hundred and fifty-one feet, the width of the centre nave thirty-four and a half feet, and of the side naves twenty-eight and a half feet. The centre nave, which measures eighty-eight feet to the archivolt, is slightly higher than the lateral naves. Above the triple nave on a forest of beams rises the unusually lofty, almost perpendicular, roof with its glazed tiles of many colours — a masterpiece of the carpenter's art. The main entrance to the Cathedral is on the west side by the Giant Gate, the original design of which is Roman- esque. The ogives were added later. The two circular windows of the west front with their elegant tracery also belong to the best Gothic period. The height of the Heathen Towers is 208 feet. The north and south fronts have each two entrances, the Bischofstor (Bishop Gate) and Adlertor (Eagle Gate), and the Singertor and Primtor. The Bischofstor and Singertor are usually closed, but the porches contain graceful work. ST. STEPHEN'S, VIENNA ST. STEPHEN'S, VIENNA JS5 The Singertor and Primtor form the porches of the two towers and are almost exclusively in use. By the Singertor on the south front is a sarcophagus on which rests a knight. Tradition points it out as the tomb of Otto Neidhard Fuchs, famed for his jests at the court of Duke Otto the Merry. It is surmounted by an elegant stone canopy. Among the numerous other exterior sculptures may be mentioned the pulpit on the north front, from which St. John Capistranus preached a crusade against the Turks, who were then threatening Hungary. The interior of the Cathedral is very imposing. Twelve slender richly-moulded columns divide the middle nave from the side ones, and, ending in reticulated work, support the three arches. This arrangement is continued in the three choirs behind the body of the Cathedral. They are divided by six pillars, the artistically carved choir seats, the choir and oratories being built in between. The high altar was built in 1647 and is of black marble. The painting, Martyrdom of St. Stephen, is by Anton Bock. The Rococo of this and the other altars is not in harmony with the architectural style of the Cathedral. To the right of the high altar, in the Thekla choir, is the Sarcophagus ot Kaiser Frederick IV. It is of red Salzburg marble, and is the principal work of art in St. Stephen's. Though begun in 1467 by Nicholas Lerch of Leyden, it was not finished till 15 13 by the Viennese mason, Martin Dichter, and is said to have cost 40,000 ducats. In the adjoining south side nave is the Memorial of the Deliverance of Vienna in 1683. It was unveiled in 1893. This fine monument is by Prof. Hermann Helmer. The central figure is that of the valiant Governor Count Rudiger Starhemberg, acclaimed by the citizens. The other statues 156 ST. STEPHEN'S, VIENNA are those of men who distinguished themselves in the defence and deliverance of the city. The women's choir to the left of the high altar shows the statues of Duke Albrecht III. (1395) and his wife j in front of the altar is Cardinal Archbishop Rauscher, a distinguished statesman and savant, who died in 1875. Other objects of interest in the interior of the Cathedral are the grand choir in the porch of the Giant Tower, with a powerful organ of thirty-two registers, and the pulpit against the third pillar of the north side. It is an exceedingly graceful piece of Gothic work by Master Pilgram, whose statue adorns the foot. Of the chapels in the porches of the two towers and on either side of the Giant Gate may be mentioned : the Catherine Chapel .(under the steeple) with a beautiful font of the year 1481 ; the Eligius Chapel always bathed in mystic twilight ; to the left of the Giant Gate the Cross, or Eugene Chapel, with the statue of the 'greatest Austrian military commander. Prince Eugene of Savoy. From the porch of the unfinished north tower one gains access to the Barbara Chapel. This contains a Gothic altar by Ferstel (1854) in memory of the attempt on the life of the Emperor Francis Joseph. The altar screen is by Blaas and the statues by Gasser. The beautiful stained windows in the side choirs, executed by Geyling from designs of distinguished artists, also deserve attention. The treasury of the church is rich in antique vestments, finely-carved reliquaries and other valuable objects. The view from the top of the steeple is magnificent, reaching far away beyond the sea of houses to the spurs of the Alps, the Wilnerwald, the Marchfeld and the plain of Hungary. EVREUX CATHEDRAL BENJAMIN WINKLES EVREUX cannot be called a handsome city. Its sit- uation is pleasant enough ; it is surrounded by gar- dens and orchards in a fertile valley, enclosed to the north and south by ranges of hills. On approaching the city the Cathedral is certainly a very imposing object, and the more so because at a little distance the great blemish, the detail of the western facade, is not discernible. Let the reader now suppose himself to have arrived in Evreux, and to have placed himself opposite the west front of the Cathedral. The plan of this facade is the usual one of a gable flanked by two towers, a door of entrance in the middle with a large window over it ; but it is singular in having no lateral doors of entrance into the side aisles on each side the mid- dle or great door of entrance into the nave. The towers are of unequal dimensions ; that to the north, called the bell-tower, being much larger than the other, and the walls much thicker. The foundation of this tower is said to have been laid in the year 1392, and to have been finished in the year 14 17, when the English were masters of the city. The dome by which it is now terminated was added when the other tower was built by Bishop Gabriel le Veneur, about the middle of the Sixteenth Century. That this is the true state of the case appears probable both from the letter of M. Delanoe, and the work called Gallia 158 EVREUX CATHEDRAL Christiana : the former declaring that the bishop built only one of the towers ; the latter that he gave the great bell, and adorned the whole west front. No doubt, therefore, when he built the southern tower, he altered the face of the northern, so as to make it correspond as much as possible with the other, and with the portal and gable between them which he took care to disfigure (as we should now say) at the same time. Mr. Whewell's description of this west front accords very well with this account of its first con- struction and subsequent alteration. He says it is to be considered as a Gothic conception expressed in classical phrases. Unpleasing as this facade is in itself, it becomes more so when viewed in connection with the pure Gothic of the rest of the edifice, and especially with the north side of it. On turning round the corner of the great tower, that north side, as far as the transept, comes immediately in sight, crowned with the central tower, surmounted by perhaps the most delicate, light, and elegant spires of the size that ever were constructed. The central tower is plain and octangu- lar ; the four faces of it, opposite the four points of the compass, are occupied with large pointed windows of four lights each, with good but simple tracery in the heads of each. The other four sides are plain solid walls, up the mid- dle of each of which runs a plain, half-hexagonal turret, with loop holes to give light to the staircases constructed within it. The parapet of these plain sides of the octagon as well as that of the others is of good flowing tracery, pierced through. The turrets are terminated by pinnacles and tracery, and rise above the parapet of the tower; or at the eight angles of which rise as many pinnacles, but of larger dimensions than those on the turrets. The spire, which is EVREUX CATHEURAL EVREUX CATHEDRAL, 1 59 also octangular, rises from within the tower, and around the base of it are pinnacles, which are attached to the spire by flying buttresses ; it has pointed windows to the top in each side, one above another with bands of tracery between each. Those in the lowest story being much higher, and of course much wider than those above them ; these last- mentioned windows have straight and very acute angled canopies. All that portion of the north side of the Cathedral be- tween the northern tower and the transept is plain, as to the clerestory and buttresses j the flying buttresses, of which there are two to every upright buttress, one above the other, being neither pierced nor panelled, give to this portion of the building a dull and heavy appearance. The side chapels, however, below are of a more ornamented description ; as is also the library which projects on this side of the Cathe- dral beyond the outer walls of the chapels to the level of the north front of the transept. Each chapel has a pointed window of five lights, with rather rich tracery in their heads, and an acute angled canopy over each, rising far above the parapet : between each window is a delicate but- tress ending in a crocketed pinnacle rising equally above the parapet, which is filled with good open tracery. The li- brary, which is now used as a vestry (the books having been dispersed at the commencement of the Revolution), has one pointed window to the west, and two to the north; the former, of three lights, the latter, of four lights each, with simple tracery in the heads of them : they have no cano- pies, but a pierced parapet runs along the top of the building ; and at the outer angle of the building and between the win- dows are small buttresses terminated by crocketed pinnacles. The west wall of the transept on this side has two very l6o EVREUX CATHEDRAL large and rich Pointed windows of six lights each, with a buttress and pinnacle between them, and a pierced parapet of very good design above them. But the jewel of Evreux Cathedral is the north front of the transept. For this portion of the edifice has been long and justly celebrated; and for this portion alone a journey to Evreux will not be thought too much to under- take, from almost any distance, by the lover of Gothic ar- chitecture. It has been ever esteemed as a perfect example of the Flamboyant style. The plan of it is the usual one, and in design is very similar to the south front of the tran- sept of Beauvais Cathedral ; the difference between them is however entirely and very greatly in favour of Evreux. The flanking towers are very rich, without exceeding in richness the intervening space, and they are finished with very graceful clusters of canopies and pinnacles. The south front of the transept of Beauvais astonishes and daz- zles ; the north front of the transept of Evreux Cathedral satisfies and delights the beholder. The epithets proper to the former are gorgeous and superb, to the latter graceful and elegant. The architect of Beauvais seems to have made an experiment of how much ornament could be crowded into a given space, while the architect of Evreux, having thoroughly studied the subject, and selected the choicest detail from the almost endless variety in the store- house of Gothic architecture, has so combined and applied it, as to produce in the north front of this transept the most perfect masterpiece of the style and age in which it was erected. The east side of the transept is similar to the west side. We come now to the choir and its surrounding chapels. The windows both of the clerestory and the side chapels EVREUX CATHEDRAL l6l are very similar to those of the nave, but the buttresses are lighter, and the flying buttresses are ornamented with open tracery. The choir is so much broader than the nave and central tower, that in order to make the walls of the clere- story meet the corners of the tower, they are built at an angle and the choir contracted in the last compartment westward. This has not a good effect externally. There are five chapels in the apse ; the middle one was at a subsequent period lengthened out into the present Chapel of the Virgin ; they all end in half hexagons, with pointed windows in each side and buttresses between ; the Virgin Chapel has besides the three eastern windows, six others, three on the north, and three on the south side. The south side of the Cathedral differs somewhat from the north side, especially as regards the end of the tran- sept, which wants the flanking towers, and has nothing in its design or detail worthy of particular attention. Some remains of the cloisters are still to be seen on this side of the building; and other adjuncts which disfigure rather than adorn it. The south side, however, of the Cathedral of Evreux, being enclosed within garden walls and private premises, is seldom seen by the traveller (except the upper part of it), which under the circumstances is not to be at all regretted. There is a great deal of very first rate stained glass in this Cathedral, particularly in the transept, choir and Vir- gin Chapel ; that in the windows of the Chapel is reckoned to exceed in beauty and richness any other in France. ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL W. J. LOFTIE ONE of the oldest cities in England, and one also which is marked by some of the most ancient and interesting relics of the past, Rochester lies on the high road between London and Canterbury, commanding the bridge which must have first been made here by the Ro- mans over the lower Medway. They called the town Durobrivum. The Normans, seeing the importance of the place, built the castle, which, after centuries of neglect, has lately become the property of the municipality, and, with its grounds laid out as a garden, is an honour and an orna- ment to the city. It is situated on an angle formed by the river, which here coming from the south runs northward until it has passed the bridge, and then turns to the east- ward. Rochester is mentioned by Beda, who says one Roffe first built here, but the addition of " Chester " to his name " HrofFeceaster " is enough to show that the site was already occupied and fortified by the Romans. Ethelbert, King of Kent, probably built the city walls, which may still be traced in places, between Rochester and Chatham. He may have used Roman foundations. He certainly founded the church of St. Andrew, for secular canons, and in 604 a bishop was appointed. He was named Justus, and was one of the companions of Augustine. Justus became third Archbishop of Canterbury in 624, and was succeeded at Rochester by Romanus, and he by < Q M K h < U b! w H M X y o ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 163 Paulinus. Then came Ithamar, the first English Bishop. Siward, Bishop at the Conquest, survived that event ten years. Gundulf, a monk of Bee in Normandy, was ap- pointed in 1076, and to him we must attribute a part at least of both Cathedral and Castle as we now see them. The Cathedral does not stand, as at Durham, beside the Castle, looking down over the river and the valley, but in a hollow to the eastward. It is best approached from the High Street, where an old archway, the College Gate, marks the entrance to the Precincts, or Green Church Haw, as the open space is locally called. Other gates are nearer the church, and there are many relics of antiquity to be observed in a walk among the canons* houses, past the Deanery, and up Boley Hill, where a fine view is obtained. St. Nicholas's Church stands on the north side of the Cathedral, and part of it dates back to the Fifteenth Century; but the body of the church was built in 1624, and will remind the visitor of St. Katharine Cree, in London, as an example of Seventeenth Century Gothic. Bishop Gundulf is said to have built Rochester Castle and Cathedral as well as the Tower of London. But very little work that can positively be assigned to him now re- mains in the Cathedral. We are indebted to Mr. St. John Hope, of the Society of Antiquaries, for a careful examina- tion of the existing buildings ; and his paper has been pub- lished in the Archaologia (XLIX. p. 323). An authority on the rest of the church is one of the minor canons, Mr. Livett. The secular canons, four in number, had so wasted or mismanaged their estates, that before Gundulf's appointment, the church and services were equally neg- lected. Gundulf recovered the alienated property, estab- lished a priory of twenty monks, pulled down the old and 164 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL ruinous church, and with much pecuniary assistance from Archbishop Lanfranc rebuilt it on a larger scale. The plan was peculiar, being strictly English, not Norman. There was a nave; aisleless transepts 120 feet long but only fourteen feet wide ; and an eastern arm of six bays with aisles, four bays being raised on a crypt. The east end was square, and a small rectangular chapel projected from it. A campanile was on the north side, detached in the angle between the choir and north transept. A tower on the north side must have been built before the church, for what purpose is unknown. A portion of it is still standing. Part of the crypt also dates from Gundulf's time. The second Norman church was begun by Bishop Ernulf about 11 20, and carried on by his successor until 1 130, when it was consecrated. The present nave is of this period. A new choir was finished, in the then New Pointed Style, in 1227, the north transept about 1255, and the south transept a little later. The central tower was originally built by Bishop Haymo de Hythe (1319-1352), but was rebuilt by Cottingham as a "restoration," in 1826. It goes far to mar every external view of the church. The interior of the nave is Norman, except the two most eastern bays at each side, which are Pointed. The triforium is also Norman, and the Norman windows of the clerestory have Perpendicular tracery. " The north transept," says Mr. Livett {Brief Notes on Rochester Cathedral Church), "is a good example of late Early English. In the recess on the east side may be seen the only instance in the Cathedral of the typical foliated cap of this style." The Lady Chapel is on the south side of the nave. The west window was renewed by Cottingham. It was filled with painted glass by the ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 165 Royal Engineers in 1884. The curious Norman recesses under it have been filled with mosaic memorials in hope- lessly discordant colours. The roof is of wood. The entire nave is seated, and a pulpit is on the north side. The screen used to be of plain masonry, with a large pointed doorway into the choir. The organ was over it, but was divided so as to allow of a view along the vault- ing of the choir. The choir is approached by a flight of stone steps. In the south choir aisle, or Chapel of St. Edmund, is a similar flight admitting to the south choir transept. By its side is another flight leading downwards to the crypt, which should be visited. The two western bays are of Bishop Gundulf's time, the rest is Early English. "Ths eastern arm is divid>;d into three alleys, running east and west of five severies." When we ascend to the choir level we are in the south choir transept. Opposite the door by which we enter is a beautifully carved archway, leading into what is now, we believe, a kind of musical library for the use of organists and choristers. This doorway has been variously described as " Decorated " and as " Perpendicular." Its exact date is not known for certain, but from an artistic point of view, it is by far the most beautiful and interesting object in Rochester Cathedral, rivalling in this respect the entrance to the Chaptei-house at Southwell, the Lady Chapel at Ely, and the tomb of Edward II. at Gloucester. On the south side there is a graceful female figure, blindfolded, and bear- ing a cross and banner in her left hand and two tables or tablets in her right. She stands on a bracket, which is sup- ported by a somewhat grotesque head with a downcast ex- pression. On the other side is a bishop, of rather truculent aspect, bearing a cross and banner in his right hand, and a l66 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL church model in his left. He is clothed in pontificals and has a mitre on his head. He rests on a bracket carved with a monk's head, wearing a cheerful expression. In the arch above his head are two of the Evangelists, and over the female figure two more, each in an exquisite canopied niche. Above them are four small angels, two on each side, and at the apex of the arch is a nude, childlike figure, such as was used to represent the soul in stained glass and illuminated MSS. The large figures are some- times explained to represent Judaism and Christianity ; but perhaps it would be better to take them as signifying the Law and the Gospel. The whole composition has been cast and is to be seen in museums of architecture, as at the Crystal Palace. To a lover of beautiful sculpture it will re- pay the trouble of a pilgrimage to Rochester to see the original. In the choir, which is exquisitely vaulted, the stalls have no canopies, but a wall shuts out the side aisles as far as the choir transept. East of that point is a pulpit, with the brass eagle between and a reredos near the east wall. When the pulpit was removed from a place adjoining the north row of stalls, a curious painting representing the Wheel of Fortune, was discovered behind it, and has been preserved. In the north choir transept was the shrine of St. William of Scotland. This personage was a baker at Perth, who undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and had got as far as Rochester in 1201 when, outside the walls, he was murdered by his servant. He was canonized in 1256, and his tomb brought some gain to the monks. It stands on the north- east side, and near it a slab marked with crosses shows where the reliquary was. There are many bishops buried ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 167 in the eastern limb of the choir and in the north transept, the principal memorial being the modern tomb of Bishop Walter Morton, died 1277. It is prettily arranged with two small windows behind it. Originally, an eiBgy made and enamelled at Limoges, in the style of that of William de Valence in Westminster Abbey, was on this tomb, but it was destroyed at the Reformation. Other monuments are to Bishop Shepey, died 1361, who is supposed to have made the doorway in the southeast transept; to Bishop Lowe, died 1461 ; Bishop Laurence and Bishop Glanville, both of the Thirteenth Century. There is a canopied eiBgy of Bishop Inglethorp, died 1291, and near it on the south side of the altar, a tomb traditionally assigned to Gundulf. MILAN CATHEDRAL JOSEPH BOLDORINI THE Cathedral of Milan, founded by a special vow in 1386 by the Duke of Milan, Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti, is composed of fine white marble taken from the quarries of Mount Gandoglia near Lago Maggiore, which besides many other gifts was expressly offered as a present for the building by the generous founder himself. The spot where it is raised is the same formerly occupied by the ancient Metropolitan Church of the city, erected in 836 under the title of St. Maria Maggiore, this place hav- ing been chosen in order that this new magnificent temple should form a monument unrivalled in its kind, and one of the first wonders of the world in eternal honour and memory of our Holy Virgin. The architecture of this temple is all Gothic with the exception of the facade which was begun in the Greek style by Pellegrini, and continued afterwards, rather slowly, until in 1805, by a decree of the Emperor Napoleon dated 8th June, the completion of the whole temple was ordered. Its shape is that of a Latin cross, and comprises five naves corresponding to the five entrance doors. The separation of the five naves is effected by fifty-two large and fluted columns or pillars of marble of a shape almost octagonal, all alike, with the exception of four, which, as they support the great cupola, are about one-fifth bigger than the others. The height of each of the fifty-two columns, reckoning the base MILAN CATHEDRAL 1 69 and the capital, is about twenty-four and their diameter about two and a half metres. Besides all these columns, or pillars, several half columns, corresponding to the entire ones, and which serve also to support the crossing, Gothic vaults jut out from the interior walls, which form the circumfer- ence of the temple. Well worthy of attention are the capitals of the pillars, which divide the main nave from the others, being of different designs and adorned with eight statues and pointed pediment enriched with a prodigious quantity of arabesque. The whole work, beyond any doubt unique in its kind, was for the greater part executed towards the end of the Fifteenth Century by Filippino of Modena. The interior of the cupola is also adorned with sixty statues and bas-reliefs, four of which represent the doctors of the Christian Church. An ample and fine flight of stairs of red granite leading to five doors in the Roman style, corresponding, as already observed, to the five naves, affords entrance to the temple. Over the doors are five large windows filled up with stained and figured glass painted by Giovanni Bertini, a famous Milanese artist. Over the great middle window is the fol- lowing short inscription in gilt bronze letters : ' Marie Nascenti The pedestals of the pillars are adorned with fifty-two beautiful bas-reliefs, representing partly events of the Holy Writ, and partly subjects alluding to the mysteries of our religion. Upwards of two hundred statues decorate this magnificent facade adorned in its upper part with twelve needles, or spires, supporting twelve colossal statues. On entering by the middle door the visitor will see two gigantic columns of red granite, taken from a quarry at 1 70 MILAN CATHEDRAL Baveno on Lago Maggiore, almost unparalleled for their colossal size and dimensions. Above them is the large win- dow embellished with coloured painted glass by Bertini, representing the Virgin Mary's Assumption, designed by the eminent professor, Luigi Sabatelli. The ornaments of the five doors were designed by Fabio Mangone. The pavement composed of fine varied col- oured marbles in the Arabic style is now entirely finished. The same may be said of the surprising vault painted en grisaille, drawn and admirably executed in part by Felice Albert!, a Milanese artist, who in the year 1827 lost his life by a fatal accident in the bloom of his age. From 1828 to 1 83 1, the well-known painter Alessandro Sanquirico suc- ceeded him in the direction and continuation of the work ; and in 1832 another celebrated artist, Francesco Gabetta, accomplished the task. The various marble altars were designed by the celebrated Pellegrini, Cerani, and Martino Bassi, according to the desire expressed to them by St. Charles. Not far from the middle door is to be seen in a line paral- lel with the front of the temple the meridian drawn by the astronomers of the Observatory (in the Palace of the Brera) in the year 1786 ; a little further on, is a stone tomb, con- taining the remains of Eriberto, Archbishop of Milan. Close by, there is a square space which forms part of the left arm of the church. In this enclosure stands the richest and finest monument that the temple contains, erected by Pope Pius IV., the maternal uncle of St. Charles, in memory of his brothers, Gian Giacomo and Gabriele Medici of Milan. This stately monument was executed by the sculptor Leone Leoni, surnamed the Chevalier Aretino, after the design of the celebrated Michelangelo MILAN CATHEDRAL IJl Buonarroti and finished in 1564 for the sum of 7,800 scudi (Toro. It is all of Carrara marble except the statues, the bas- reliefs and the candelabra, which are of bronze and were cast by the same Leoni ; it is adorned with six columns of very fine marble, sent expressly from Rome by the above-men- tioned Pontiff, of which four are black-spotted, veined with white and two of a reddish colour. In the middle of the monument stands the colossal statue of Gian Giacomo Medici and in the space between the columns there is on each side a beautiful statue, sitting in a very melancholy posture, which represent, one. Peace, the other. Military Virtue. Near this monument, is another small altar, entirely of precious marble : it was a gift of the above-mentioned Pon- tiff; and between the monument and the altar, a small door gives entrance to a winding staircase leading to the outside, or rather to the series of roofs of this magnificent temple. Whoever has a feeling for the beautiful cannot help admir- ing the endless number of statues and bas-reliefs which pre- sent themselves to the astonished eye, the greater part of which were executed by the most celebrated artists of Europe. But the admiration of the visitor will be still more increased, when, after having ascended 512 steps, he will have reached the platform at the foot of the great spire, where a most beautiful panorama of the country is displayed in every di- rection. SiifHce to say that besides the great number of pal- aces, churches, gates, promenades and villas which pas's before the gazer in brilliant succession, a rich plain extends to the Alps on one side, to the Apennines and the skies on the other, and at the end of them the whole chain of moun- tains which stretches from Savoy to the Grisons and termi- nate only in the Tyrol, rise distinctly with wonderful 172 MILAN CATHEDRAL majesty. From this place the visitor can easily and at- tentively observe the lofty great spire designed by Francesco Croce on the top of which is placed the statue of the Holy Virgin of gilt copper about four metres high, as well as the 136 spires below adorned with 6,616 statues and bas-reliefs, each of them supporting a colossal statue. He may also observe the remainder of all the ornaments and valuable works which adorn this wonder of the world and would require volumes to be minutely described. Well worth noticing is the spire with an interior winding staircase lead- ing to the higher one, enriched with about a hundred statues, besides the colossal one above, and decorated with a great number of bas-reliefs. This work was executed under the guidance of the celebrated architect, Pietro Pestagalli. Before reaching the steps which lead up to the high altar and the choir, the visitor will see an opening in the pave- ment surrounded by a bronze railing, designed by the painter Carlo Ferrario, which serves to give light to the subter- ranean chapel of St. Charles Borromeo. At the lateral extremities of the steps, there are two pulpits of extraordi- nary workmanship resting on the two large pillars support- ing the great cupola. They were commenced by order of St. Charles and finished under the care of the Cardinal Federico Borromeo, his kinsman. They are supported by four beautiful brass caryatides representing on the right the four doctors of the church and on the left the four Evangelists, all embellished with historical and ornamental plates of gilt and silvered copper, executed by the eminent artists Gio Battista Rusca and Francesco Brambilla. On looking upward the eye sees the great architrave sup- ported by two colossal statues representing two prophets, MILAN CATHEDRAL 173 and beyond is Jesus Christ hanging from the Cross with John and Mary and two Angels by Santo Corbetta. The vault is painted en grisaille upon a very rich gilt ground under the direction of Alessandro Sanquirico, as already stated. On it is also to be seen a niche formed by rays of gilt copper with a gilt railing which contains the Holy Nail (// Santo Chiodo). Suspended from the vault there is a can- delabrum of Gothic style and singular shape. A balus- trade divides the choir from the chancel. The choir stalls of walnut, masterfully carved by the most skilful artists, are entitled to notice. In the centre of the choir stands the high altar, the small dome of which is supported by eight fluted columns of gilt bronze, standing on a base of metal. Likewise of metal is the little dome decorated with nine statues, representing our Saviour and eight Angels with the symbols of the Pas- sion. By the steps behind we reach the small dome, where are four kneeling Angels supporting the Tabernacle in the form of a tower. This work was executed in Rome and given as a present by Pope Pius IV. Twelve Apostles deco- rate the upper part of the Tabernacle ; in the centre stands the statue of the Redeemer ; and many bas-reliefs decorate the circumference beneath. In the two first bays, there are two organs enriched with columns and bas-reliefs of gilt wood whose parapets to- wards the naves are of Carrara marble exquisitely wrought in arabesques. The pictures which serve to screen the organs from the chapel represent on one side the Passage of the Red Sea, the Nativity, and the Ascension by Ambrogio Figini ; and on the other the Triumph of David, the Resurrection and the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, all painted by Camillo Procaccini. 174 MILAN CATHEDRAL Seventeen bas-reliefs of Carrara marble sculptured by BifB, Prestinari, Lasagni, Vismara, etc., decorate the outside of the choir. These are, moreover, separated by fifty-tw^o Angels and other bas-reliefs executed by the same authors. Opposite the tw^o sacristies there is a screen through which by means of a staircase the visitors descend to a sub- terranean chapel called the Scurolo, in the middle of which is an altar with eight columns, supporting a vault incrusted all over with ornamental details of stucco-work designed by Pellegrini. A spacious gallery, all lined with marble from the finest Italian quarries, and a portal adorned with beau- tiful columns having the capitals and bases richly gilt, con- ducts to the sepulchral chapel of St. Charles Borromeo. It is of octagonal form and the vaulted ceiling is decorated with a succession of silver tablets representing the most remark- able events of the life of this benevolent Archbishop, while eight busts, or caryatides, in the angles around represent alle- gorically his virtues. Above the altar stands the sarcophagus, made of rock crystal set off with silver and containing the venerated remains of the Saint arrayed in pontifical gar- ments, studded with precious stones. It was a present of Philip IV., King of Spain, whose armorial bearing in mass- ive gold enriches the monument. CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL FRANCIS BOND CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL, though one of the smallest, is to the student of Mediaeval architecture one of the most interesting and important of our cathedrals. At Salisbury one or two styles of architecture are repre- sented ; at Canterbury two or three ; at Chichester every single style is to be seen without a break from the Eleventh to the Sixteenth Century. It is an epitome of English ar- chitectural history for five hundred years. Early Norman, late Norman, late Transitional, early Lancet, late Lancet, early Geometrical, late Geometrical, Curvilinear, Perpen- dicular and Tudor work all appear in the structure side by sidfe. We have many other heterogeneous and composite cathedrals, but nowhere, except perhaps at Hereford, can the whole sequence of the Mediaeval styles be read so well as at Chichester. The first seat of the diocese was on the coast at Selsea ; it was transferred to Chichester by Stigand in 1082, when other Norman prelates removed to fortified towns such as Lincoln, Exeter and Norwich. In the south aisle of the choir are two Saxon slabs representing the meeting of Christ with Mary and Martha and the raising of Lazarus. The figures are the tall, emaciated, but dignified figures of archaic Byzantine art ; their stature carefully proportionate to their importance; the slabs may well have come from Selsea. Stigand was followed by Gosfried, who for some unknown 176 CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL sill sought and obtained absolution from the Pope. The original document in lead may be seen in the library. " " e, representing St. Peter, the chief of the Apostles, to whom God gave the power of building and loosing, absolve thee, Bishop Godfrey, so far as thy accusation requests and the right of remission belongs to us. God the Redeemer be thy salvation and graciously forgive thee all thy sins. Amen. On the seventh of the Calends of April, on the festival of St. Firmin, bishop and martyr, died Godfrey, Bishop of Chichester; it was then the fifth day of the moon." I. Norman. Godfrey was succeeded in 109 1 by Ralph, whose stone coffin marked " Radulphus " may be seen in the Lady Chapel. Godfrey built the present Norman Ca- thedral, or, at any rate, enough of it to allow a consecra- tion in 1 108. Before his death in 1123, or soon after, the whole Cathedral must have been complete except the west front where only the two lower stories of the southwest tower are Norman. The voluted capital of Eleventh Century Norman work — ^^an attempt at Ionic — which appears also on the east side of Ely transept — occurs in the triforium of the choir. The work in the four eastern bays of the nave is a little later; the four western bays, in which the triforium is treated differently, were possibly not built till after the fire in 1 1 14. The Norman Church had the same ground plan as that of Norwich, commenced c. 1096, and Gloucester, commenced c. 1089. It had an aisled nave, aisleless transept with eastern apses, aisled choir, apse and ambula- tory, and a chevet of three radiating chapels, of which the side chapels were semicircular, the central or eastern chapel oblong, as at Canterbury and Rochester. Externally, on 1-3 < Bi a w X h < o Bi M H W K u a u CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL 1 77 the south wall of the choir, in the second bay from the east, may be seen traces of the curve of the wall of the ancient apse, and also a triforium window which originally was in the centre of one of the narrowed bays of the apse, but has now ceased to be central. In the chamber above the library the curve of the wall of the apse of the north transept is well seen. The piers, as in most Eleventh Century work, are monstrously and unnecessarily heavy and the arches constricted. It is rather a monotonous in- terior, with the same design from choir to west end. It is a pity that they did not give us a different and improved design in the nave, as was done at Tewkesbury and Gloucester. Matters have been made worse by the re- moval of a superb Perpendicular stone rood-screen, crowned, as at Exeter, by a Renaissance organ. The re- moval of this has impaired the general effect of the interior, much lessening the apparent length of the Cathedral. As usual, only the aisles and apses of the Norman Cathedral were vaulted; the aisles here, as at Southwell, are vaulted in oblong compartments. It was dedicated to St. Peter and served by secular Canons, of whom in 1520 there were thirty-one. In the triforium of the choir were semi- circular transverse arches, precisely as in the choir of Durham. II. Late Transitional and Early Lancet, from the lire of 1186 to the consecration of 1199, when the Cathedral was rededicated to the Holy Trinity. About 1180, some work was going on in the western part of the Lady Chapel, but in a great fire in 1186 the roofs and fittings of the whole Cathedral were burnt, and the clerestories were no doubt damaged by falling timbers. The destruc- tion, however, was by no means so great as at Canterbury 178 CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL in the fire of 1182, and no such drastic process of re- building was necessary. Siegfried probably commenced with the choir, which was most wanted. The masonry of the ground story had probably been calcined by the roof-timbers blazing on the floor; the inner face of this was cased with good Caen stone. As at Canterbury great use was made of Purbeck marble, in which were built angle-shafts and capitals to the piers, hood-moulds for the pier-arches, string-courses below and above the triforium, and arcading to the clere- story. In front of each pier a triple vaulting shaft was run up with a marble capital, supporting the new quadripartite vault. Externally, the clerestory wall was supported by flying-buttresses of heavy archaic type, similar to those of the choirs of Canterbury and Boxgrove. Later on the same treatment was extended by Siegfried and his successors to the nave and transepts. His next step was to remove the Norman apse and to build an aisled retro-choir of two bays. This is the archi- tectural gem of the Cathedral. The idea of it probably came from Hereford, where the retro-choir is a few years earlier. At Hereford, however, the retro-choir projects pictur- esquely, and forms an eastern transept. The central piers of the Chichester retro-choir are remarkably beautiful. They consist of a central column surrounded by four shafts very widely detached ; column and shaft are of Purbeck marble. The capitals are Corinthianesque ; their height is propor- tioned to the diameters of the column and shafts. This beautiful capital was reproduced a few years later by St. Hugh at Lincoln, and the pier at Boxgrove. The triforium is of quite exceptional beauty, as indeed is the whole design. Semicircular arches occur in the pier- CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL 1/9 arcade and triforium, and some of the abaci are squaie ; otherwise the design is pure Gothic. Here, as at Abbey Dore, St. Thomas', Portsmouth, Boxgrove and Wells, we see the transition from the Transition to the " pure and undefiled Gothic" of St. Hugh's choir at Lincoln. In these beautiful churches the ancient Romanesque style breathed its last. The isles of the new retro-choir were continued on either side of the first bay of the Norman Lady Chapel, whose three bays had probably been remodelled before the fire in Transitional fashion. The capitals of the Lady Chapel are of exceptional interest and importance, as show- ing experimental foliation which had not yet settled down into the conventional leafage of early Gothic. The apse also of the south transept was replaced by a square chapel ; and that of the north transept by a double chapel now used as a library in the vaulting of which the Norman zigzag occurs. * III. A little later in the Lancet period was built (i 199-1245) the lovely south porch, with small, exquisite mouldings and charming foliated capitals and corbels. The difixsrence between early Transitional, late Transitional and Lancet foliation may be well seen by examining success- ively the capitals of the Lady Chapel, the triforium of the retro-choir, and the south porch. The north porch is almost equally fine. The vaulting-ribs, square in section, show that the two porches both belong to the very first years of the Thirteenth Century. Rather later the sacristy was built on to the south porch, with a massive vault supported by foliated corbels. IV. In the Early Geometrical period (i 245-1 280) building still went on unremittingly. The southwest l8o CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL tower was raised to its present height ; the low Norman central tower was replaced by a higher one : it is curious that this tower is oblong in plan ; the transept, contrary to custom, being wider than nave or choir. A pretty circular window, with cusped circles and tooth ornament, was inserted in the eastern gable of the retro-choir, and a fine Galilee porch was added to the west front, as at Ely. But the great change that was destined to alter the whole character of the nave was the addition of chapels. In our parish churches it is common enough to find that pious and wealthy parishioners have been allowed to tack family chapels on to the aisles or nave. In Dorchester Priory Church there is a south aisle run- ning the whole length of the church made up of nothing but a series of chantry-chapels. This was common enough, too, in the French cathedrals — e. g., Paris and Amiens. But the naves of the English cathedrals were not as a rule tampered with in this way. At Chichester, however, there were built, one after another, four sets of chapels — of St. George and St. Clement on the south side of the south aisle, and of St. Thomas, St. Anne and St. Edmund on the north of the north aisle. The windows should be studied in the above order ; they form quite an excellent object-lesson of the evolution of bar-tracery from plate-tracery, itself a derivative from such designs as that of the east window of the south transept chapel. When the chapels were completed, the Norman aisle-walls were pierced, and arches were inserted where Norman windows had been ; and the Lancet buttresses, which had been added when the nave-vault was erected, now found themselves In- side the church, buttressing piers instead of walls. The new windows on the south side were built so high that the CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL l8l vaulting of the chapels had to be tilted up to allow room for their heads; externally they were originally crowned with gables, the weatherings of which may be seen outside. Ill St. Thomas' Chapel is a charming example of a simple Thirteenth Century reredos. The addition of these outer aisles makes Chichester unique among the English cathedrals, though it may be paralleled in Elgin Cathedral and many a parish church. Artistically, the contrast of the gloomy and heavy Norman nave with the lightness and brightness of the chapels be- hind is most delightful ; the nave looks infinitely larger and more spacious than it is ; it is never all seen at a glance like the empty nave of York, and is full of changing vistas and delightful perspectives. Accidentally, the Thirteenth Century builders had hit on a new source of picturesque- ness. V. Late Geometrical. Between 1288 and 1304 the Lady Chapel was lengthened by two bays, and the end bay of the former chapel was revaulted. So that what we see is a Norman chapel transmogrified into a Transitional one, and that once more altered and extended. The new work was done just when people had tired of conventional foliage, and hurried into naturalism. The capitals are another ob- ject-lesson in Gothic foliation. The window-tracery, with long-lobed trefoils, occurs also in the beautiful chapel of the Mediaeval hospital, which should by all means be visited. It may be asked where did the Chichester people get the money for all these great works ? It was from pilgrims. They had had the great luck to get a saint of their own. Bishop Richard. He was consecrated in 1245, '^^^^ '" 1253, was canonized in 1260. VI. Curvilinear (1315-1360). Next the Canons set l82 CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL themselves to work to improve the lighting of the Cathedral, which was bad ; all the windows, except those in the new chapels, being small single lights. A fine window of flow- ing tracery was inserted in the eastern chapel of the south choir aisle (now filled with admirable glass by Mr. Kempe). And the south wall of the transept was taken down alto- gether and rebuilt. Here is another fine circular window^ Bishop Langton, who gave the money for this work, is buried below. The drainage, too, of the roofs was improved ; gutters and parapets being substituted for drip- ping eaves. To this period, also, belong the stalls with ogee arches and compound cusping and good misereres. VII. In the Perpendicular period (1360-1485), the im- provements in lighting were continued, the north wall of the transept being treated in similar fashion to that opposite. But settlements were the result, and a flying-buttress had to be added to steady the north wall. And at length the tower was crowned with a beautiful spire, not quite so slender and graceful as those of Salisbury and Louth ; more on the lines of the Lichfield spires. An upper story and buttresses were added to the sacristy, and the Canons' Gate- way was built. VIII. In the Tudor period an irregular three-sided cloister was built in a quite abnormal position encircling the south transept. The object of it was to provide a covered way to the Cathedral for the Canons as well as for the Vicars, whose Close is hard by. The central tower seems to have shown signs of weakness under the weight of the new spire ; and so a detached Campanile was built, as at Salisbury. Bishop Sherborne built a grand stone screen (1508— 1536) occupying the whole of the crossing and con- taining chantries ; much of it exists, in fragments, under the CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL 183 Campanile. To the time of Henry VII. belongs the Poultry Cross. IX. In 1859 the central tower was found to be in danger. Underpinning was resorted to, but matters got worse. "At noon on Feb. 21, 1861, the workmen were ordered out of the building, and the people living in the neighbouring houses were warned of their danger; about an hour and a half later the spire was seen to incline slightly to the southwest and then to sink perpendicularly through the roof. Thus was fulfilled literally the old Sussex saying : " If Chichester Church Steeple fall. In England there's no king at all." In 1 866 the tower and spire were rebuilt; the tower raised slightly so that the belfry windows might clear the roofs. REIMS CATHEDRAL AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE THE town of Reims till recently one of the most pic- turesque in France, is now intersected by wide and handsome streets, in the style of Parisian boulevards which give it quite another character. There are many who will deplore the change to the straight lines and featureless char- acter of the present approach from the quaint street which formerly led to the west front of the Cathedral. The mag- nificent Cathedral of Notre Dame, which has undergone complete restoration under Viollet-le-Duc, is one of the finest buildings in the Christian world. Henri Martin writes : "This prodigy of magnificence with its army of five thousand statues which flashes in the rays of the setting sun the resplendent windows of its pierced facade like a wall of sparkling jewels." " Unlike most cathedrals," says Michelet, " this is com- plete. Rich, transparent and highly adorned in her colossal coquetry she seems to be awaiting a festival and is not dis- turbed because it does not take place. Charged and over- charged with sculptures and covered more than any other cathedral with sacerdotal emblems, she symbolizes the union of king and priest. On the exterior rails of the transept the devils romp and play : they slide down the sharp inclines ; and they make faces at the town and the people that are pilloried at the foot of the Angels' Tower." REIMS CATHEDRAL REIMS CATHEDRAL 1 85 The little basilica where S. Remi baptized Clovis was re- placed in the Ninth Century by a church which was built in 121 1, and in the following year Archbishop Alberic Hum- bert began to raise a new cathedral upon a gigantic scale j he pushed the work with such vigour that it was finished in 1242. The wonderful unity of the architecture attests the rapidity of the work. The architects employed were Bernard de Soissons, Gauthier de Reims, Jean d' Orbais and Jean Loups. At the end of the Thirteenth Century the church was found to be too small for the vast crowds who flocked to the coronations, and the nave was lengthened, the present facade having been finished in the course of the Fourteenth Century from designs of the Thirteenth Century under the architect Robert de Coucy. On July 24, 1481, a terrible fire consumed the roof, the five lead spires of the transept, the balustrades, and as much as had been executed of the west spires, which were not replaced. In the Eighteenth Century many valuable architectural details perished, and many of the statues on the west front were destroyed for fear of their falling during the coronation of Charles X. in 1825. The beautiful cloistered parvis of the Cathedral re- mained entire till the coronation of Louis XVI. The principal features of the glorious west facade of Reims are its three portals — of the Virgin, St. Paul (left) and The Last Judgment (right) — with their numerous stat- ues ; the great rose-window, framed in a Gothic arch, deco- rated with statues like the doors j the Galerie de Rois (de France); and the towers, — that on the south contains the two great bells. In the central porch the Madonna has the prin- cipal place (not Christ, as at Chartres, Amiens and Paris). " All the dignity and grace of the style here reaches a truly classical expression. Nevertheless, even here, in one of I Ob REIMS CATHEDRAL the master-works of the time, we find great variety in the mode of treatment. There are heavy, stunted statues with clumsy heads and vacant expression, like the earlier works at Chartres ; others are of the most refined beauty, full of nobility and tenderness, graceful in proportion, and with drapery which falls in stately folds, free in movement and with gentle loveliness or sublime dignity of expression ; others again are exaggerated in height, awkward in propor- tion, caricatured in expression and affected in attitude " (Lubke). The north transept had two portals. The greater — of S. Remi — has statues of the principal bishops of Reims. " That diiferent hands were employed on the same portal may be seen in the forty-two small seated figures of bishops, kings and saints, which, in three rows, fill the hollows of the archi volts. They are, one and all, of enchanting beauty, grace and dignity ; the little heads delightful ; the attitudes most varied ; the drapery nobly arranged and so varied in conception that it would be impossible to conceive more in- genious variations " (Lubke). The smaller portal, amongst other statues, has the beauti- ful figure of Christ in benediction, known as Le Beau Dieu. " This is a work of such beauty that it may be considered the most solemn plastic creation of its time. It shows per- fect understanding and admirable execution of the whole form in its faultless proportions, and, moreover, there is such majesty in the mild, calm expression of the head, over which the hair falls in soft waves, that the divine seriousness of the sublime Teacher seems glorified by truest grace. The right hand is uplifted, and the three forefingers stretched out ; the left hand holds the orb, and, at the same time, the mantle which is drawn across the figure, and the noble folds REIMS CATHEDRAL 1 87 of which are produced by the advancing position of the right foot. The following of nature in this masterly figure is in all its details so perfect that not merely the nails of the fin- gers, but the structure of the joints, is characterized in the finest manner " (Liibke). Equally beautiful are the reliefs on the tympanum, repre- senting the Last Resurrection and Judgment. In the former the varied emotions of the many figures rising from their tombs are marvellously expressed. On the frame of the rose-window above are colossal figures of Adam and Eve, and over this a gallery with seven statues of prophets ; higher still the Annunciation. Beneath the rose of the south transept, behind the arch- bishop's palace, are statues representing the Church and the Synagogue, and, in the gable, the Assumption. The Angels' Tower, over the choir, is the only one restored after the fire of 148 1. At its foot are statues. " There are eight figures of gigantic size that serve as caryatides. One of them holds a purse from which he is taking some money, another shows arrow wounds : others also, pierced with wounds, personify lacerated tax-gathers. Several amateurs believe that these figures allude to a re- volt on the question of the gahelle (Salt tax) in 1461, known under the name of mique-maque, Louis XL had two hun- dred of the rebels hanged. Others think that in the Eleventh Century the Remois in revolt against Gervais, their archbishop, were forced to build the bell-tower at their expense. Four similar statues were placed on the silver columns that surrounded the high altar" (Michelet). The Interior of Reims Cathedral is 466 feet long and 121 feet high. The nave and transepts have aisles. The l88 REIMS CATHEDRAL nave has eight bays, and the transepts project to the depth of a single bay. Above the aisles is a triforium. Eight chapels radiate around the choir. The exquisite sculpture of the capitals in the nave deserves attention. Over the great west portal the Martyrdom of S. Nicaise, at the entrance of the original church, is commemorated in sculpture ; and over the whole west wall are little statues in niches, sometimes combined into scenes, such as the Massacre of the Innocents. A population of statues fills the whole church. On the buttresses of the choir chapels are small figures of adoring angels ; while in the niches stand larger angels, as guardians of the house of God. To most visitors, however, the chief interest of the interior will be derived from its beautiful Thirteenth Century gla$s, and its rich decoration of tapestries, of which fourteen (at the transept end of the nave) were given by Robert de Lenoncourt in 1530. Then (nearer the west) come two remaining out of the six called Tapisseries dufort rot Clevis, given by the Cardinal de Lorraine in 1570 ; then (more west) a selection from the splendid Tapisseries de Perpersack (named from a manufacturer of great repute, who worked for the Duke of Mantua), given in 1633 by Archbishop Henri de Lorraine. In the right transept are sometimes hung some Gobelin tapestries, from designs of Raphael, given by the government in 1848. In the left transept is a clock with figures. The organ is of 148 1 by Oudin Hestre. In the Chapelle S. Jean is the Thirteenth Cen- tury monument of Hugues Libergier, architect of S. Nicaise. The interesting contents of the Treasury {le Tresor, shown by the sacristan) include le Reliquaire de Sanson (Twelfth Century); le Reliquaire de SS. Pierre et Paul REIMS CATHEDRAL 189 (Fourteenth Century) ; le Reliquaire du S. Sepulcre (Six- teenth Century), given by Henri II. at his coronation ; le Faisseau de S. Ursule, given by Henri III. ; the chasuble of S. Thomas a Becketj the Twelfth Century chalice, called Chalice de S. Remi ; le Reliquaire de la S. Ampoule, made for the coronation of Charles X., with a vast quantity of church plate given by that king. " They use two crowns at a coronation : the large one of Charlemagne and another made for the head of the king and enriched with precious stones. The large one is so large that it cannot be worn ; but is used at the coronation. It was made so that each one of the eleven peers could place his hand upon it at the moment when the Archbishop of Reims held it over the head of the king. They carried it to the throne in the rood-loft where the ceremony took place" (S. Simon M'emoires, 1722). Of the many historic events which this old Cathedral has witnessed, the most important to French history was doubtless the coronation of Charles VII. : "The sacrament took place in Notre Dame de Reims according to the customary rites ; the Due d' Alen^on, the Comtes de Clermont and Vend6me,the Sires de laTremouille and de Laval and another lord represented the six lay peers of the ancient monarchy ; the attention of the spectators, however, was far less attracted to the chief actors than to Jeanne la Pucelle standing near the altar with her standard in her hand. This celestial figure illuminated by the mysterious rays that fell through the painted glass seemed the angel of France presiding at the resurrection of the country : one would say that at the call of the trumpets which sounded loud enough to burst the vault of the Cathedral all that vast concourse of mute and motionless seraphim, bishops and 190 REIMS CATHEDRAL kings which fill and surround the august basilica were called into life. " After the peers had proclaimed the king and Charles VII. had been anointed, Jeanne advanced towards him and em- braced his knees ' weeping hot tears.' " '■Gentil roi^ she said, ' ores est execute le plaisir de Dieu, qui vouloit que vous vinssiez a Reims recevoir vatre digne sacre, en montrant que vous etes vrai roi, et celui auquel le rayaume doit appartenir.' "Acclamations, broken by sympathetic weeping, were heard in all parts of the Cathedral. It was France awaking to a new birth, who was crowning herself. Nothing so great had taken place in the city of Saint-Remi since the day that the Apostle of the Franks had initiated Clovis and his people into the Christian faith " (Henri Martin). ST. ISAAC'S, ST. PETERSBURG TH^OPHILE GAUTIER THE Church of St. Isaac's shines in the first rank among the religious edifices that adorn the capital of All the Russias. Of modern construction, it may be consid- ered as the supreme effort of Nineteenth Century architec- ture. Undertaken in 1819, under Alexander I., continued under Nicolas I., finished under Alexander II. in 1858, St. Isaac's is a complete edifice, finished externally and inter- nally with absolute unity of style. It is not, like many ca- thedrals, a crystallization of centuries in which each epoch has to some extent secreted its stalactite, and in which too often the sap of faith, arrested or slowed in its flow, has not been able to reach its bud. People usually enter St. Isaac's by the south door; but the west door, facing the iconostase, gives the finest view of the interior. From the outset, you are struck with amazement ; the gigantic grandeur of the architecture, the profusion of the rarest marbles, the splendour of the gilding, the fresco tints of the mural paintings, the gleam of the polished pavement in which objects are reflected, all com- bine to produce a dazzling impression upon you, especially if your eyes turn, as they cannot fail to do, towards the iconostase, a marvellous edifice, a temple within a temple, a facade of gold, malachite and lapis-lazuli, with massive silver doors, which is, however, nothing but the veil of the sanctuary. Towards it the eye turns invincibly, whether 192 ST. ISAAC'S, ST. PETERSBURG the open doors reveal in its sparkling transparency the colossal Christ on glass, or whether, closed, we see only over the rounded entrance the curtain, the purple of which seems to have been dyed in the Divine blood. The interior division of the edifice is so simple that the eye and mind can grasp it at once : three naves terminating at the three doors of the iconostase are cut transversely by the nave which forms the arm of the cross which is coupled on the exterior of the building by the jutting of the porticoes ; at the angles four domes produce symmetry and mark the architectural rhythm. A lower base of marble supports the Corinthian Order, with fluted columns and pilasters, with bases and capitals of gilded bronze and ormolu, which adorns the edifice. This Order, attached to the walls and massive pillars that support the springings of the vaults and the roof, is sur- mounted by an attic cut by pilasters forming panels and frames for the paintings. On this attic rest the archivolts, the tympanums of which are decorated with religious sub- jects. The walls between the columns and pilasters, from the lower base up to the cornice, are cased with white marble in which are panels and compartments of the green marble of Genoa, speckled marble, yellow Sienna, variegated jasper, red Finland porphyry, the finest that the veins of the rich- est quarries could supply. Recessed niches supported by consoles contain paintings, and appropriately break up the flat surfaces. The rosettes and modillions of the soffits are of gilt bronze ^nd stand out boldly from their marble caissons. The ninety-six columns or pilasters come from the Tvidi (juarries, which furnish a beautiful marble veined with grey o 3 oa w H w a. < ST. ISAAC'S, ST. PETERSBURG 1 93 and rose. The white marbles come from the quarries of Seravezza. Having given this faint idea of the interior, let us arrive at the cupola that opens over the head of the visitor a gulf suspended in the air with an irresistible solidity, in which iron, bronze, brick, granite and marble combine their almost eternal resistances in accordance with the best calculated laws of mathematics. From the floor level to the lantern vault the height is 296 feet eight inches. The length of the edifice is 288 feet eight inches ; and the breadth 149 feet eight inches. On the lantern vault, a colossal Holy Spirit expands his white wings amid rays, at an immense height. Lower down is a demi-cupola with golden palmettos on a blue field ; then comes the great spherical vault of the dome, edged at its upper opening with a cornice the frieze of which is ornamented with garlands and gilded angels, rest- ing its base on the entablature of an Order of twelve fluted Corinthian pilasters that separate and form twelve equal windows. A sham balustrade that serves as transition between the architecture and the painting crowns this entablature and in the space of a vast sky is a great composition represent- ing the Triumph of the Virgin. The mystical idea of this vast painting is the triumph of the Church, symbolized by the Virgin. The paintings of St. Isaac's are nowise archaic, contrary to the custom of the Russian Church, which usually con- forms to the fixed models of the early days of the Greek Church, still traditionally conserved by the religious painters of Mount Athos. Twelve great gilded angels, acting as caryatides, support 194 ST. ISAAC'S, ST. PETERSBURG consoles on which rest the socles of the pilasters that form the interior Order of the dome, and separate the windows. They measure ' no -less than twenty-one feet in height. ■They were made by 2^ process that, notwithstanding their size, rendered them so light as not to overburden the cupola. This crown of gilded angels that is flooded with bright light and made, to glitter with metallic reflections, produces an extremely rich eiFect. The figures are dis- posed after a certain settled architectural line, but with a variety of expression and movement that is sufficient to avoid the weariness that woiild result from too rigorous a uniformity. Various attributes, such as books, palms, crosses, scales, crowns and trutnpets accompany slight inflexions of pose, and ' illustrate the celestial functions of these brilliant statues. The spaces between the angels are filled by seated apostles and^prophetSj each accompanied by the symbol by which he is recognized. All these figures, broadly draped and in good style, stand out from a light background with fine value. The general tone is clear, approaching as closely as possible to fresco. The Four EVarigdists, of colossal size, occupy the pendentives. The strange form of the pendentives neces- sitated a tormenting of the composition so that it should occupy the required space, and the trouble imposed by the frame often resulted in profit to the inspiration. These Evangelists are full of character. ' In the attic of the transverse nave forming the arm of the cross, on the right, facing the iconostase, we notice the Sermon on the Mount. The two lateral pictures have the Sower and the Good Samaritan for subjects. In the vault, in a panel framed with rich ornamentation, cherubim hold a ST. ISAAC'S, ST, PETERSBURG 195 book against a background of sky. Facing the Sermon on the Mount, at the other end of the nave, in the attic, is an enormous Muhiplication of Loaves. The pictures in the two side walls represent the Return of the Prodigal Son and the Labourer of the Last Hour whom the overseers want to turn away and the Master welcomes. Cherubim raising a ciborium are painted on the panel of the vault. The middle nave, going from the transept to the door, has in its tympanum Jehovah enthroried amid a swarm of angels and cherubs. The terrestrial Paradise, with its trees, flowers and animals, beautifies the attic. In the vault as- tonished angels are contemplating the sun and moon newly set in the firmament. The attic panel is painted with the Deluge : on the other wall is its pendant, Noah's Sacrifice. At the back is the Rainbow above scattering clouds. Farther away, the Vision of Ezekiel covers a large expanse of the vault. At the end of this same nave on the vault of the iconostase is the Last Judgment. The walls, attics, cupolas and vaults of the other naves are also painted with Biblical subjects. All the paintings in St. Isaac's are in oil. Let us now go to the iconostase, that wall of holy images set in gold that conceals the arcana of the sanctuary. Those who have seen the enormous reredoses of the Spanish churches can best form an idea of the development that the Greek Church gives to this part of its basilicas. The architect has piled up his iconostase to the height of the attic, so that it combines with the Order of the edifice and accords with the colossal proportions of the monument the end of which it occupies from wall to wall. It is the facade of a temple within a temple. The substructure consists of three steps of red porphyry. 196 ST. ISAAC'S, ST. PETERSBURG A balustrade of white marble, with gilded balusters, in- crusted with precious marbles, traces the line of demarca- tion between priest and people. The purest marble of the Italian quarries serves for the wall of the iconostase. This wall, which would be rich enough elsewhere, is almost con- cealed by the most splendid ornamentation. Eight malachite, fluted Corinthian columns, with gilt bronze bases and capitals, with two coupled pilasters, com- pose the facade and support the attic. These lovely columns are forty-two feet high. The iconostase is pierced by three doors : the central opens into the sanctuary, and the two others into the chapels of St. Catharine and St. Alexander Nevski. The Order is thus distributed : a pilaster at the angle and one column, then the door of a chapel ; next, three columns, the principal door, three other columns, a chapel door, a column and a pilaster. These columns and pilasters divide the wall into spaces forming frames and filled with paintings on a gold ground in imitation of mosaic. There are two stages of these frames separated by a secondary cornice that breaks the columns, and, at the central door, rests on two small columns of lapis lazuli, and, at the chapel doors, on pilasters of white statuary marble. Above is an attic cut with pilasters, incrusted with porphyry, jasper, agate, malachite, and other indigenous precious material, with gilt bronze ornaments of a richness and splendour surpassed by no Italian or Spanish reredos. The pilasters even with the columns also form compart- ments filled with paintings on a gold ground. A fourth stage, like a pediment, rises above the attic line and ends in a great golden group of angels in adoration at ST. ISAAC'S, ST. PETERSBURG 197 the foot of the Cross. In the centre of the panel a picture represents Christ in the Garden of Olives. Immediately underneath is a picture of angels and the Last Supper, half in painting and half in bas-relief The personages are painted and the golden ground of the room in which the supper was held is skilfully modelled. On the arch of the door which is decorated with a semi- circular inscription in Slavic characters is a group of Christ, the Priest after the order of Melchisedec, with angels be- hind his throne. Lying at his feet are the winged lion and the symbolical ox. The Virgin kneels on the right; and St. John the Baptist on the left. This group is also partly painted and partly modelled. The arcades of the lateral nave have their tops orna- mented with the tables of the law, and a chalice of marble and gold, and two little angels painted. When the sacred door, which occupies the centre of this immense facade of gold, silver, lapis-lazuli, malachite, jas- per, porphyry and agate — this prodigious casket of all the riches that human magnificence can collect when no ex- pense is spared — mysteriously folds its leaves of chiselled, punched and guilloched silver-gilt which measure thirty- five feet in height and fourteen feet in breadth we see through the dazzle in foliage frames, the most marvellous that ever surrounded brush work, paintings representing busts of the Four Evangelists, and full length figures of the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. But when in religious ceremonies the sacred door opens its wide leaves, a colossal Christ, forming the glass work of a window at the back of the sanctuary, appears in gold and purple raising his right hand in blessing with an attitude in which modern knowledge has succeeded in allying itself with igS ST, ISAAC'S, ST. PETERSBURG the majestic Byzantine tradition. The mysterious obscurity that reigns at certain hours in the church further enhances the splendour and transparence of this magnificent win- dow. There remains the Holy of Holies, shielded from the gaze of the faithful by the veil of gold, malachite, lapis-laz- uli and agate of the iconostase. People rarely penetrate into the mysterious and sacred place where the secret rites of the Greek worship are celebrated. It is a kind of hall, or choir, illumined by the window wherein gleams the gi- gantic Christ. The north and south walls are covered with pictures. Above the altar is Christ Blessing the Alms. The ceiling and attic story are also covered with devotional pictures. The altar, of white statuary marble, is of the noblest sim- plicity. The tabernacle consists of a model of St. Isaac's church in silver-gilt, of considerable weight. It presents several details not found in the real edifice. NOYON CATHEDRAL, EUGENE LEFEVRE-PONTALIS THE Cathedral of Noyon, preceded by four other build- ings of the Sixth, Seventh, Tenth and Eleventh Cen- turies, has survived for eight centuries despite two terrible fires and numerous sieges of the town. The choir was com- menced about 1 135 and finished about 1160; the transept and the two last bays of the nave must have been completed when the Bishop Baudouin III. died in 11 74. The nave was built in the last quarter of the Twelfth Century ; but the bays under the large towers, the porch and the southern tower are not earlier than the beginning of the Thirteenth Century, while the upper story of the northern tower is a work of the Fourteenth Century. Burned in 1293 ^^^ ''^ 1316 and repaired after these disasters, this beautiful Cathe- dral was flanked by side chapels in the Fourteenth Century, in 1528 and in 1643. Other masonry work was done in the Cathedral from 1459 to 1462, in 1476, from 1722 to 1729, from 1747 to 1751, from 1843 to 1845, from 1851 to 1854, in 1859, '" 1862, in 1869-1870, from 1874 to 1876, in 1899 and in 1900. The transept of the Cathedral of Noyon has been subject to important restorations which have altered its original char- acter. All the pointed arches were made again in the Four- teenth and Fifteenth Centuries and many of the capitals damaged by the fire of 1293 were restored towards the end of the Thirteenth Century ; but you can still see the leaves 200 NOYON CATHEDRAL of the arum curved into balls and acanthus leaves on several of the drums. The style of the Porte Saint Eutrope, the great arch of which is headed by a massive gable, proves that the south transept is a little older than the north. Inside, the transept contains arches and bases similar to those of adjoining chapels, tierce-point and circular win- dovi^s like those in the apse; but the architect substituted for the trefoiled arching above the choir-stalls, which stopped at the transept entrances, a regular open gallery formed of little arcades with circular arches. The south transept of the Cathedi-al of Soissons, begun towards i i8o and built perhaps by the same architect as the apse of Saint-Remi of Reims, bears the marks of a much more advanced style. We must conclude, therefore, that the transept of Notre-Dame de Noyon was finished about 1 1 70. Work upon the nave of Notre-Dame of Noyon was in- terrupted towards 1170 after the completion of the two bays already mentioned. When the masons returned to the work the style of the decoration for the capitals had changed and the heavy flora was replaced by crockets that resemble a plantain leaf. You can see exactly the same crockets on the capitals of the transept in the Cathedral of Soissons, built, like the six first bays of Notre-Dame of Noyon, be- tween 1 180 and 1 190. The new architect qontinued the work of his predecessor in diminishing the girth of the heavy columns ; in lowering the level of the bases, the profile of which he modified ; and in suppressing the rings of the little columns ; but he re- spected the general arrangement of the bays and the stalls without breaking the archivolts of the windows and the arches of the little gallery. This nave should be considered 1-9 < Pi Q a H < u ia o > o SB NOYON CATHEDRAL 201 the prototype of that of the Cathedral of Senlis, consecrated on June i6, 1191, and completely restored in its upper part after the fire of 1504. The architect of the Cathedral of Laon was also inspired by the arrangement of the nave of Noyon. In the Fourteenth Century they celebrated in the Cathe- dral two burlesque ceremonies whose origin was much more ancient. The first, which took place on Dec. 28, was called the Feast of Innocents. A bishop chosen by the choir-boys from their own ranks, or among the canons, held the oiEce for a day and gave his benediction to the faithful. The choir-boys sat in the stalls and the priests took their places. When this Feast became a scandal, the Chapter tried to suppress it ; but in vain, for it was regularly celebrated un- til 1625. The Feast of Fools, which took place on Jan. 5, was characterized by the election of a king, who with his companions gave himself up to veritable buffoonery in the choir of the Cathedral. Then mounting his horse before the steps of the great entrance, he rode through the town and the suburbs. Forbidden in 14 19 and reestablished shortly afterwards, this festival was suppressed in 1721J but the Chapter had little by little curtailed the privileges of the king from the Sixteenth Century. In 1757 the ancient choir-stalls were replaced by those now in the sanctuary. The screen with which the choir was enclosed was erected at the same period and the chapter gave orders to demolish the jub'e, which must have dated from the Thirteenth or Fourteenth Century, because the painter, Etienne Gourdin, was ordered to clean it in 1460. The Gothic altar also disappeared, for the carpenter Courtois made the model of a wooden altar a la Romalne surmounted by a palm tree which shadowed the tabernacle. 202 NOYON CATHEDRAL At the same time they had the unhappy idea of closing up the lower windows of the transepts in order to make niches for the reception of statues. All this work was finished by May 19, 1757. During the Revolution the Cathedral was despoiled of its treasure and its clocks, and the sculpture of its porches suffered mutilation. The inventories of the treasure, dated Feb. 25, 1790, mention seventeen reliquaries in silver, or silver-gilt, already described in the inventory of 1783, which contains more precise details of their form. The Cathedral still possesses eight pieces of tapestry represent- ing the scenes of the Deluge and the story of Noah, the beautiful dais given in 1755 by the monk, Montain, and a number of embroidered garments, which, generally speaking, comprise six copes, a chasuble, two tunics, two stoles and three maniples. The municipality decided on Oct. 28, 1793, that the statues of the porches should be broken; and all the sculpture of the tympanums and of the sub-bases were mutilated. This act of vandalism was executed the fol- lowing day at the expense of the town. The workmen threw some fragments of the sculpture into a vault which they found under the north tower and from which two large pieces of the statue of a bishop of the Thirteenth Century were recovered in 1856. At the moment when a mason was about to smash the high altar, Andre Dumont, deputy to the Convention, who was passing through Noyon, observed that its carvings were in a sense mythological and saved this work of art from the Revolutionary hammer. The first Festival of the Goddess Reason was celebrated in the Cathedral on Nov. 20, 1793. After all these mutilations the nave and the lower part NOYON CATHEDRAL 203 of the Cathedral were transformed into a stable in Febru- ary, 1794, and here about eight hundred horses were stalled. The transept was converted into a storehouse for fodder, and the choir became a dancing-hall where the citoyens had a reunion every decade. The history of the Cathedral in the Nineteenth Century may be divided into two periods. During the first, which ended in the year 1842, the fabric tried to regain its furni- ture and to repair the damages caused by the Revolution ; in the second period, which began in 1843, ^^^ restoration of the Cathedral was begun, which has continued to the present day. The windows which had greatly suffered were repaired by Vantigny du Valois from 1805 to 1807 ^"^ '" 181 1. Napolean I. and Marie-Louise visited the Cathedral in 1810, after having been received by the clergy on the place du parvis. The solemn reception of the Duchesse de Berry in the Cathedral took place on May 21, 1821. ST. PAUL'S, LONDON DEAN MILMAN WHAT building in its exterior form does not bow its head before St. Paul's ? What eye, trained to all that is perfect in architecture, does not recognize the in- imitable beauty of its lines, the majestic yet airy swelling of its dome, its rich harmonious ornamentation ? It is singular, too, that St. Paul's, which, by its grandeur, of old asserted its uncontested dignity, as a crown and glory of London, now that it is invaded far and near, by huge tali fabrics, railway termini, manufactories and magazines, with immense chimneys, still appears at a distance with a grace which absolutely fascinates the eye, the more exquisite from the shapelessness of all around, and of all within a wide range about it. Mr. Fergusson, though sternly im- partial and impatient of some defects which strike his fastidious judgment, wrote : " It will hardly be disputed that the exterior of St. Paul's surpasses in beauty of design all the other examples of the same class which have yet been carried out ; and whether seen from a distance or near, it is externally, at least, one of the grandest and most beautiful churches in Europe." But with the matchless exterior ceases the superiority, and likewise, to a great de- gree, the responsibility of Wren. His designs for the in- terior were not only not carried out, but he was in every way thwarted, controlled, baffled in his old age, to the eternal disgrace of all concerned ; the victim of the pitiful ST. PAUL'S, LONDON ST. PAUL'S, LONDON 205 jealousy of some, the ignorance of others, the ingratitude of all. The architect, himself, had the honour of laying the first stone (June 2i, 1675). There was no solemn ceremonial ; neither the King, nor any of the Court, nor the Primate, nor the Bishop (Henchman died in the course of that year), nor even, it should seem, was Dean Sancroft, or the Lord Mayor present. A curious incident, however, not long afterwards occurred, which was taken notice of by some people as a memorable omen. When the surveyor in person had set out upon the place the dimensions of the great dome, a common labourer was ordered to bring a flat stone from the heaps of rubbish (such as should first come to hand) to be laid for a mark and direction to the masons ; the stone which he immediately brought and laid down for the purpose happened to be a piece of a gravestone, with nothing remaining of the inscrip- tion but this single word in large capitals, Resurgam. The removal of the ruins of the old Cathedral was a long and difficult process. Obstinate old St. Paul's would not surrender possession of the ground which it had occupied for so many centuries. The work had to be done by hard manual labour. Wren tried the novel experiment of blowing up the tower, the firmest part, with gun-powder; but the alarm caused by the first explosion, at the second, a fatal accident — the loss of life by the mismanagement of the per- sons employed — threw him back on more tedious tools, the pickaxe and shovel, with which he beat down the more solid walls. The foundation determined and laid, St. Paul's began to rise and continued to rise, without check or interruption. The coal duty, on every change of sovereign or dynasty and 206 ST. PAUL'S, LONDON Parliament, was continued and was paid, it would seem, with- out murmur or difficulty. The quarries of Portland sup- plied their excellent stone in abundance. Wren might seem as if he ruled over the vassal island ; roads were made to convey the stone with the greatest facility to the port. An admirable and obedient regiment of masons and work- men was organized. Strong, his master-mason, assisted in laying the first stone, June 21, 1675, and in fixing the last in the lantern. St. Paul's arose and the architect pursued his work undisturbed by the great political changes which gave a new line of kings to the throne of England and per- fected our constitution. On Dec. 2, 1697, twenty-two years after the laying of the first stone, the Cathedral of St. Paul was opened for Divine service. It was a great national pomp to commemorate an event of the highest national importance, the thanksgiving day for the Peace of Ryswick. Since that time the services have gone on unin- terruptedly in Wren's St. Paul's. In 1710 Sir Christopher Wren, by the hands of his son, attended by Mr. Strong, the master-mason who had executed the whole work, and the body of Freemasons, of which Sir Christopher was an active member, laid the last and highest stone of the lantern of the cupola, with humble prayers for the- Divine blessing on his work. If ever there was an occasion on which the heart of man might swell with pardonable pride, it was the heart of Wren at that hour, whether he himself was actually at the giddy summit of the building, or watched his son's act from be- low. The architect looked down, or looked up and around, on this great and matchless building, the creation of his own mind, the achievement of his sole care and skill ; the whole building stretching out in all its perfect harmony with its ST. PAUL'S, LONDON 207 fine horizontal lines, various yet in perfect unison, its towers, its unrivalled dome, its crowning lantern and cross. All London had poured forth for the spectacle, which had been publicly announced, and were looking up in wonder to the old man, or his son, if not the old man himself, who was, on that wondrous height, setting the seal, as it were, to his august labours. The form of St. Paul's is that of the long or Latin cross. Its extreme length, including the porch, is 500 feet; the greatest breadth, that is to say across the transept but within the doors of the porticoes, 250 feet ; the width of the nave, ii8 feet. There are, however, at the foot or western end of the cross, projections northward and south- ward, which make the breadth 190 feet. One of these, that, namely, on the north side, is used as a morning chapel, and the other, on the south side, contains the Wellington Monument, but was formerly used as the Consistory Court. At the internal angle of the cross are small square bastion- like adjuncts, whose real use is to strengthen the piers of the dome ; but they are inwardly serviceable as vestries and a staircase. The height of the Cathedral on the south side to the top of the cross is 365 feet. The exterior consists throughout of two orders, the lower being Corinthian, the upper composite. It is built externally in two stories, in both of which, except at the north and south porticoes and at the west front, the whole of the entablatures rest on coupled pilasters, between which in the lower order a range of circular-headed windows is introduced. But in the order above, the corresponding spaces are oc- cupied by dressed niches standing on pedestals pierced with openings to light the passages in the roof over the side aisles. The upper order is nothing but a screen to hide the flying- 208 ST. PAUL'S, LONDON buttresses carried across from the outer walls to resist the thrust of the great vaulting. The west front has a magnif- icent portico, divided, like the test of the building, into two stories. The lower consists of twelve coupled and fluted columns, that above has only eight, which bear an entabla- ture and pediment of which the tympanum is sculptured in bas-relief, representing the conversion of St. Paul. On the apex of the pediment is a figure of the Saint himself, and at its extremities on the right and left of St. Paul are figures of St. Peter and St. James. The transepts are terminated up- wards by pediments, over coupled pilasters at the quoins, and two single pilasters in the intermediate space. On each side of the western portico a square pedestal rises over the upper order, and on each pedestal a steeple, or campanile tower, supported upon triangular groups of Corinthian columns finishing in small domes, formed by curves of con- trary flexure very like bells. Lower down, in front of these campaniles, the Four Evangelists are represented with their emblems. In the face of the southern campanile a clock is inserted. A flight of steps, extending the whole length of the portico, forms the basement. In the southwest tower is the Great Bell of St. Paul's, cast in 1709 by Richard Phelps and Langley Bradley. It is ten feet in diameter, ten inches thick in metal and weighs 11,474 pounds. On the north side is a semicircular portico, consisting of six Corinthian columns, forty-eight inches in diameter, rest- ing on a circular flight of twelve steps of black marble and finishing in a semi-dome. Above is a pediment resting on pilasters in the wall, on the face of which are the Royal Arms, supported by angels with palm branches, and under their feet the lion and the unicorn, the statues of five of the Apostles being placed at the top at proper distances. ST. PAUL'S, LONDON 209 The south portico answers to the north, except that on account of the lowness of the ground on that side of the church, it is entered by a flight of twenty-five steps. In the pediment above is represented a Phcenix rising from the flames. On the top of the pediment are five other figures of Apostles. The choir terminates eastward in a shallow semi- circular apse. Under the lower principal window, beneath a crown, and surrounded by the Garter, is the cypher of King William and Queen Mary. The dome, which is by far the most magnificent and ele- gant feature in the building, rises from the body of the church in great majesty. It is 145 feet in outward and 108 feet in inward diameter. Twenty feet above the roof of the church is a circular range of twenty-two columns, every fourth intercolumniation being filled with masonry, so disposed as to form an ornamental niche or recess, by which arrangement the projecting buttresses of the cupola are concealed. These, which form a peristyle of the com- posite order with an unbroken entablature, enclose the in- terior order. They support a handsome gallery adorned with a balustrade. Above these columns is a range of pi- lasters, with windows between them, forming an attic orderj and on these the great dome stands. The general idea of the cupola, as appears from the Parentalia^ was taken from the Pantheon at Rome. On the summit of the dome, which is covered with lead, is a gilt circular balcony, and from its centre rises the lantern, adorned with Corinthian columns. The whole is terminated by a gilt ball and cross. On ascending the steps at the west end of the church, we find three doors, ornamented at the top with bas-reliefs ; that over the middle door representing St. Paul preaching to the Bereans. The interior of the nave is formed by an 210 ST. PAUL'S, LONDON arcade resting on massive pillars, and dividing the church into a body and two aisles. The eastern piers of the nave serve at the same time for the support pf the cupola. They are wider than the other piers, and are flanked by pilasters at their angles and have shallow oblong recesses in the in- tercolumniations. The roof over these piers is a boldly coffered waggon vault, which contrasts very effectively with the rest of the vaulting. The nave is separated from the choir by the area over which the cupola rises. From the centre of this area, the transepts, or traverse of the cross, diverge to the north and south, each extending one severy, or arch, in length. The choir, which is vaulted and domed over, like the nave and transepts, from the top of the attic order, is terminated east- ward by a semicircular tribune, of which the diameter is, in general terms, the same as the width of the choir itself. The western end of the choir has pillars similar to those at the eastern end of the nave, uniform with which there are at its eastern end piers of the same extent and form, except that they are pierced for a communication with the side aisles. Above the entablature and under the cupola is the Whispering Gallery, and in the concave above are represen- tations of the principal passages of St. Paul's life in eight compartments, painted by Sir James Thornhill. The dome is pierced with an eye in its vertex, through which a vista opens to the small dome in which the great cone terminates. Between the inner and outer dome are stairs which ascend to the lantern. Wren, besides the interference with his designs for the interior embellishment of the Cathedral, might look with some disappointment on the incompleteness of his work, the temporary windows, mean and incongruous, which re- ST. PAUL'S, LONDON 211 mained, and in many parts still remain in our own day ; the cold, unadorned east end, for which he had designed a splendid Baldachin, and in general the nakedness of the walls, which he had intended to relieve, perhaps with marbles, certainly with rich mosaics. But even in the interior there was some consolation, some pride in the partial fulfillment of his designs. The exquisite carvings of Grinling Gibbons in the stall-work of the choir were not merely in themselves admirable, but in perfect harmony with the character of the architecture. They rivalled, if they did not surpass, all Mediaeval works of their class in grace, variety, richness ; they kept up an inimitable unison of the lines of the building and the dec- oration. In the words of Walpole "there is no instance of a man before Gibbons who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers and chained together the various productions of the elements with a fine disorder natural to each species." The naked walls, the arcades, the recesses of St. Paul's might seem to have been designed, and were intended by the architect for the reception of monuments, but there was a prejudice against them which long remained invincible, and it was not until the year 1796 that the first monument was in fact erected. The first statue admitted at St. Paul's was not that of a statesman, a warrior, or even of a sovereign ; it was that of John Howard, the pilgrim ; not to gorgeous shrines of saints and martyrs, not even to holy lands, but to the loathsome depths and darkness of the prisons throughout what called itself the civilized world. The second statue, at the earnest entreaty of Sir Joshua Reynolds, was that of Samuel John- son. Though Johnson was buried in the Abbey among his 212 ST. PAUL'S, LONDON brother men of letters, yet there was a singular propriety in the erection of Johnson's statue in St. Paul's. Sir Joshua Reynolds took the third place. The fourth was adjudged to that remarkable man Sir W. Jones, the first who opened the treasures of Oriental learning, the poetry and wisdom of our Indian Empire to wondering Europe. At the angle of the south transept against the east face of the great pier supporting the dome is the monument of Admiral Lord Nelson, which formerly stood at the entrance to the choir. The funeral of Nelson was a signal day in the annals of St. Paul's. When Wellington, full of years, descended to the grave, the first thought was that he should repose by the side of Nelson. But this was found impos- sible. But to the east, the place of honour, there was in the crypt what may be described as a second chapel. Nel- son was left in undisputed possession of his own ; the second chapel was devoted to Wellington. His sarcophagus is a mass of Cornish porphyry, wrought in the simplest and severest style, unadorned, and, because unadorned, more grand and impressive. It was long the only memorial of Wellington at St. Paul's, for his monument was not com- pleted until more than twenty-five years after his funeral, and not till after the death of the eminent sculptor by whom it had been designed. At the extreme east, in the south aisle, repose the mortal remains of Sir Christopher Wren, At the feet of Wren repose a long line of artists who have done honour to Eng- land. On May 3, 1793, with an almost royal procession of nearly a hundred carriages, the body of Sir Joshua Rey- nolds was conveyed to the Cathedral. Here too rests J. W. M. Turner. It was Turner's dying request that he might repose as near as possible to Sir Joshua Reynolds. ST. PAUL'S, LONDON 213 It remains only to mention the library, a large room over the Wellington Chapel, of which the door is in the gallery above the south isle, and to which access can also be ob- tained by the so-called geometrical staircase, a flight of steps ingeniously constructed and appearing to hang to- gether without any visible support. The ancient library of the Cathedral, with but rare exceptions, perished in the Great Fire. The carving of the beautiful wooden brackets supporting the gallery, and of the stone pilasters, is said to be by Grinling Gibbons. The floor consists of 2,300 pieces of oak inlaid without nails or pegs. The library contains a model of part of the west front of the Cathedral, once in the possession of Richard Jennings, the master- builder of the Cathedral. COLOGNE CATHEDRAL ESTHER SINGLETON COLOGNE, " the Rome of the North," is rich in churches and shrines, but they are all overshadowed by the glory of the magnificent Cathedral, one of the noblest examples of Gothic architecture in existence. Too magnificent, indeed, to be the work of any human genius, the following legend endeavours to account for it. One day, while seated on the banks of the Rhine, the despairing architect, who had been commissioned by the Archbishop of Cologne to build a Cathedral that would surpass all others, was approached by the devil who showed him a superb plan and asked for his soul in payment. The architect was unable to resist the temptation, and at midnight came to sign the pact. He, however, snatched the plan and by means of a piece of the True Cross vanquished Satan, who exclaimed in revenge : " Your name will never be known and your work will never be finished." For centuries it seemed as if this prediction was likely to be verified i for, although the corner-stone was laid in 1248, the Cathedral was not completed until 1880. The first part to be finished was the choir, which was con- secrated in 1322. During the succeeding years, the work progressed more or less slowly. In 1447 the southern tower had mounted to the height of 180 feet; but during the Reformation work ceased altogether, and for centuries COLOGNE CATHBPRAt COLOGNE CATHEDRAL 2^5 the splendid edifice was not even kept in proper repair. In the days of the French Revolution it was used as a barn. In the early days of the Nineteenth Century popular attention was directed to its unrivalled beauty, and subscription funds were started to complete it according to the original design. In 1823 restoration was begun. In 1842 the Cathedral Building Society was organized and work progressed rapidly. The nave, aisle and transepts were opened in 1848; and the interior was finished in 1863, when the North Portal and iron spire were also finished. In 1868 the old familiar crane disappeared, and in 1880 the towers of the western front were completed. Notwithstanding the long period of its building, all the additions have been made in accordance with the original design, and the Cathedral of Cologne, therefore, presents a unity that is most rare in examples of Gothic architecture. The edifice is in the form of a Latin cross and stands on an eminence about sixty feet above the Rhine at the north- eastern angle of the fortifications, and it may be said here that the most striking view is gained from the bridge. The Cologne Cathedral is 511 feet long and 231 broad, the length being equal to the height of the towers and the breadth corresponding to the height of the western gable. The eye is not only charmed by the beauty of the pro- portions and the immensity of the noble fabric, but en- raptured by its wealth of decoration. Rows of massive flying-buttresses, piers, pinnacles, spires, needles, crockets, towers, mullioned windows, portals, niches filled with figures, carvings and grotesque gargoyles astonish and al- most stupefy the traveller's gaze. The interior baffles description, with its rows of columns, noble arches and wealth of carving seen in the 2l6 COLOGNE CATHEDRAL glowing hues from windows that sparkle like rubies, sapphires, emeralds and topazes. The five windows on the north aisle are gifts of the Archbishop Hermann IV. (1430-1508); Archbishop Philipp of Dhaun-Oberstein (1508-1515); Count Philipp of Virneberg and of the City of Cologne (1507 and 1509). The five windows in the south aisle are the gift of King Ludwig of Bavaria in 1848 and are the finest examples of modern glass. The six windows in the sacristy date from the Sixteenth Century and those in the Chapel of the Magi from the Thirteenth. The nave is no less than 445 feet long and about 202 feet high, with five aisles, and the transepts are 282 feet wide with three aisles. Seven chapels surround the choir, which, with its slender columns crowned with flowers, its ninety-six magnificently carved stalls of the Fourteenth Century and its exquisite windows, is the gem of the Cathedral. Moreover, it is separated from the apse by fourteen pillars, on which stand fourteen statues of the Virgin, Christ and the Twelve Apostles, coloured and gilt, masterpieces of Fourteenth Century carving. Behind them hang tapestries worked by the ladies of Cologne from cartoons by the painter, Ramboux. The angels in the spandrels between the gallery and arches in fresco by Steinle were the gift of King Frederick W^illiam IV. The colossal statue of St. Christopher stands in the south transept and another noteworthy feature is the folding-altar of St. Agilolphus (1521), a masterpiece of carving. The organ, built in 1572, is also famous ; but the screen dates only from 1848. The chapel of St. Michael contains an altar with carvings of the Fifteenth Century ; St. Engelbert's chapel contains an altar dating from 1683, on which stands COLOGNE CATHEDRAL 21 7 a crucifix said to have belonged to the old Cathedral destroyed by fire. The tomb of the founder of the present Cathedral, Arch- bishop Conrad von Hochstaden (i 238-1 261), is situated in the Chapel of St. John, where is also preserved a drawing of the two west towers found in an inn at Darmstadt in 18 14. In the Chapel of the Virgin hangs a famous Assumption by Overbeck, and in that of St. Agnes, the still more celebrated Dombild^ painted in 1426, by Meister Stephan Lochner, the crowning work of the Cologne School, representing the Adoration of the Magi, and on the one wing St. Ursula and the 1 1,000 Virgins and on the other St. Gereon with the Theban Legion. The most famous chapel, however, is that of the Magi, situated immediately behind the high altar, which contained until 1864 the relics of the Three Kings, now transferred to the sacristy. The skulls of the three Magi are said to have been originally found by St. Helena during her visit to the Holy Land and carried by her to Constantinople. The Archbishop Eustorgio, to whom Constantine presented them, carried them to Milan and they were obtained by Frederick Barbarossa when he invaded Milan in 1163 and by him presented to the Archbishop of Cologne. Their presence in Cologne made the Cathedral a shrine of special sanctity. The Chapel of the Three Kings was dedicated in 1660 and is illuminated with some of the oldest windows in the Cathedral, depicting The Adoration of the Magi and various saints and Old Testament characters. The reliquary, in which the skulls of Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar repose crowned with jewelled diadems, is a superb example of Twelfth Century workmanship. It is 2l8 COLOGNE CATHEDRAL of gilded copper and pure gold, ornamented with figures of the Saviour, Virgin and others and enriched with more than 1,500 precious stones and cameos, and surmounted by an enormous topaz. The sacristy contains other treasures and many splendid vestments, including the " Clementine Suit," made for the Archbishop Clement Augustus of Bavaria, the embroidery of which alone cost 62,000 thalers. COUTANCES CATHEDRALr PAUL JOANNE NOTRE DAME DE COUTANCES, situated on the summit of a hill, is one of the most beautiful Cathedrals of France. It is as celebrated for the ardent dis- cussions that have been waged regarding its date as for the exceptional beauty of its style, for it is the most remark- able Gothic building in Normandy. The actual date of its construction not having been preserved in any historical document, two theories have been developed since 1830, both of which have been warmly defended and have the support of numerous experts, notwithstanding the refuta- tions that have been made by A. de Caumont, L. Vitet, A. de Dion and A. Saint-Paul. According to the first and older theory, the present Cathedral is the one that was built by Bishop GeofFroy de Montbray in 1090; according to the other theory, the Cathedral of the Eleventh Century lasted only until the last half of the Fourteenth Century and that the one that we see to-day dates only from the reigns of Charles V. and Charles VI. On entering the church you easily perceive that the style of the Thirteenth Century is here in all its unity and plenitude, and in a freshness that the cleverest imitation of a century later was never able to attain. In the main the western tower is still Roman, as the door, the windows and several vaultings show. These are the re- mains of the edifice constructed by GeoiFroy de Montbray ; 220 COUTANCES CATHEDRAL and by these you can see how different was the style of the Cathedral of the Eleventh Century from that of the present building. If you then pass into the north chapels of the nave, you will see that these chapels are in a Pointed Style a little more advanced than the adjacent side aisle, for they have been built later, and, according to several contempora- neous inscriptions, they were constructed by the Archbishop Jean d' Essey from 1251 to 1274. Therefore the present Cathedral was built a long time after the Eleventh Century and a little before 1251. It is probable that this edifice is for the most part due to the long episcopate of Hugues de Morville (i 208-1 238). Perhaps the choir was not entirely finished when Jean d' Essey founded his chapels. The facade is flanked by two Roman towers starting from the foundation, restored and raised in the Thirteenth Century. There is only one large porch in the centre ; the little side doors only lead to the lower story of the towers. These about seventy-seven or seventy-eight metres in height are crowned by magnificent towers slightly different in their details and restored many times in their original style. Two other lateral doors open into the transept of the nave which leads from the towers. That of the south — the usual entrance to the Cathedral — was skilfully restored in the Seventeenth Century by Claude Auvey, who before becoming Bishop of Coutances, was the famous singer of La Sainte-Chapelle, whom Boileau took for the hero of his Lutin. The porches have very few statues and bas-reliefs ; the sculpture of the whole edifice is above all else decora- tive and, moreover, charming in both composition and execution. Lobed and floral ornaments in great variety are the principal motives. Unfortunately on the outside the apse is hidden by the Bishop's garden ; and consequently it ►J "... '4 ^^l^^^l 9 ■ • •■■''■ ■/ - ■ -,-2 I^K. 3 f, \ W=^-' I -,—»- E...aSE5»fe«3E Pf'<^''"y>-ciZzz:.:,.ij- im. ^ ■■■■-v ■»« 'r**! '•^■•■-•■/^•^aja'; jwT 1 ■^''■■' r^r^,!^ fe; ■ '^' .J - ■< & A D o h TOURNAY CATHEDRAL 265 are visible far and wide over the country. When the seven towers stood all together, and the central one had its original altitude, the group was unrivalled beyond all com- parison in Europe. The famous Apostles' Church at Cologne did not approach it. Even the remains are im- posing to modern eyes — so vast is the height of the minor towers, so bulky is the central one. This Cathedral in its interior presents to the student a most effective combination of three styles. We have severe and sombre Romanesque in the nave ; magnificent chastity of expression and what may be styled pure architecture in the transept ; when we enter the choir, how- ever, it is to be transported into another world and stage of society. From where all was grave, dignified, self-centred and self-restrained, impressive without heaviness and vast without monotony, we are suddenly removed to an expan- sive structure that is blazing with light and has its windows filled with stained glass, divided from each other by the most slender piers and having mullions like rods. A triforium of the most elegant kind takes the place of the dim and vast gallery of the nave; enormous clerestories supply that of the dim arcades which surmount the gallery of the latter and the aisles beneath it and give an awful solemnity to the western half of the building. The latter is Egyptian in its grandeur, impressive in every feature, al- most void of ornament, and seemingly indestructible by time ; the former startles the spectator by its lightness and the audacity of the builder of those fairy piers, which have bent into two curves, one inwards and one outwards, and are hardly able to bear the roof. The noble view of the interior of Tournay Cathedral, which is obtainable from the western doors, derives no 266 TOURNAY CATHEDRAL small part of its charm from the skilful manner in which the effect of light and shadow has been produced by the use of stained glass in the choir, which, although raw and crude, is effective, as a whole, as it could not help being ; so that, looking along the dimly-lighted nave, the eye takes in the eastern expanse, which is filled with mysteriously- hued and softened light, that — spreading behind the group of Michael defeating Satan, which is of dark bronze and raised above the screen — aids the aspect of the whole in a singularly effective manner. On a close approach to this screen, which is the work of Floris of Antwerp, 1566, and not without a low sort of merit of its own, the incongruity of its style with that of the building is painfully evident. The group of Michael and Satan is the work of Lecreux of Tournay. The ancient cross above the screen was des- troyed about 1 8 16. The ancient choir was ninety-eight feet long ; the ex- isting choir was begun by Bishop Walter de Marvis about 1219 ; the works were carried on until 1325 and consecrated in 1338. The aisles of the choir, ambulatories, or carolles as they are called here, are extremely broad and have a magnificent effect. The pillars of the chevet, or radiating arcade, immediately adjoining the altar, were originally so extremely slender that about 1435 it was found necessary to strengthen them, a process which was effected by some sacrifice of their original grace. The triforium is lighted by quatrefoils formed behind the heads of its tracery. The piers of the chancel are eighty-six feet in height; its clerestory is composed of nineteen windows. On the wall of one of the chapels of the ambulatory is a painting with a gold ground, representing the Triumph of Death, so frequent a subject in the period when it was ex- TOURNAY CATHEDRAL 267 ecuted, /. e., the Thirteenth Century. Parallel to the north nave aisle is a very large chapel or parish church, said to have been built by Henry VIII. of England during Wolsey's occupation of the See of Tournay (1513-1518); its style is rather " earlier " than we are accustomed to associate with buildings of that period. Among the pictures that may be worth notice is a Purgatory by Rubens and an Jdoration of the Magi, by Lucas- van Leyden. There is a great rose window in the west end filled with modern stained glass — not a fortunate addition. The sub- jects of the paintings are the Virgin and Child surrounded concentrically by figures of angels, prophets, the seasons and zodiacal signs. Beneath this is the organ-loft, appar- ently of the same date as the screen. On the wall of the transept, high up, appear the remains of the original paint- ing of the Cathedral ; figures of saints are depicted in panels, one above the other, a characteristic Romanesque manner of decoration. In a side chapel of the nave is some early Sixteenth Century glass, good of its kind. By the side of the altar stands the splendid shrine of St. Eleutherius, elected bishop of the city in 486, a member of a family converted by St. Piat, a century and a half before his birth. By his exertions the faith which had begun to die out in the neighbourhood was revived. The sculptures on the outside of the north and south doorways of this Cathedral are extremely curious; above the door they are comprised in a blank semicircular arch, which is enclosed in another arch formed by three curves to the shape of a trefoil ; the central curve of the latter being higher than the other two is formed by two curves which, meeting in a point, produce the true ogive ; the jambs beneath these are also richly carved. The general 268 TOURNAY CATHEDRAL subjects are described by M. de Renaud as representing, under many satirical and grotesque forms, the Norman destroyers of Tournay. Among the sculptures on the jambs of the north doorway we observe the devil bearing ofF a man who is dressed in embroidered vestments and has a bag hanging round his neck and wears a helmet. The man is astride of the devil's neck, and holds to his horns ; his legs appear in front of the strange supporter and are clasped by that personage with one hand, while with the other the latter gives his own tail a twitch. Above this is an angel and below it the convolved serpent so common in Romanesque work and of obvious signification. At each external angle of the transept stands a lofty tower ; that on the southeast, which is named La Tour de Marie Pontoise, is a noble specimen of pure Romanesque design ; the others are of somewhat later date and transi- tional character. These towers are about 250 feet in height, built in stages, slightly diminishing upwards and capped by an obtuse pyramid of evidently later date than the structures beneath them. LE MANS CATHEDRAL AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE THE Cathedral of S. Julien, founded in the Fourth Century and rebuilt in the Sixth Century by S. Innocent, was again rebuilt in 834 by S. Aldric. In 1060 the famous architect-bishop Vulgrin began a new edifice, dedicated c. 1095, but altered in 1120 by Hildebert, who added two lofty towers. Soon after, it was greatly injured by fire, but was consecrated in 11 58. The existing nave belongs to this building of the Eleventh and Twelfth Cen- turies, but the vast choir was an addition of 1217-54; only the transept and tower belong to the Fifteenth Century. Part of the ancient rampart was destroyed for the sake of the apse. The west facade belongs to the Eleventh Century ex- cept the dividing buttresses and the gables. Its great win- dow retains much ancient glass relating to the story of S. Julien. The sumptuous side door of the Twelfth Cen- tury, ornamented with statues like those of Chartres, is pre- ceded by a porch. " The capitals," says Liibke, " are executed in the most ele- gant and freest Corinthian style ; even the coping stones are covered with the most graceful branch-work, and the shafts of the columns on which the figures stand, as at Chartres, are rich with varied designs. All the rest is devoted to isolated works of sculpture. On the capitals there stand ten stiff columnar figures in antique drapery, variously ar- 270 LE MANS CATHEDRAL ranged but exhibiting throughout the same parallel folds and with heads and limbs stiff and constrained. Yet even here, in the slender proportions, and still more in the type of the heads, the strong presentment of a new life is per- ceptible, though still too dependent on the architecture. We recognize St. Peter and St. Paul and other saints, and finally kings and queens, all full of youth, and, in spite of the severe style of conception, inbued with a breath of grace and feeling. In a small colonnade, above the door, are seated the twelve apostles — short, heavy, stunted figures. In the arched compartment above, solemn and severe, is the enthroned figure of Christ, with the four symbols of the Evangelists, again displaying violent gestures — a recurring trait of the plastic art of the period, which in its naive way endeavoured by vehement action to indicate the divine in- spiration of the Evangelists. Lastly, all the four archivolts surrounding the tympanum are covered with sculptures ; in the centre, angels, swinging vessels of incense, form a circle round the figure of the Redeemer ; in the outer circles the whole history of the Life of Christ is depicted in distinct and simple relief, and in a quaint and lifelike manner." In the interior the nave has the peculiarity of having five bays in the central and ten in the side aisles, which are of extreme simplicity. The transept is much loftier than the nave. The lower portions are of the Twelfth Century. The north wall has a magnificent rose window, the com- partments of which are slightly Flamboyant, whilst its glass contains 124 subjects, some of them of great historical in- terest. At the end of the south transept is the only tower of the Cathedral, Romanesque on the ground and first floors, but of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries above, with a modern dome. The choir (1217) is of the very best period < Q M X E- < y z w LE MAMS CATHEDRAL 27 1 of Gothic architecture, and is surrounded by a double aisle and thirteen radiating chapels. " In passing from the nave into the choir," says Prosper Merimee, " the impression is as if you left the temple of an ancient religion to enter one of a new cult. These capitals covered with monsters, fantastic animals and hideous masques seem the ornaments of a barbaric faith, while the foliage varied in a thousand ways and these windows with harmonious colours give a feeling of a gentle and watchful belief." The glorious windows of the choir are filled with mag- nificent glass of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. The windows of the side aisle are occupied by the legends of the saints — Evron, Calais, Theophile, Eustache — espe- cially venerated at Mans. In one of these windows is a cu- rious portrait inscribed " Senebaldus," of Pope Innocent IV. (Sinibaldo Fieschi). The sixth (triangular) window repre- sents a Sire de Pirmil, the seventh probably the Sire de la Guierche, Governor of Maine under S. Louis. The clerestory windows are occupied by great figures of S. Matthew, S. Andrew, S. Luke, David, Isaac, Moses, then the Apostles, and finally S. Bertram, founder of the Abbey of La Couture — these windows being the gift of an abbot of La Couture of the family of Cormes. The series of apostles is continued in the fourth great window, signed Odon de Coulonge, with the inscription La Verrine des Drapiers, and the members of that corporation are repre- sented in it. Then, in the fifth lancet are S. Paul and Aaron, signed for the furriers of Mans ; the sixth, represent- ing SS. Stephen, Vincent, Gervais and Protais, was given by the innkeepers and publicans. The seventh, or apsidal window, contains the Madonna and Child and the Cruci- 2/2 LE MANS CATHEDRAL fixion, beneath which is the prayer of Bishop Geoffroy de London (1254), offering the window to God; his arms are repeated in the border. The eighth great window, signed, represents the architects of the Cathedral. With the ninth window begins a series of the sainted bishops of Mans, characterized by the nimbi round their heads and inscrip- tions beneath. The tenth window is inscribed La Verrwre EdeSy and was given by the clergy of the church. The very curious eleventh window commemorates the players at tric-trac, who consecrated their gains to it. The thirteenth, signed by the bakers of Mans, represents its donors at work. All these windows are of the middle of the Thir- teenth Century. The remains of glass of the Eleventh Century are the most ancient known. The first choir chapel on the right contains a curious (early Seventeenth Century) terra cotta S. Sepulchre, restored from injuries received from a mad workman. The double (Fourteenth Century) door leading to the Psallette, with a figure of S. Julien in the tympanum ; and the door of the sacristy, formed from fragments of a destroyed _;ai^, erected by the Cardinal de Luxembourg in 1620, deserve notice. In the left aisle are Sixteenth Century tapestries, representing the legends of S. Julien and SS. Gervais and Protais. In the baptistery (first choir chapel on left) are the tombs of Charles Comte du Maine, 1472 (Renaissance) and Guil- laume de Langey du Bellay, viceroy of Piedmont under Francois I., and brother of Cardinal du Bellay, Bishop of Mans, 1543. In the right transept, removed from the choir, is the very interesting Thirteenth Century tomb of Queen Berengaria of England, daughter of Sancho VI. of Navarre and wife of Richard Coeur de Lion (celebrated in Scott's Talisman)^ to LE MANS CATHEDRAL 273 whom she was married at Limasol by his chaplain Nicolas, afterwards Bishop of Le Mans. After Richard's death she hved much at Le Mans, which was part of her dower. The statue is one of the most lifelike of its period with open eyes. "The drapery flows down in wide folds, the noble head is antiquely grand, the hands are holding a small casket, and the feet rest on a dog, the emblem of fidelity " (Lubke). Against the first pillar on the left of the nave formerly stood the tomb of Geoffroi Plantagenet, Comte du Maine et d' Anjou, son-in-law of Henry I. and father of Henry II. of England. This interesting monument was entirely destroyed by the Huguenots in 1562, except the enamelled portrait attached to the second pillar after the destruction of the tomb. Having been taken down for security in the Revolution, it is now preserved in the Musee, for which it was purchased from the collection of an amateur. At the southwest angle of the Cathedral is a large Peulven^ four and one-half metres in height, leaning against the facade. 1 Menhir, a kind of rude obelisk. CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL FRANCIS BOND THE metropolitan Cathedral of Canterbury owes its enthralling interest to its,vastness of scale, its wealth of monuments, its treasures of early glass, the great historical scenes that have been enacted within its walls — above all, to the greatest of all historical tragedies to the mind of the Mediaeval Englishman, the murder of Becket. It does not owe its distinction to its architecture. Whole building periods are almost wholly unrepresented ; for the century and a half when English design was at its best, the Canter- bury authorities slumbered and slept. What we have is the result of two periods only, with some scraps incorporated from earlier Norman work. What is there is not of the best : the Perpendicular work can be bettered at Gloucester, Winchester, and York ; the work in the choir, a foreign importation, is not equal to that of its prototype, the French Cathedral of Sens. We have many heterogeneous cathedrals in England. In the rest there is ever an attempt, usually a successful attempt, as at Hereford, and Gloucester and Wells to weld the conflicting elements of the design into symmetry and harmony. Canterbury scornfully declines any attempt at composition. Transepts and turrets and pinnacles are plumped down anyhow and anywhere ; to the east it finishes abruptly in the ruined crags of a vast round tower ; to the west the towers of its facade were, till lately, as incongruous in character as in date. Externally, the lofty >4 < Q a; <: u ID w h !Z < CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL 275 central tower alone gives some unity to the scattered masses ; internally, it is an assemblage of distinct and dis- cordant buildings. I, Norman. — Of the pre-Conquest cathedrals of Canter- bury nothing remains unless it be fragments of rude masonry in crypt and cloister. Of Lanfranc's Cathedral, built to- gether with the Benedictine monastery between 1070 and 1077, there remains the plinth of the walls of nave and transept. In the north transept some of his small square blocks of Caen stone are well seen just above the site of the martyrdom, as well as his turret in the northwest corner. His nave was allowed to stand till the Fifteenth Century. The present nave and central transept are built on Lan- franc's foundations. Of "Conrad's glorious choir" (it was commenced by Prior Ernulph c. 1096 and finished c. 11 15 by Prior Con- rad), a considerable amount remains. The round-arched work in the crypt is all of this date, except the carving of many of the capitals, which was executed later ; and from the extent of his crypt one can plot out the exact shape and dimensions of the Norman choir. Much of it is seen out- side especially in and near the southeast transept with its intersecting semicircular arcades, and the most charming little Norman tower imaginable. In the interior many Norman stones " cross-hatched," may be seen in the aisle- wall immediately after entering the choir-aisle by the flight of steps ; the lower part of the vaulting-shaft in this wall built of several stones and not of solid drums, as it is higher up, is also Norman. In the eastern transept the triforium occurs twice over; the upper of the two was Conrad's clerestory. Much of Conrad's semicircular arcade also remains on the aisle-walls. 276 CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL II. Transitional. — But " Conrad's glorious choir " was destroyed by a great fire in the year 1 174, amid much Medi- seval cursing and swearing and the tears of all the people of Canterbury. Then the monks did an abominable thing. Instead of being satisfied with our home-bred English archi- tecture, of which such a beautiful example was being com- pleted at Ripen, they sent for a foreigner. The present chuir of Canterbury, like that of Westminster, was " made in France." The only consolation one has is the fact — which is a fact — that with that stolid insularity which from the Twelfth Century has insisted in working out its own salvation in its own way — English architects ignored them both. The new French choir was to be a rock on which the main current of English art struck and parted asunder only to meet again on the other side. English design passed on, as if Canterbury choir had never existed, from Ripon and Chichester and Abbey Dore and Wells to Lincoln Minster. The coupled columns, the French arch-moulds, the Corinthianesque capitals of Canterbury were un-Eng- lish i no one would have anything to do with them any- where. The choir, as rebuilt, was even longer than Conrad's long choir. It has an elongated aisled apse beyond and a curious circular chapel east of that. The former goes by the name of Trinity chapel, the latter of Becket's corona. Becket's first mass had been said in an older Trinity chapel ; his body lay from 11 70 to 1220 in the crypt below it; in 1220 he was translated to a magnificent shrine in the pres- ent Trinity chapel. The corona may perhaps have been erected to cover another shrine placed here and containing a fragment of Becket's scalp. Sens seems to have had a similar corona. The design of the choir is a close copy of CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL 277 the work at Sens, Noyon, Soissons and the neighbouring cathedrals. At the beginning of the fifth year of his work, William of Sens was seriously injured by a fall from the scaffold, and soon after returned to France. An English William was appointed to succeed him. He completed Trinity chapel, Becket's corona and the crypt beneath the two. More important even than the architecture is the ancient glass. Canterbury and York are the great treasury-houses of stained glass : Canterbury for early Thirteenth Century glass, York for Fourteenth Century glass. The student should take with him to Canterbury Mr. Lewis Day's work on stained glass. Three of the windows in the Trinity chapel illustrate the miracles of St. Thomas. In the east window of the corona is portrayed Christ's Passion ; in the two windows of the north aisle are types and anti-types from the Old and New Testament ; among them the three Magi all asleep in one bed. The circular window in the northeast transept also contains the original glass, and many fragments are seen elsewhere. III. Lancet. — For this period (iigo-1245) there is nothing to show except the north wall of the Cloister and a lovely doorway in the southeast corner of the Cloister, cruelly hacked about by the vandals who built the cloister-vault. IV. To the Geometrical period (1245-13 15) belongs the Chapter-house up to the sills of the windows, and the screens north and south of the choir. A fine window with Kentish tracery was inserted in St. Anselm's chapel. V. Of Curvilinear work (1315-1360) there is no trace except some diaper-work in the choir, which may have adorned the shrine of St, Dunstan, who was buried at the south end of the high altar. 278 CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL VI. Perpendicular (1360-1485). — At length Canterbury woke up and removed Lanfranc's nave and transept, which must have looked shockingly low and mean for the last two hundred years in juxtaposition with the stately choir. The new nave, built between 1379 and 1400, is very fine, but somehow no one seems to be a very ardent admirer of it. Its proportions are not good. To this period belong also the Black Prince's chantry and the screens and reredos in the Lady Chapel, all in the crypt; the upper part of the chapter-house, from which all aspect of antiquity has recently been removed; the cloisters; St. Michael's, or the Warrior's chapel, which replaced the east- ern apse of Lanfranc's southern transept, and which has a complicated lierne vault similar in character to that of the north transept of Gloucester Cathedral ; the tomb and chan- try of Henry IV., with fan vaulting, 1433; the western screen at the entrance of the choir ; the southwest tower ; Dean's chapel (Lady chapel), which replaced the eastern apse of Lanfranc's northern transept (1450), and which has fan- vaulting. VII. To the Tudor period belongs the Angel, or, Bell Harry Tower (1495-1503) and the buttressing and arches inserted between its piers. Also the Christ Church gate- way. The great tower is remarkable for the unbroken ver- ticality of its buttresses ; it is as exceptional as it is suc- cessful in design. The chapter-house is rectangular, for a rectangular building fitted more easily into the east walk of a monastic cloister. Nearly all the monastic chapter-houses are there- fore rectangular, but sometimes had apses ; the exceptions being the Benedictine chapter-houses of Worcester, West- minster, Evesham, and Belvoir (which last was exceptional CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL 279 also in position, being placed in the very centre of the clois- ter) and the Cistercian chapter-houses of Morgam and Ab- bey Dore, sister designs. While Secular Canons, having as a rule no cloister, preferred a polygonal chapter-house, such as Lincoln, Beverley, Lichfield, Salisbury, Wells, Elgin, Southwell, York, Old St. Paul'Sj Hereford, Howden, Man- chester, Warwick. So did the Regular Canons at Alnwick, Cockersand, Thornton, Carlisle, Bridlington and Bolton. This beautiful polygonal form seems not to occur in France. At the northwest corner of the cloister is the doorway through which Becket passed to the northwest transept, with his murderers in pursuit of him. Near here is a hole in the wall, the Buttery hatch. In the Fifteenth Century the south walk of the cloister was divided into " studies " for the monks by wooden partitions (at Gloucester they are of stone) and its windows were glazed. From the cloister we pass to the West Front and com- mence the tour of the exterior. The southwest tower (with the Dean's chapel) was completed by Prior Goldstone (1449-1468) : the copy of it was put up in 1834: "it was an eyesore that the two towers did not match." Very bad modern statues adorn the niches. Later still is Christ Church Gateway through which one first approaches the Cathedral with doors inserted in 1662. Originally it had two turrets. Outside it is a monument to the dramatist Marlowe. On the south side is seen the porch ; the nave, a beauti- ful design ; and the charming pinnacle of the southwest transept. East of the Warrior's chapel is the projecting end of Stephen Langton's tomb. East of this, the two lower rows of windows are those of Conrad's choir ; the upper row that of William of Sens. The middle windows in the south- 28o CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL east transept were the clerestory windows of Conrad ; the windows above them are those of William of Sens. The three upper stages of the tower on the south of this transept are late Norman work ; one of the prettiest bits in Canter- bury. Farther east we have French design, pure and sim- ple ; here, for the first time in English architecture, the fly- ing-buttresses are openly displayed ; notice how flat and plain they are ; it had not yet occurred to architects to make them decorative. The grand sweep of apse and ambulatory seems to send one straight back to France. Then comes the broken, rocky outline of the corona — the great puzzle of Canterbury. Northeast of the corona are two groups of ruined Norman pillars and arches discoloured by fire ; once they were continuous, forming one very long building, the Monk's Infirmary, of which the west end was originally an open dormitory, open to the roof, and the east end, separ- ated off by a screen, the Chapel ; which has a late geomet- rical window. A Mediaeval infirmary of this type is still in use at Chichester. The Canterbury infirmary had a north transept, called the Table Hall, or Refectory (now part of the house of the Archdeacon of Maidstone) in which the inmates dined. On the north side of Trinity Chapel is seen the Chantry of Henry IV. ; then St. Andrew's Tower and the barred Treasury; the lower part of the latter is late Norman work, largely rebuilt. The south alley of the In- firmary Cloister was built about 1236. Along this one passes to the Baptistery, which was originally nothing but a Mediaeval water-tower ; late Norman below, Perpendicular above. Returning towards the Infirmary, we turn to the north up the east alley of the Infirmary Cloister, now called the " Dark Entry," at the north end of which is the Prior's Gateway. On the left are some Norman shafts and arches CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL 281 of beautiful design. It was the Dark Entry that was haunted by Nell Cook of the Ingoldsby Legends. West of the Prior's Gateway are the two columns from the Romano- British Church at Reculvers. On the north side of the Prior's, or Green Court, are the Brewery and Bake- house ; to the northwest is the famous Norman staircase which originally led to a great North Hall or Casual Ward — for tramps, too, found accommodation at the monasteries. LAON CATHEDRAL ESTHER SINGLETON NOTRE DAME DE LAON is one of the most per- fect productions of French architecture. It was erected in the Twelfth Century on the site of the old Ca- thedral which was burnt to the ground during the communal struggles in 1112. Crowning the isolated hill, which rises some three hundred feet above the plain, the splendid edi- fice is seen for many miles and has something of the ap- pearance of a castle, owing to its towers. Originally each of the three fa9ades had two towers and there was also a great central tower; but only four remain now and these are without spires. The square lantern tower above the crossing (130 feet high) is also altered in appearance; for it is now surmounted by alow pyramidal roof instead of pierc- ing the air with its former spire. Laon is strictly speaking no longer a cathedral ; for the bishopric was suppressed during the Revolution, when the Cathedral suffered terribly from the fury of the mob ; yet, from before the year 500 to 1789 Laon was the seat of a bishop second only in rank to the Archbishop of Reims. Of late years the Cathedral has been judiciously restored. Many of the old statues have been renovated and new ones added ; and the latter have been made in such sympathy with their companions that it is difHcult for experts to distinguish the moderns from the primitives, although the former have their eyes slightly more open. Happily, however, some of the splendid original glass LAON CATHEDRAL LAON CATHEDRAL 283 remains, including the magnificent rose window of the West Front. In purity and elegance the West Front of Laon ranks next to that of Notre Dame in Paris, to which it bears a strilcing resemblance. The central and side porches are of great depth and are adorned with rows of statues. The central and left door are consecrated to the Virgin, and de- pict her life from the Annunciation to the Coronation ; the right door presents the Last Judgment and Christ. Most of the statues here are restorations and modern works as we have noted. Directly behind the gables of these doors is a row of windows and then a frieze of foliage runs the en- tire length of the facade. Above this frieze the great rose window unfolds its luminous petals and on either side of it is a fine lancet window. A second frieze of foliage forms a line above these windows and then comes a gallery com- posed of charming arches and bearing four bell-towers. Above this first gallery is a third band of foliage and above this rise, to a height of 180 feet, the towers, — those master- pieces that have excited the admiration of architects, artists and travellers for centuries. The lower part of these tow- ers is square and the upper part octagonal, pierced by arches and adorned with open columns. On the platform of each tower eight colossal oxen stand and peer curiously into the world below. These animals, silhouetted against the sky, can be seen from a long distance. They commemorate the animals that dragged the stones for the Cathedral up the steep hill ; and, according to the legend, they were aided by another ox that mysteriously appeared to lend his aid to the wearied team, and when his services were no longer re- quired as mysteriously disappeared. The entrance to the north arm of the transept is the 284 LAON CATHEDRAL oldest part of the church and is approached by steps. The doors are surmounted by a frieze of foliage ; then come the windows surmounted by a second band of foliage ; and above this a rose window. Above this rose runs a third frieze and then a richly carved gallery crowned by a fourth frieze of foliage. Like the north, the south entrance, which, however, has no steps, is composed of two porches, the tympanums of which are pierced and openworked. Above these doors the wall is cut by a large, but not a rose, window. This is fin- ished by a gallery ornamented by sharply pointed arches. The flat east wall supported on the right and left by solid buttresses is very picturesque. It is broken by three lancet windows above which is a band of foliage and above this the rose window, surmounted by a charming gallery with a bell-tower at each end. In the centre a triangular gable supports a little spire. The Cathedral is 397 feet long, and its breath across the nave sixty-seven feet. The interior is of equal interest. It is built in the form of a cross ; but the choir, instead of ending in an apse, as in most French cathedrals, terminates in a straight wall pierced by a rose window and three lancets below it. The nave is a marvel. It contains eleven bays and an avenue of columns of great variety and above them the vault springs gracefully to a height of seventy-eight feet. The gallery and triforium, with their beautiful arches, re- mind the spectator of Notre Dame of Paris. The transept cuts the nave nearly in the centre and bears a strong re- semblance to the transept of Noyon. At the end of each arm is an ancient chapel of two stories. The choir has ten bays. LAON CATHEDRAL 285 This vast and sublime interior is not only impressive but delightful to study in detail, for no cathedral offers a more luxuriant flora of stone. The long avenues of columns are varied: substantial columns of vi^ide girth alternate vi^ith slender columns of great delicacy ; and bases and capitals ofFer to the eye a bewildering field for study. Here the flora of the first Gothic period through the Tw^elfth and first years of the Thirteenth Centuries may be studied to the greatest advantage and some capitals of the Fourteenth Century also appear on the capitals. First, we have the pointed toothed acanthus leaf of the Roman epoch (Elev- enth Century), then the round toothed acanthus of the Twelfth Century and also the vine, plantain, water-lily, fern and oak of the Gothic period. In the capitals of the nave, transept and choir only the water-lily and plantain occur; one in the choir bears the fern. In the gallery of the north transept there are capitals where fan- tastic personages and animals are combined with the acanthus. Laon is splendidly lighted. Counting all the windows there are no less than a hundred and fifty ; but the only ones of brilliant colour are the rose of the West Front, the lancets and the rose of the choir, and the rose of the north entrance. Particularly beautiful is the blue glass. The great window of the West Front is composed of three rows of twelve petals. In the centre is the Virgin between Isaac and John the Baptist, around her in the next row are the Twelve Apostles, and in the outer row are characters from the Apocalypse. The rose window in the choir has the Glorification of the Virgin for its subject and the three lancets below are devoted to the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension, in the centre ; the Martyrdom of St. Stephen 286 LAON CATHEDRAL and the story of Theophilus on the right ; and on the other are depicted scenes from the life of the Virgin. The chapter-house and cloisters contain beautiful ex- amples of architecture of the beginning of the Thirteenth Century. GERONA CATHEDRAL GEORGE EDMUND STREET THERE was a cathedral here at a very early period ; and when Gerona was taken by the Moors, they converted it into a mosque, but, with their usual liberality, allowed the services of the church still to be carried on in the neighbouring church of San Felin, which, for a time, accordingly was the cathedral church. In a. d. 1015 this state of affairs had ceased, owing to the expulsion of the Moors and the Cathedral was again recovered to the use of the church. Considerable works were at this time executed, if, indeed, the Cathedral was not entirely rebuilt, as the old documents declare, and the altered church was reconsecrated in a. d. 1038 by the Archbishop of Nar- bonne, assisted by the Bishops of Vique, Urgel, Elne, Barcelona, Carcassonne, and others. In a. d. 1310 works seem to have been again in progress, and in a. d. 1312 a. Chapter was held, at which it was resolved to rebuild the head, or chevet, of the church with nine chapels, for which, in A. D. 1292, Guillermo Gaufredo, the treasurer, made a bequest in favour of the work. In a. d. 1325, I find that an indulgence was granted by the Bishop Petrus de Urrea in favour of donors to the work of the Cathedral ; and the work, so far westward as jthe end of the choir, was prob- ably complete before A. D. 1346, inasmuch as in this year the silver altar, with its Retablo and baldachin were placed where they now stand. We know something of the 288 GERONA CATHEDRAL architects employed during the Fourteenth Century upon the works just mentioned. In 1312 the Chapter appointed the Archdeacon Ramon de Vilarico and the Canon Arnaldo de Montredon to be the obreros or general clerical superintendents of the progress of the works. In a. d. 1316, or, according to some authorities, in February, 1320, an architect — Euriquc of Narbonne — is first mentioned} and soon after this, on his death, another architect of the same city, Jacobo de Favariis by name, was appointed with a salary of two hundred and fifty libras a quarter, and upon the condition that he should come from Narbonne six times a year to examine the progress of the works, and he prob- ably carried them on until the completion of the choir in 1346. In A. D. 1416, Guillermo BoiSy, master of the works of the Cathedral, proposed a plan for its completion by the erection of a nave ; and though the chevet had an aisle and chapels round it, he proposed to build his nave of the same width as the choir and its aisles, but as a single nave with- out aisles. It is difficult to say exactly when the nave was com- pleted, but the great south door was not executed until A. D. 1458, and the keystone of the last division of the vault seems to have been placed in the time of Bishop Benito, so late as circa 1579. In A. d. 1581 the same bishop laid the first stone of the bell-tower and in 1607 the west front and the great flight of steps leading up to it seem to have been commenced. The choir has nine chapels round its chevet^ and has lofty arches, a series of very small openings in lieu of tri- forium and a clerestory of two-light windows, of decidedly late but still good Middle-pointed character. The columns. GERONA CATHEDRAL 289 in the usual Catalan fashion of this age, are clusters of rather reedy mouldings, with no proper division or subordi- nation of parts, and consequently of poor effect, and there is no division by wray of string courses above or below the triforium. On the exterior the east end is not seen to much advantage, as it is built into and against a steep hill, so that at a distance of a few feet only the eye is on a level with the top of the walls of the chapels round the apse. The roofs, too, have all been modernized and lowered. The only peculiarities here are a series of trefoiled open- ings, just under the eaves of the roof, into the space over the vaulting, and perhaps devised for the purpose of ventila- tion; and the gargoyles projecting from the buttresses, which are carved and moulded stones finished at the end with an octagonal capital, through the bottom of which the water falls, and which almost looks as if it were meant for the stone-head of a metal down-pipe. When the choir was built, some considerable portions of the church consecrated in a. d. 1038 were left standing. The nave was probably entirely of this age ; and a portion of what was no doubt one of the original towers still re- mains on the north side, between the cloister and the nave. This tower has pilasters at the angles and in the centre, and is divided into equal stages in height by horizontal corbel-tables. An apse of the same age remains on the east side of what seems to have been the south transept of the early church ; and from its position we may, I think, assume with safety that the church was then finished with three or five apses at the east, very much as in the church of San Pedro close by. In addition to these early remains there is also a magnificent and all but unaltered cloister. I cannot find any certain evidence of its exact date, though 290 GBRONA CATHElDRAI. it seems to have existed in a. d. 1117, when an act of the Bishop Raymond Berenger was issued in the " cloister of the Cathedral." The character of the work confirms, I think, this date. The plan is very peculiar, forming a very irregular trapezium, no two of the sides being equal in length. It has on all four sides severely simple round arches carried on coupled shafts : these are of marble, and set as much as twenty inches apart, so as to enable them to carry a wall three feet one and a half inches thick. This thickness of wall was quite necessary, as the cloister is all roofed with stone, the section of the vaults on the east, west and south sides being half of a barrel, and on the north a complete barrel vault. The detail of the capitals is of the extremely elaborate and delicate imitation of classical carving so frequently seen throughout the south of France. The abaci are in one stone, but the bases of the shafts are separate and rest upon a low dwarf-wall and square piers are carried up at intervals to strengthen the arcade. The columns have a very slight entasis. The cloister deserves careful study, as it seems to show one of the main branches of the stream by which Roman- esque art was introduced into Spain. It is impossible not to recognize the extreme similarity between such work as we see here and that which we see in the cloister at Elne, near Perpifian, and, to go still farther afield, at S. Trephine at Aries. And if any Spanish readers of these pages ob- ject to my assumption that the stream flowed from France westward, they must prove the exact converse, and assume that this Romanesque work was developed from Roman work in Spain, and thence spread to Elne and Aries, a position which none, I suppose, will be bold enough to take. The nave remains to be described; and to do this well GERONA CATHEDRAL 29 1 and adequately, it is necessary to use, not indeed many, but certainly strong, words. Guillermo Boffiy, master of the works, might well cling fondly to his grand scheme, for his proposal was not less, I believe, than the erection of the widest pointed vault in Christendom. Such a scheme might be expected to meet then in Spain a good deal of criticism, and many objections, on the score of its im- practicability ; and it is to the honour of the Chapter that they had the good sense to consult experts and not amateurs as to the steps to be taken, and then having satisfied them- selves that their architect was competent to his work, that they left it entirely in his hands. The clear width of this nave is seventy-three feet, and its height is admirably proportioned to this vast dimension. It is only four bays in length : each bay has chapels open- ing into it on either side, and filling up the space between the enormous buttresses, whose depth from the front of the groining shaft to their face is no less than twenty feet. Above the arches which open into the side chapels is a row of small cusped openings, corresponding with those which form the triforium of the choir ; and above these are lofty traceried clerestory windows. The groining-ribs are very large and well moulded. At the east end of the nave three arches open into the choir and its aisles ; and above these are three circular windows, the largest of which has lost its tracery. And here it is that the magnificence of the scheme is most fully realized, A single nave and choir, all of the same enormous size, would have been immeasurable by the eye, and would have been, to a great extent, thrown away ; here, however, the lofty choir and aisles, with their many subdivisions, give an extraordinary impression of size to the vast vault of the nave, and make it look even larger than 292 GSRONA CATHEDRAL it really is. In short, had this nave been longer by one bay, I believe that scarcely any interior in Europe could have surpassed it in effect. Unfortunately, as is so often the case among those who possess the most precious works of art, there is now but little feeling in Gerona for the treasure it possesses in this wondrous nave, for the stalls and Core have been moved down from their proper place into the middle of its length, where they are shut in and surrounded by a high blank screen, painted in the vulgarest imitation of Gothic traceries to the utter ruin, of course, of the whole internal perspective. It would be a grand and simple work of restoration to give up here, for once, the Spanish usage and to restore the stalls to the proper choir. I say " restore," because it is pretty clear that they could not have been in the nave when they were first made, inasmuch as this was in a. d. 135 i, sixty-six years before its commencement. A deed still remains in the archives of the Cathedral, by which we ascertain this fact, for by it a sculptor from Barcelona agreed, on June 7, 1351, to make the stalls at the rate of forty-five libras of Barcelona for each. The detail of some parts of the woodwork is ex- ceedingly good, and evidently of the middle of the Four- teenth Century, so that it is clear that they are the very stalls referred to in the agreement. It is difficult to express a positive opinion as to the orig- inal intention of the architect in regard to the design and finish of the exterior of this part of the church. The gable walls have been altered, the roofs renewed, and the original termination of the buttresses destroyed. At no time, how- ever, I think, can it have looked well. The position is charming, on the edge of a steep, rocky hill falling down to the river, and girt on its north side by the old many-towered GERONA CATHEDRAL 293 city wall; yet with all these advantages it is now a de- cidedly ugly work, and the nave looks bald and large out of all proportion to the subdivided, lower, and over-deli- cately-treated choir. On the west side the whole character of the church is Pagan ; and I well remember the astonish- ment with which, when I had climbed the long flight of broad steps which leads to the western door, I looked down the stupendous interior, for which I had been so little prepared. The effect is not a little enhanced by the dark colour of the stone, which has never been polluted by whitewash j but there are some defects. The want of length has already been noticed ; the entire absence of string-courses inside is not pleasant ; and the lowering of the arches into the chap- els in the second bay from the west wall, where there are three in place of the two in each of the other bays, breaks the main lines of the design very awkwardly. The mould- ings, too, as might be expected in work of so late a date, are nowhere very first rate, though they certainly retain gen- erally the character of late Fourteenth Century work. The doorway on the south side of the nave is remarkable in one respect. It has in its jambs a series of statues of the Apostles, executed in terra-cotta ; and the agreement for their execution, made in a. d. 1458, with the artist Berenguer Cervia, binds him to execute them for six hun- dred florins and "of the same earth as the statue of St. Eulalia and the cross of the new doorway at Barce- lona." The doorway is very large, but bald and poor in detail ; the statues to which the contract refers still remain, and are in good preservation. There is nothing more specially worth noticing in the fabric ; but fortunately the choir still retains precious relics 294 GERONA CATHEDRAL in the Retablo behind, and the baldachin above, the high- altar. There are also said to be some frontals of the altar still preserved, which are of silver, and which were originally adorned with precious stones, and with an inscription which proves them to have been made before the consecration of the church in a. d. 1038. Unfortunately they were not in their place when I was at Gerona, and so I missed seeing them. The Retablo is of wood entirely covered with silver plates, and divided vertically into three series of niches and canopies ; each division has a subject, and a good deal of enamelling is introduced in various parts of the canopies and grounds of the panels. Each panel has a cinquefoiled arch with a crocketed gablet and pinnacles on either side. The straight line of the top is broken by three niches, which rise in the centre and at either end. In the centre is the Blessed Virgin with our Lord; on the right, San Narcisso ; and on the left, San Felin. The three tiers of subjects contain (a) figures of saints, {b) subjects from the life of the Blessed Virgin, and (c) subjects from the life of our Lord. A monument in one of the chapels gives some account of this preckous work; for though it is called a ciborium, it is also spoken of as being of silver, which, I believe, the actual ciborium is not. The date of this monument is 1362; but in the Liber Notularum for A. d. 1320, 21, and 22, it seems that the Chap- ter devoted 3,000 libras for the reparation of the Retablo, though it was not till a. d. 1346 that the work was finished and the altar finally fixed in its present position. The whole of the work is therefore before this date; and probably the Retablo and the baldachin date from the period between the two dates last given, viz., a. d. 1320 and A. D. 1348. 6ER0NA CATHEDRAL ^95 The baldachin is, like the Retablo, of wood covered with thin plates of metal. It stands upon four shafts, the lower portions of which are of dark marble resting on the moulded footpace round the altar. These four shafts have capitals and bands, the latter being set round with enamelled coats- of-arms. The canopy is a sort of very flat quadripartite vault covered with small figures ; but on both my visits to Gerona it has been so dark in the choir as to render it im- possible to make out the subjects. The central subject seems to be the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin, and in the eastern division is a sitting figure of our Lord with Saints on either side. In order to show the figures on the roof of the baldachin as much as possible, the two eastern columns are much lower than the western, the whole roof having thus a slope up towards the west. A singular arrangement was contrived behind the altar — a white marble seat for the bishop raised by several steps on either side to the level of the altar, and placed under the central arch of the apse. Here, when the bishop celebrated pontifically, he sat till the oblation, and returned to it again to give the benediction to the people. The church is full of other objects of interest. Against the north wall is a very pretty example of a wheel of bells : this is all of wood, corbelled out from the wall, and is rung with a noisy J ingle of silver bells at the elevation of the Hosts. Near it is a doorway leading into the sacristy, I think, which is very ingeniously converted into a monu- ment. It has a square lintel and a pointed arch above : bold corbels on either side carry a high tomb, the base of which is just over the lintel ; this is arcaded at the side and ends, and on its sloping top is a figure of a knight. The favourite type of monument in this part of Spain is generally 296 GERONA CATHEDRAL a coped tomb carried on corbels, which are usually lions or other beasts : there are good examples of this kind both in the church and cloister ; and in the latter there is also pre- served a great wooden cross, which looks as though it had originally decorated a rood-loft. The windows have a good deal of very late stained glass, which consists generally of single figures under canopies. I have already mentioned the fine early woodwork in the Coro. In the Fifteenth Century this was altered and added to : and a seat was then made for the Bishop in the centre of the western side of the Coro, which has enormous pieces of carved openwork on either side executed with uncommon vigour and skill. These again were added to afterwards by a Renaissance artist, so that it is now necessary to discrimi- nate carefully between the work of the various ages. If, when the Cathedral has been thoroughly studied, one goes out through the cloister, an external door at its north- western angle leads out to the top of a steep path from which an extremely picturesque view is obtained. Theold town walls girt the Cathedral on the north side ; but in the Eleventh Century, it was thought well to add to them, and a second wall descends, crosses the valley below, and rises against the opposite hill in a very picturesque fashion. This wall has the passage-way perfect all round, and oc- casional circular towers project from it. BEAUVAIS CATHEDRAL BENJAMIN WINKLKS THE first view of Beauvais Cathedral, at a distance of three or four miles from it, is most extraordinary. The stranger is at a loss to know what it is he sees. Lofty enough to be the tower of a church, yet the form of it for- bids the supposition, and judging from all previous experi- ence, it is far too lofty to be the main body of one. So un- usual indeed is its shape and height together, that when seen at the distance before named and through a hazy at- mosphere, it has been mistaken by travellers at first sight for a natural isolated rock, or an artificial mount, thrown up for the purpose of fortification. What is it ? exclaims the traveller, when this Cathedral first rises to view: he is answered. It is the Cathedral of Beauvais ; yes, merely the body of the Cathedral, which has no tower, or spire, or turret ; and scarcely any pinnacle which rises higher than the ridge of its roof. The cathedrals of France are, generally speaking, vastly higher in the body than those of England, or indeed of any other country, and the body of Beauvais Cathedral is higher than any other in France. It is, however, but half a cathedral ; it is only the choir and transept of one ; the nave is entirely wanting. What a pity, exclaim some who have just arrived in Beauvais from Abbeville and have viewed with admiration the nave (the only existing part of the abbey church in that town) ; what a 298 BEAUVAIS CATHEDRAL pity we cannot bring that nave, with its magnificent west front, and join it to the no less magnificent choir and tran- sept of Beauvais Cathedral, that so, instead of two detached halves of churches, we might behold one superb and match- less whole ! These halves, however, are better separated than brought together and though the style of the architecture of the nave of Abbeville would accord very well with that of the transept of Beauvais, yet neither their dimensions nor proportions would agree. The choir of Beauvais has all the marks of being an edi- fice of the Thirteenth Century, an age so renowned in France for a brilliant constellation of architects, who, by a singular combination of boldness with symmetry, and light- ness with profusion of ornament, produced the most ma- jestic and sublime temples for the worship of the deity that were ever made with hands. We have already hinted at the extraordinary elevation as viewed from a distance ; on a nearer inspection that ele- vation is still more astonishing : and from whatever point the exterior of this Cathedral is seen, the more attentively it is examined, the more admiration it inspires ; fresh beauties continually unfold themselves to the eye of the delighted amateur, and the longer he lingers on the spot, the more reluctant he is to quit it. The whole exterior of the Cathedral is bold and majestic in its dimensions, graceful in its proportions, rich and deli- cate in all its wonderful display of detail, and especially as regards the north and south ends of the transept. The face of the latter indeed presents what may be called a blaze of decoration which perfectly dazzles and bewilders the spec- tator. BEAUVAIS CATHEDRAL 299 Both fronts of the transept are very superb examples of what has been called in France the Flamboyant Style of architecture, from the flame-like form of its tracery and panelling ; it is the latest style of Gothic in France, and answers in its date and application to what in England has been denominated the Perpendicular Style, because its tracery and panelling assume principally that direction. The plan of both these fronts is the same, and the usual one of a gable end flanked with projecting buttresses of whatever form, a portal with a large window above, divided by a horizontal gallery above the window, and the gable itself above all. Each one of these, beginning with the portal, projects in order before the other, which gives the portal a depth unknown in English churches. But though the general plan be the same in both the north and south ends of this transept, yet there are differences in the detail of each which are worthy of remark. The north transept is one of the examples of the Flam- boyant Style, which has more of the character of the English Perpendicular than is commonly to be met with. The portal has its arched moulding adorned with three lines of free tracery, and its sides by very rich brackets, canopies, pinnacles and niches. The tympanum is flat, beautifully sculptured with a genealogical tree, with escutcheons hanging from each branch, and with good rich panelling. The entrance is divided into two doorways by a stone pier carved into the form of an upper and lower niche with canopies and pin- nacles ; each door has a straight topped arch under one larger one of the same kind. The head of the great win- dow has very rich flowing tracery forming a sort of rose or wheel. 300 BEAUVAIS CATHEDRAL The arch mouldings of the portal, as well as its sides, are filled with three rows of rich canopies and brackets which once had statues, but these disappeared in those perilous times which had well-nigh swept away everything which was valuable in the arts as well as in religion and morals. This portal forms the principal entrance into the Cathedral, and is ascended by a flight of fourteen steps. It is adorned besides with a peculiarly elegant specimen of free tracery, hanging down from its exterior arch like an edging of lace, or ornamental fringe of stone. The great window above this portal occupies the whole space between the flanking turrets, and the head of it is filled with a large circle full of tracery of the most rich and beautiful description of similar design and workmanship to that in the northern end of the transept. The gable above the window and the spandrel spaces are alike elaborately decorated. The first impression on entering the Cathedral, or rather the choir of Beauvais, is truly magical j the second, that of danger from the enormous and exaggerated height, which is perhaps after all more wonderful than pleasing. Mr. Whewell in his Jrchitectural Notes (1835) compares Amiens Cathedral to a giant in repose, and this of Beauvais to a tall man on tiptoe, a very happy illustration of the effect produced by them upon the mind at first sight, though from the superior height and noble breadth of Beauvais Cathedral, it might without any impropriety be called a giant on tiptoe. There is a great similarity be- tween the choirs of these two Cathedrals, though differences do exist in the detail, as well as in the dimensions and pro- portions, which a closer examination readily detects. The pier arch spaces are narrower, the clerestory windows much taller in this Cathedral than in that of Amiens. Here, too, BEAUVAIS CATHEDRAL 30I we find the vaulting in six compartments, so common in Germany, but rare in France; probably this plan was adopted for greater security after the vaulting had twice fallen in. The principal charm of the choir of Beauvais resides in the apse. There is especially a peculiar dignity and grace about the apsidal columns and arches, a just idea of which it is not in the power of language nor of the pen- cil to convey to the mind. The form, the dimensions and proportions of this heptagonal termination of the choir of Beauvais Cathedral produce a fascinating effect on the be- holder. The remaining and greater portion of the choir is disfigured first by a double row of stalls on each side of it, one a little elevated above the other, very mean and incon- gruous ; secondly, by eight pieces of Beauvais tapestry, sus- pended in frames, four on each side, about half-way up the pillars. They are copies from Raphael's cartoons, and are much esteemed ; we do not, therefore, find fault with the things themselves but with their situation ; we would rather see them in the town-hall than in the Cathedral ; which, we repeat, they positively disfigure. The pavement of the choir is all of marble and the mosaic work very beautiful ; it is higher than the pavement of the transept, from which it is ascended by four steps. The choir has double side aisles on each side ; the outer aisle round the apse being formed into seven chapels, in- serted between the buttresses, which are produced inwards and form the sides of these chapels ; their eastern ends are each three-sided bays with windows in each side; their western ends are open to the aisle which runs round the apse. Beginning with the northern extremity of the apse and proceeding round it to the southern, the chapels are dedicated in order to the following saints : (i) Magdalene ; 302 BEAUVAIS CATHEDRAL (2) Sebastian ; (3) Anne ; (4) Virgin Mary ; (5) Lucien ; (6) Vincent ; (7) Denys. The other chapels in the Cathedral are six in number, one on each side of the north and south entrance of the transept, and two on the south side of the choir, inserted between the buttresses, which are produced inwards, as in the case of the apsidal chapels. These chapels are dedi- cated thus : (i) The Sacred Heart ; (2) The Sacrament ; (3) The Dead; (4) The Font or Baptistery; (5) St. Au- gustine ; (6) St. Joseph. The monument of Cardinal Forbin is in the north aisle of the choir, attached to the wall ; it is of beautiful design and excellent workmanship. The Cardinal is represented on his knees, with his hands joined together in the usual attitude of prayer. The ancient Cathedral clock stands close to this monu- ment, and is worthy of something more than a passing glance ; the case is of wood and is a good specimen of the Gothic of the middle of the Sixteenth Century. In the absence of all authentic documentary evidence, the choir of Beauvais would plainly appear to be a work of the Thirteenth Century, from its similarity to those build- ings which are ascertained to be of that age. We are not left to conjecture, however, respecting the date of the choir of Beauvais Cathedral. When the second Cathedral, which bore the date of 991, was destroyed, Miles de Nanteuil, Bishop of Beauvais, began to build the present choir in the year 1225, that is five years after the foundation stone of the present Cathedral of Amiens was laid, and it was his intention to rebuild the whole Cathedral of Beauvais on a scale corresponding with the wealth, dig- nity, and importance of the See. The vaulting, however, BEAUVAIS CATHEDRAL 303 fell in about fifty years after it was finished and was recon- structed in the year 1272. Twelve years afterwards it again fell in, and forty years were employed in reconstruct- ing and securing the third vaulting from a similar calamity. In the year 1338, the bishop and chapter chose Enguer- rand, surnamed the rich, as their architect, and the work was begun and carried on with great zeal and activity for several years, but it was again interrupted by a succession of national calamities and not resumed till the year 1500, when the transept was begun, but not completed till the year 1555. The stained glass in the windows, though it has suffered both from the effects of time and Revolution, has been in a great measure preserved, and is still a principal feature in the internal decoration of the Cathedral of Beauvais. It was executed at the very best period of the art, and is ex- ceedingly rich and glowing ; that which adorns the roses or wheels in the north and south ends of the transept is be- lieved to be the work of John and Nicholas Lepot. That in the north is excessively brilliant ; it represents the sun diffusing its rays in the middle of a deep blue sky studded with stars ; in the lights beneath this rose are placed several female figures of saints. In the south window the artist has placed some saints and prophets, and the portrait also of the famous Jean Francis Fernel, physician to Henri II. This was a compliment paid to the most skilful physician of his time, who was born in the year 1496 at Montdidier, about ten leagues from Beauvais. There is also some very beautiful stained glass in the chapels : in a window of one of them the figures of St. Peter, St. Paul and St. John are to be seen. St. Paul is particularly well drawn in an attitude and manner which re- 304 BEAUVAIS CATHEDRAL minds the spectator of the Apostles of Raphael. The figure of St. John is also very striking. The glass is the work of Angrand or Enguerrand le Prince, another famous painter on glass, who died in the year 1530. In the win- dow of another chapel above the altar are seen a crucifixion, a St. Christopher and a St. Hubert, after the designs of Albert Diirer, which are believed to be by the same hand. In the same chapel a Virgin contemplating a dead Christ after the Descent from the Cross, is placed between the portraits of the donor of the glass and his wife. All this glass of the Sixteenth Century is very admirable for its designs, its colouring and its general efFect. LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL W. J. LOFTIE THERE is a great charm about the distant view of the three spires of Lichfield, which is only shared by the similar charm of the three spires of the neighbouring Coventry. Travellers by the London and North Western Railway catch a momentary glimpse as they pass. On one side a wide green plain stretches out towards Needwood Forest ; on the other the great wall of dark smoke, ruddy at night with the glow of a thousand furnaces, betokens the neighbourhood of collieries and iron foundries. The name of the little city has generally been taken to mean " the field of the dead," but lych^ a marsh, has been suggested. There is, however, no such word in Old English. The early form of the name is Licetfeld. The city does not figure very largely in history before the Great Rebellion. The Cathedral close was besieged in 1643. ^^^ King's party had fortified Bishop Langton's wall, and were attacked by Lord Brooke, " who expressed the impious wish to behold the day when no Cathedral should be left standing, and demanded a sign from heaven." He was shot in the eye by " dumb Dyott," from the middle' tower on March 2d — St. Chad's Day — while giving orders in a place in Dam Street, now marked by an inscription : 306 LICHFIELD CAl-HEDRAL " 'Twas levelled by fanatic Brooke — The fair Cathedral stormed and took ; But thanks to Heaven and good St. Chad, A guerdon meet the spoiler had." The garrison surrendered to Sir John Gall. In the fol- lowing month it was retaken by Prince Rupert and re- mained in the hands of the King's party till July, 1646. Up- wards of 2,000 shot and 1,500 grenades had been directed against the church ; the lead of the roof was stripped ofF for bullets, and the central spire was destroyed. " It was found necessary, in the episcopate of Bishop Hackett, to restore the fabric at an enormous expense, and it was reconsecrated, December 24, 1669. The morning after his arrival, he set his eight carriage horses to clear away the rubbish. After eight years the bells were hung in the steeple ; then, old and infirm he went into an adjoining chamber to hear them chime their first peal : It is my knell, he said, and in a few hours he had passed to his rest." So says Mr. Walcott, but Hackett's biographer. Plume, says he was ill when the six bells were hung, and that when he had heard them chime, he said : " They will be my passing bell," and never after- wards left his bed. The church as we now see it is namely of a later style of Gothic, but in parts shows Early English work. The front has been much improved of late years, having long been decorated with mouldings and other ornaments in stucco. As restored, the present front with its beautiful hexagonal spires, its three doorways, and its screen with no niches filled with figures is extremely satisfactory, restoration hav- ing for once done good and not harm. The destructive Wyatt was let loose on the building early in the century. LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL 307 and pulled down the screen of Bishop Langton between the Lady Chapel and the choir, but is not responsible for the stucco Work. Externally the church consists of a nave of eight bays with aisles of the best period, a choir, also of eight bays, transepts of two bays each, with eastern aisles, and a Lady Chapel, apsidal at the end. There are, unfortunately, no authentic documents as to the builders of the church. But it stood much as it does now, before the time of Bishop Heyworth, died 1447. Willis dated choir and nave before 1250, and the west front 1270. There are three doorways : the central door is divided by a shaft, with a tall niched figure of the Blessed Virgin. On either side are statues of the Evangelists. The outer and inner arches are foliated and the mouldings are filled with exquisitely -wrought foliage. The ironwork on the doors is ancient and good. The doors to the transept are also worth seeing. Adjoining that on the south side is an ancient tomb said to be that of the architect of one of the spires. The central tower rises one story above the roof, and has on each face canopied windows, each of two lights, under a simple battlement, with pinnacled turrets at the angles. The spire which rises above is hexagonal, like those of the west front, but more highly decorated. The Chapter-house is polygonal and has an upper story in which is the Library. It is later than the main body of the church, being Perpendicular in style.- There is a central pillar both in the Chapter-house and in the building above. The clerestory of the choir is also Perpendicular, but the windows of the aisles are Decorated. The Lady Chapel, with its lofty three-light windows, rich tracery and graceful flowering canopies, and its semi- hexagonal apse, gives a beautiful termination to the 308 LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL Cathedral. It was commenced, according to Mr. St. John Hope, by Walter Langton, who became bishop in 1296, and was finished by his successor, Northburgh, to whom also Mr. Hope assigns the western towers. " Only the southwest or Jesus steeple remains, however, in its original state, the northwest tower above the sills of the belfry windows having been rebuilt in Perpendicular times, in imitation of the earlier work." Both the tower and the spire are perceptibly shorter than those oh the south side. On the plan the very considerable difference in the direction of the nave and that of the choir and chapel is easily seen. The interior offers us a rare example of a church of the kind without Norman features. The Early English col- umns are capped with exquisite carving. The spandrels above are filled with quatrefoils. The triforium is of two arches, each similarly subdivided, with a quatrefoil in the head. The clerestory is of three trefoiled lights, arranged in a triangular curved framework. The groining of the roof is highly ornamented with carved bosses, but is otherwise of the simple character of the Thirteenth Century. That of the choir is more elaborate. Here the triforium hardly ex- ists, and the clerestory is lofty. A modern reredos occupies the place of the old one, destroyed by Wyatt. New stalls, a metal screen, and a metal pulpit have been provided from designs by Scott. The transepts are unequal to the rest of the church. The arcaded vestibule to the Chapter-house, and that room, with its rich central shaft and beautiful groin- ing, are much to be admired. The Lady Chapel is the chief gem of the Cathedral. A range of stalls extends beneath the windows, nine in number, while between each pair are niches and canopies and brackets, with every characteristic of richness and delicacy. LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL 309 Over the door of the Consistory Court, in the south choir aisle, is a minstrels' gallery, and adjoining it an ancient vestry. The feretrum, or shrine of St. Chad, stood east of the screen, and cost Langton ;^2,ooo. The Library con- tains some curious books, including a transcript of the Eighth Century, known as the " Gospels of St. Chad," A Cax- ton, The Life of King Arthur, is among the printed books. The windows are not nearly so bad as in many of our cathedrals. The glass in the Lady Chapel is old Flemish, of a good period, and was brought from Herckenrade, near Liege, by Sir Brooke Boothby, in 1802, when the abbey of that place was destroyed by the French. It came over in 340 pieces, which were ingeniously arranged by the Rev. W. G. Rowland, a prebendary. They contain scriptural subjects and are of the Sixteenth Century. The organ was entirely rebuilt by Messrs. Hill & Son in 1884, and contains 3,500 pipes. The chief monuments — many perished in the siege, and many more under Wyatt — comprise those of Bishop Lang- ton, died 1321; Bishop Pateshull, died 1241 ; and Bishop Hackett, died 1671. There are busts of Johnson and Gar- rick. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu is commemorated in the north aisle of the nave ; and on the monument of the par- ents of Miss Seward, by Bacon, are some lines by Sir Walter Scott. In the south side of the choir are the Sleep- ing Children, the daughters of the Rev. W. Robinson, by Chantrey. Cloisters were always an after-thought in churches of secular canons, and there are none at Lichfield. POITIERS CATHEDRAL JEAN JACQUES BOURASSB THE church of Poitiers is one of the most celebrated in all France for its glorious antiquity, and the great- ness and sanctity of several of the dignitaries who have governed it. The first of these was St. Hilary ; a little later came St, Fortunatus to fill the episcopal chair. The first basilica was subjected to a mob of disasters. The Saracens and Normans ruined it on several occasions ; but it was always restored by the zeal of the bishops and the faithful. In 1018, a terrible fire, that reduced the town to ashes, did not spare the Cathedral. William IV., Count of Poitiers, resolved to repair the damage; and built a new episcopal church, consecrated by Isambert IV. Hardly was it completed, when it shared the same fate as its predecessor. In the middle of the Twelfth Century, Henry II., King of England, at the request of his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, re- built the Cathedral on a grander plan, and with magnificence proportionate to his high estate. The work was energetically commenced; but, before long, zeal cooled; and the monu- ment, begun about 11 52, after suffering numerous interrup- tions, was not consecrated till 1379, by Bishop Bertrand de Meaumont. In the meantime the principles of religious architecture had been changed : we find unequivocal proofs of this in the lower parts of the present edifice. The prin- cipal porch, in its most important parts, dates only from the