The Churches of Paris Part 2

[Ill.u.s.tration]

On the lower storey are colossal statues of the twelve Apostles, most of them portraits, the S. Thomas being that of the sculptor La.s.sus. The gables of the upper storey support Angels with the instruments of the Pa.s.sion. The crockets of the spire are _fleurs-de-lys_, and the whole is resplendent with gilding. The summit of the _chevet_ is surmounted by a huge Angel, in lead, holding a processional cross. There was an idea, never carried out, of making this statue turn round mechanically upon a pivot during the twenty-four hours, that it might present the symbol of salvation successively to all quarters of the city. The masks upon the pedestal of this figure are all portraits of the artists and workmen engaged upon the restoration of the chapel, posing as the Kings of France. The oratory, erected by Louis XI., between the two b.u.t.tresses of the fourth bay, upon the south side, is decorated with niches and corbels of human heads.

The vaulting of the lower chapel is supported by fourteen single-shaft pillars, surrounded by foliated capitals of various designs. The walls are decorated with arcading, terminated at the east end by an apse. The two columns without capitals were added at the same time as the apsidal tribune in the upper chapel. The decoration is in imitation of the original 13th century work, some of which, a fragment of an _Annunciation_, was discovered in removing the remains of some later work in a style utterly at variance with the architecture, by Martin Freminet, painter to Henri IV. and Louis XIII. In 1691 the tracery of the windows and the stained gla.s.s were destroyed and replaced by white in order to give extra light. Formerly there were seven altars and a font in the lower chapel, Boileau, whose father had a house in the court of the palace, being amongst those who were baptised there.

The upper chapel is one of those buildings which one never tires of admiring. When we wend our way up the turret stairs, and enter it from the semi-darkness of the crypt, it strikes us as the most exquisite scheme of colour imaginable. Add to the beauty of the chapel all the a.s.sociations which crowd upon the memory--S. Louis' beautiful faith and n.o.ble life, his enthusiasm for G.o.d's work and man's welfare; all the ceremonies and the processions which have taken place there, with the lights, the flowers, and the incense, and our imagination forms a picture that no hand could adequately paint. The chapel is composed of four bays for the nave, and seven smaller for the apse. The vault is groined and is supported by cl.u.s.tered columns and capitals ornamented with foliage. The windows occupy the entire s.p.a.ce between the supporting pillars, and are filled with most beautiful stained gla.s.s;[7] while below is an arcade rising from a stone seat. The capitals of the columns are most exquisitely carved in imitation of the flora of France, and the quatrefoils between the arches are filled with a kind of decoration which is as rare as it is effective. The designs were drawn upon the stone, and the backgrounds filled in with incrustations of blue gla.s.s and gold, the subjects being taken from the lives of the martyrs.

Most of them have been restored; but, very wisely, two or three have been left in the state in which they were discovered. Between the arches of the arcades are Angels with outstretched arms, who seem to be crowning the martyrs in the quatrefoils. At the third bay of the nave on each side are recesses which formed reserved places for some privileged persons during Ma.s.s; and it is thought that they were probably occupied by the king and queen, the former on the Gospel, the latter on the Epistle side. On the south wall is a slanting recess, which formerly must have served as a chapel, as there was an altar at the end of it having a painted reredos representing the interior of the great _cha.s.se_, with all its contents ranged in proper order, and S. Louis praying before it. It is supposed that Louis XI. may have used this niche as a place where he could pray without being seen, but in sight of the altar and the relics.

It has always been the custom at the consecration of a church to place a cross wherever the sign of the cross had been made by the bishop. The architect of the Sainte-Chapelle conceived the happy idea of placing the twelve Apostles as pillars of the Church, supporting these crosses, which are in the form of monstrances. The pedestals on which the figures stand are affixed to the pillars, and the statues, like the rest of the church, are painted and gilt, those of the 13th century being marvellous examples of the sculpture of that period. After the closing of the chapel these statues were sent to the Musee des Monuments Francais; but when the Museum was suppressed they were dispersed or broken up. S.

Peter was discovered in fragments at S. Denis, another was given to the church at Creteil, where it pa.s.sed as S. Louis, and four were given to the missionaries for their Calvary at Mt. Valerien. The latter were in perfect preservation, and the colour had not disappeared. They remained at the entrance of one of the chapels of the Way of the Cross until 1830, when some senseless vandals threw them down and broke them; but the fragments were preserved, and are now in the garden of the Hotel Cluny, a museum of fragments. The rest were replaced in the chapel, and are the fourth and fifth on each side facing the altar; all the others are new.

The pavement is modern incised stone, with incrustations of colour, representing geometrical patterns, animals, and flowers. In the apse are subjects--the _Four rivers of Paradise_, and the _Seven Sacraments_ in the form of rivers. The altar is an exact copy of the original one.

Above it is the tribune and canopy where the relics were exposed, with a spiral staircase leading up to it;[8] the northern one is ancient, and was found by Alexandre Lenoir, in the Musee des Pet.i.ts-Augustins, where for half a century it had been attached to the _facade_ of the Chateau de Gaillon, a 16th century work, now in the court of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. On one side of the apse is a very beautiful _piscina_. Part of the _baldachino_ is ancient, and the rest has been restored from old drawings.

Formerly several statues occupied places in the chapel; one, a terra-cotta Notre-Dame de Pitie, by Germain Pilon, which is now in the chapel of the military school of St. Cyr. A 16th century _jube_, with altars attached to it, marked the nave from the chancel. The retables of these altars (now in the Louvre) were in enamel, signed and dated Leonard Limousin, 1533, and contain portraits of Francois I. and his second wife, Eleonore d'Autriche, sister of Charles V. and of Henri II.

and Catherine de'Medici, all kneeling. The choir was filled with carved stalls of the time of Henri II. At the four corners of the altar pavement, Henri III. elevated bronze Angels upon black marble pillars.

On the _retro_-altar was a silver-gilt model of the chapel, three or four feet high, executed in 1631 by Pijard, goldsmith, and guardian of the relics. This contained some of the treasures, and was considered a very fine work of art, costing some 13,000 _livres_. There is an excellent drawing of the original altar in Viollet-le-Duc's dictionary.

Canon Morand tells us, in his history of the chapel, that the _ciborium_, which is usually placed in the tabernacle, was here suspended in front of the altar--probably the _retro_-altar, as in the engraving of the High Altar in the Canon's book, there is no representation of it. All the old furniture of the church has disappeared, the carved stalls, the _jube_, the altars, and the pulpit.

Upon the subject of letting, or taking money for seats or chairs in church, the Abbe waxes wrathful. Nothing is more "indecent que de vendre ou de louer des places a l'Eglise. En Angleterre et en Hollande on est a.s.sis dans les Temples sans aucun frais, et sans etre interrompu par les Mandians, par les queteurs, ou par les loueurs de chaises; en quoi les non-Catholiques nous donnent un bel exemple a suivre, si nous etions a.s.sez raisonables et a.s.sez desinterresses pour cela." This is a proof that the letting of pews which prevailed in this country some years ago was a bad departure from the free-and-open seat system of the last century; and the picture drawn of the restlessness of a French church, from the incessant perambulating of the _Suisses_, the _queteurs_, and the chair-owners, is as true now as it was in the time of Morand.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE JUBe, SIXTEENTH CENTURY.]

The Canon then goes on to record the want of reverence of the congregation, how they just _half_ kneel when the bell rings; how they must needs sit, and even gossip, during the short quarter of an hour occupied by a low ma.s.s; how they take snuff and bear themselves generally, and then go out and stand about for the greater part of the day at their business.

S. Louis ordained, in his foundation charters, that the offerings received by the priests at the altar should be devoted to the reparation of the gla.s.s, and that if it should be insufficient, the necessary funds should be taken from the Royal Treasury deposited at the Temple. The restoration of the windows is now complete, this being the work of MM.

Steinheil and Lusson. These artists have done their work so well, and matched the colours so perfectly, that it is difficult to distinguish the new from the old. The rose-window is of the 15th century, the others of the 13th century. The subjects are from the Old and New Testament, and from the life of S. Louis. Some of these latter are original, and, as it is probable that the artists a.s.sisted at the ceremonies held in the chapel, it is also probable that the pictures may be true portraits of the personages represented. The subjects of the rose-window are all taken from the Apocalypse.

Such is the chapel which was so dear to the King that he felt a "_malaise_" when he heard divine service elsewhere, and of which the troubadour Rutebeuf sings the praises in a poem written after the death of the Saint, ent.i.tled, _Les Regres au roys Loeys_:

Chapele de Paris! bien eres maintenue La mort, ce m'est aduis, t'a fet desconvenue Du miex de tes amys, t'a laissee toute nue De la mort, sont plaintifs et grant gent et menue."-- (_MS. Bibliotheque Nationale._)

SAINT-DENIS.

Although the Benedictine abbey church of S. Denis is some miles from Paris, it is so mixed up with the history of the capital that it ought not to be omitted in a series of "Paris Churches." Moreover, as it is by far the finest church in, or near, the metropolis, and one of the grandest examples of French 13th century architecture, no one ought to grudge the tiresome journey by train or tram in order to see it, even if his stay in Paris be limited to a few days. The only thing required to make it perfectly beautiful is new stained gla.s.s in the windows of the clerestory to replace that put up during the early years of this century, a horrible example of the execrable taste of the period.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ABBEY CHURCH FROM THE GRANDE PLACE.]

S. Denis was one of the sacred spots of mediaeval Europe--a species of Christian Mecca. "Si les lieux sont reputez saincts," says one of its children, Dom Millet,[9] "a cause des choses sainctes faictes ou aduenues en iceux, comme ont este est sont encores, les montagnes de Thabor et de Caluaire, ou bien a cause des choses sainctes qu'ils contiennent, comme estoit l'Arche d'Alliance, et le Sancta Sanctorum des Juifs; je croy qu'il n'y a personne qui n'aduoue que l'Eglise de S.

Denys en France ne soit vn lieu tres-sainct en toutes ces considerations, puis qu'elle a este dediee des propres mains de nostre Sauueur Jesus-Christ, descendu expres du Ciel auec vne grande mult.i.tude d'Anges et de Saincts, et qu'elle contient en soy tant des choses sainctes, et des Reliques si precieuses et rares." It was a poor but worthy leper who saw this strange vision. He had been left shut up in the church, when in the dead of night he was startled by a dazzling light; and then he beheld the Saviour, His Apostles, mult.i.tudes of Angels, and S. Denis and his companions. Our Lord sprinkled the church with holy water, and S. Denis and his companions served Him; and then He said to the leper: "_Go and tell le bon roy Dagobort what thou hast seen._" "_But how can a poor leper penetrate the presence of the King?_"

said he. Then a wondrous miracle was performed; the Saviour touching him with his finger, made the leper clean. Then he went to the King, and they all believed.

Not only was S. Denis specially favoured by this miraculous dedication, but it was privileged by Charlemagne in a charter, as the chief and mistress of all the churches in the kingdom; and its abbot as the Primate of all the prelates of France. This great man was allowed to have six deacons vested in dalmatics whenever he officiated, an honour conferred upon him by Pope Stephen III. when he consecrated the High Altar in 753, and at the same time anointed and crowned King Pepin and Queen Bertrade, and their two sons Charles and Carloman. People, high and low, from all the ends of the earth, flocked to the famous abbey as we now rush to the World's Fairs; and the great ones of the earth, princes, n.o.bles, and amba.s.sadors, considered that they had seen nought of the civilised world if they had not paid their respects to the relics at S. Denis. Some went for love, some out of sheer curiosity to see the riches of the treasury: divers crosses, reliquaries, statues, vases, chalices, and other vessels for the altars; S. Denis' mitre, chalice, and rings; the famous head of solid silver gilt, containing his skull, and presented to the abbey by Marguerite de France in 1360; a wonderful golden cup enriched with precious stones which had belonged to King Solomon, and a rock crystal vase from the Temple of the wise man--both the gift of Charles the Bald. He, being abbot, made it his custom to attend "the duties of his station at the Abbaye, on the solemn festivals, pa.s.sing the day in pious conversation with the monks and in religious observances." He also made considerable donations,[10] added to the many lamps which are kept continually burning before the shrines, and increased the number of wax tapers employed in the services of the church. Then further, amongst the curiosities, were the nail of a griffin upon a silver-gilt animal; a unicorn's horn six feet high, sent by Aaron King of Persia to Charlemagne; the hunting horn of Roland, nephew of Charlemagne; and the lantern which was used at the betrayal of our Lord in the Garden, called the Lantern of Judas. The latter was of copper, embellished by rock crystal, through which the light shone.

(This was also the gift of Charles the Bald). The mirror of the prince of poets, Virgil, which was of jet; the sword of the _genereuse Amazone, Jeanne la Pucelle_. Of the beauty of the croziers and pastoral crosses, the mitres and episcopal rings, Dom Millet's description leaves no doubt; and of the magnificence of the abbots, and the splendour of their monastery, we have more than ample evidence. As an old epigram puts it:

Au tems pa.s.se du siecle d'or, Crosse de _bois_, Eveque d'or, Maintenant changent les lois, Crosse d'or, Eveque de _bois_.

The Huguenots destroyed many of the church ornaments, ruined chapels, and worse still, "ces impies la pillerent (S. Denis) et dissiperent entierement, sans y laisser aucune chose, sinon ce qu'ils ne voulutent point. Ils ne pouuoient faire pis, sinon mettre le feu par tout le Monastere, comme ils firent en tant d'autres par la France." It was supposed that the "Prince de Conde, leur chef," was not present at these little pastimes of his valiant soldiers, for when he heard what had been done "il fit pendre vne douzaine, pour monstrer comment il detestoit leur sacrilege: mais pour cela les pertes ne furent pas reconnettes."

In a _History of the Royal Abbaye of Saint Denis_, published in London in 1795, we have some curious details connected with the church. "Every Sunday and Holy Day at ma.s.s, the Deacons and Sub-deacons, after having received the 'precious body of Our Lord,' repaired to a side altar to suck up through a reed, enclosed in a tube of enamelled gold, the 'precious blood,' according to a very ancient custom adopted in the church of S. Denis, which is retained without any variation to this day." Whether this was so, or whether it was the result of the anonymous writer's imagination, I cannot say, as I find nothing about it in other books that I have studied.

The same author speaks of the "miraculous silver keys of S. Denis which they apply to the faces of those persons who have been so unfortunate as to be bitten by mad dogs, and who receive a certain and immediate relief by only touching them." Alas, that these keys should have been melted up; for here was a cure for hydrophobia without any of the vicarious suffering which M. Pasteur's discovery has caused.

The legend of S. Denis, the patron of France, is exceedingly picturesque. By some ecclesiastical authorities he is said to have lived in the 1st century, by others in the 2nd or 4th, but by most he is one and the same person as Dionysius the Areopagite. Hilduin, abbot of S.

Denis at the beginning of the 9th century, seems to have had no doubt upon the subject, and in art the Saint and the disciple of S. Paul have always been looked upon as the self-same personage, although tradition records the existence of another S. Denis, a bishop of Paris, in the 3rd century. Dionysius was an Athenian philosopher named Theosophus.

Travelling in Egypt to study astrology with a companion named Apollophanes, they were surprised by a strange darkness that came over the heavens, and were naturally much troubled thereby. Returning to Athens, Dionysius heard S. Paul preach, and thereupon being converted to Christianity, he understood that the darkness which he had seen at Heliopolis was none other than that which fell upon the earth for the s.p.a.ce of three hours when the Blessed Redeemer was crucified. Baptised and ordained priest, Dionysius subsequently became bishop of Athens; and in some of the writings attributed to him he relates that he travelled to Jerusalem to see the Blessed Virgin, whom he found continually surrounded by a dazzling light, and attended by a company of Angels. He also gives an account of her death at which he was present with certain of the Apostles. After this, he returned to Athens and was subsequently present at S. Paul's martyrdom in Rome. Thence he was sent by S. Clement to preach the Gospel, together with a priest named Rusticus, and a deacon Eleutherius. Arrived at Paris, an exceeding great city full of people and provided with all the good things of the earth, they found it so attractive that it seemed to them another Athens, and so they sojourned there, teaching the people, who were learned in all things but the way of truth. S. Denis then sent missionaries into other parts of Gaul, and into Germany. But these successes were not pleasing unto Satan, and so he stirred up the n.o.bles against the good bishop, who was accused before the Emperor Trajan. Some say it was Domitian, but in either case the result was the despatch of one Frescennius, a pro-consul, from Rome, with orders to throw Denis and his companions into prison. This was done, and finding that they would not retract, they were put to death upon the Hill of Mercury (who was so much honoured by the Gauls), and which was subsequently called Montmartre (_Mons Martyrum_).

"Le Saint eveque Denis, et ses deux compagnons, le pretre Rustique et le diacre Eleuthere, souffrirent leur memorable et tres-glorieuse pa.s.sion, a la vue de la cite des Parisiens, sur la colline qui se nommait auparavant Mont de Mercure, parce que cette idole y etait particulierement honoree de Gaulois, et qu'on appelle aujourd'hui le Mont des Martyrs en memoire des saints du Seigneur qui accomplirent en ce lieu meme leur martyre triomphal."[11]

Then a stupendous miracle took place. S. Denis not desiring, or not being permitted, to become food for wolves, took up his decapitated head in his hands, and walked for the s.p.a.ce of two miles, Angels singing by the way. Accompanied by this celestial body-guard, the Saint marched over the plains beyond the city, and signified, in some way unrecorded, that he desired burial where now stands the church dedicated to his memory. This was accomplished by a pious woman named Catulla, who had ministered unto the three blessed martyrs in their prison, and who now laid their mutilated remains in her own field.

Paris formerly, even as late as the last century, contained many spots sacred to the memory of S. Denis and his three companions. At Notre-Dame-des-Champs a crypt used to be shown where they preached to their first disciples. At S. Benoit, now destroyed, there was formerly an oratory, on the wall of which was an inscription recording that S.

Denis first invoked the name of the Most High on that spot. At S.

Denis-de-la-Chartre was the prison where the martyrs were visited by our Lord, and where He administered His Blessed Body and Blood to them. At S. Denis-du-Pas was the ground upon which they suffered their first tortures; and upon Montmartre the church of S. Pierre records the spot upon which they were decapitated. The way across the plain from Montmartre to the place of burial was marked by a succession of crosses, and the field where the Saint's remains were laid subsequently became the precincts of the famous abbey.

The first church is said to have been erected before the invasion of the Franks, but this had fallen into ruins in the 5th century, and it was through the piety of S. Genevieve and the people of Paris that it was rebuilt. This Saint, like all good Parisians, held S. Denis in great esteem; and it was during a visit paid to his shrine that her taper, maliciously blown out by the arch-enemy, was successfully relighted through the fervour of her prayers. Gregoire de Tours relates many wondrous miracles which took place in the new church for the benefit of the faithful and the chastis.e.m.e.nt of the wicked.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SILVER STATUETTE FORMERLY IN THE TREASURY.]

But the magnificence with which Dagobert rebuilt and endowed S. Denis completely eclipsed the work of the maid of Nanterre; and so effectually was the king looked upon as the founder of the abbey that, up to the dissolution of the monasteries, the monks celebrated his festival upon the 19th of January with great solemnity and splendour. It was about the year 630 that Dagobert undertook the rebuilding of the church, which is said to have been decorated with precious marbles, magnificent bronze doors, and gold and silver vessels enriched with precious stones. These latter, and the shrine of the Saint, as well as the great cross at the entrance of the choir, were the work of the famous artificer in metals, S. Eloy, who was also the maker of the shrines of SS. Martin, Germain, and Genevieve. These, and, in fact, all this great smith's works (as far as is known) have perished; but his memory is still preserved by pictures and sculptures representing some of the legendary incidents of his life. In the Firenze Academy is a picture by Botticelli, and at the church of Or San Michele is a statue and a bas-relief, both of which represent one of the great events of the Saint's life. A horse having been brought to him to be shod, the animal proved restive, and the Saint being exercised in his mind as to how he should keep the beast still, bethought him of an excellent plan. He calmly cut off the leg, and placing it upon his anvil, fastened on the shoe; this done, he replaced the leg upon the horse, to the amazement of the beast and the edification of his owner. Another picture, painted for the Company of the Goldsmiths, represents S. Eloy under the form of Benvenuto Cellini, presenting a shrine to King Dagobert, who figures in the costume of Francois I^er. In 754, Pepin and his queen Berthe, after being anointed at S. Denis by Pope Stephen II., began the reconstruction of the Merovingian church which Charlemagne finished and dedicated in 775. From that year until the 12th century, little is known of the history of the abbey. Like all churches and monasteries in the north of France, it was probably destroyed, and its lands laid waste by the invasions of the Northmen and the disastrous civil wars which characterised the end of the Carlovingian dynasty, for nothing remains of the magnificence of the churches of Dagobert and of Charlemagne but a few columns and marble capitals in the crypt.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOMB OF HENRI II. IN THE VALOIS CHAPEL BUILT BY PHILIBERT DELORME.]

The third and present church was commenced by the great Abbot Suger, and is considered by many French architects to be the earliest example of Pointed architecture. Suger erected the tower, the portals, the nave, and the choir in rapid succession, and subsequently the _chevet_ and chapels; he filled the windows with the most exquisite jewel-like stained gla.s.s, and loaded the shrines and altars with precious stones.

Some of the sacred vessels formerly belonging to the church are now in the Salle d'Apollon of the Louvre, and testify to the exquisite artistic taste as well as to the religious enthusiasm of the good abbot.

"_As it is our duty to present unto G.o.d oblations of gems and of gold, I, Suger, offer this vase unto the Lord_," is the inscription upon an antique sardonyx amphora which he converted into a vessel for the altar.

The dedication of this church took place twice, in 1140 and 1144, but it was only to remain intact some 70 years. In 1219, the day after the feast of the nativity of the Virgin, its _fleche_ was struck by lightning, and a few years after, the church itself was partially destroyed. Abbot Eudes Clement replaced the wooden _fleche_ by a stone one, and raised the interior of the apse; and his third successor, Matthieu de Vendome, finished the transept and the nave. The chapels of the nave upon the north side were built in the 14th century, and a few unimportant additions were made in the succeeding century. Of the magnificent circular chapel of the Valois erected for Henri II. and Catherine de'Medici, nothing remains but a beautiful colonnade, now forming a sham ruin in the Parc Monceau. The chapel was situated upon the north of the apse, near the steps, and was destroyed during the regency of Philippe d'Orleans, in 1719.

It is generally supposed that the destruction of churches and the despoiling of monasteries in France were the work of the enemies of religion in the form of the "people." But the kings did not hesitate to rob the church when they could drain no more money out of their long-suffering subjects. To Francis I.[12] and Louis XIV. the eighth commandment was no more binding than the seventh; laws, divine or otherwise, were made for the vulgar herd, not for their most Christian Majesties; and so, when the "Grand Monarque" saw fit to please Mme. de Maintenon by founding St. Cyr, he suppressed the abbacy of S. Denis, and relieved the monastery of the abbot's revenues for an endowment. This was the beginning of the downfall, and in 1791, the Benedictines were dispersed after an occupation of twelve centuries. In the memoirs of the organist attached to the abbey at the time, there is a touching account of the last ma.s.s celebrated by the prior upon the day of departure. But the church remained intact, and was even made the _depot_ of the relics of the Sainte-Chapelle,[13] after the suppression of the chaplains belonging to the latter. The _Moniteur_ of 3rd September, 1791, gives an account of the sittings of the commission of _savants_, established at the Bibliotheque des Quatre-Nations, for the consideration of the preservation of works of art. This commission was appointed by the National a.s.sembly after the pa.s.sing of the law for the appropriation of the property of the clergy by _la chose publique_. M. De Larochefoucauld was the president of this "Commission des Monuments," a.s.sisted by many artists and _connoisseurs_. They first of all chose certain places as receptacles for the works of art, and then decided what to keep and what to destroy. The former quarters of the Pet.i.ts-Augustins became the museum of tombs and sepulchral sculptures; and to the Capucins, the Grands-Jesuites, and the Cordeliers were sent the books and ma.n.u.scripts.

A descriptive catalogue was drawn up by Alexandre Lenoir,[14] who was appointed curator in 1790. Unfortunately, much was destroyed, as, for instance, at the abbey of Royaumont, where two Benedictines, Poirier and Puthod, were sent by the commission to superintend matters. The mausoleum of the princes of S. Louis' family was "_demoli avec adresse_," says the _Moniteur_; the coffins were opened "_avec circonspection_," the ashes taken up with care, and then, ticketed and sealed, sent to S. Denis. Les sieurs Puthod and Poirier carried off the remains of seven princes and six monuments, which arrived just in time to be packed off to the museum of the Pet.i.ts-Augustins.

Many of the seventy-three abbots, from Dodon, the first (living in 637), to the last, Jean-Francois-Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz, were distinguished for their piety, for their learning, their greed, or their vices. Amongst them we find the names of Fulrad, Hilduin, Suger, Mathieu de Vendome, the Emperor Charles the Bald, the Kings Eudes, Robert and Hugues Capet,[15] the Cardinals de Bourbon, de Lorraine, de Guise, and Mazarin. The conventual buildings were all destroyed in the reign of Louis XV., and during the Revolution the church suffered in the same way as Notre-Dame and S. Eustache, by being secularized in the most revolting manner. But if the Revolutionists destroyed and carried away monuments, the Imperial architects did worse, for they began a restoration in their own hideous taste and "style"; and it was not until a few years ago that the old church was restored to its pristine beauty.

Perhaps few churches have seen more changes than the silent walls of S.

Denis have witnessed. The burial place of most of the kings of France, it was also upon its High Altar that Louis le Gros deposited the _oriflamme_, the famous standard of France,[16] while some seven centuries later, its tombs were only preserved from utter ruin by the wit of Alexandre Lenoir. Even the church itself was threatened with destruction, and was only saved by an architect seriously suggesting that it should be turned into a market, the side chapels forming shops.

By turns a Temple of Reason, a _depot_ of artillery, a theatre of acrobats, a flour warehouse, and a granary, its desecration was not consummated until the gla.s.s was removed, and the leaden covering of its roof converted into bullets. Napoleon saved what remained, and began restoring it as a resting-place for the defunct members of his dynasty.

The Concordat guaranteed it a chapter, and religious services were restored.[17] But the 19th century proved as disastrous as wars and revolutions. Lightning once more brought down the _fleche_ in 1837, and again in 1846; and sc.r.a.pings and cleanings carried away all the old surfaces of the walls. Still, through the talent and learning of Viollet-le-Duc, it is one of the finest of 13th century churches, and now that the tombs have all been replaced in their former positions, one of the most interesting.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE NORTH-WEST DOORWAY.]

The _facade_ has three doorways, which are rich in the somewhat rude sculpture of the time of Suger. The subject of the central tympanum and _voussure_ is The Last Judgment. Christ is p.r.o.nouncing the last sentence, surrounded by the dead who are rising from their graves. His Blessed Mother is interceding for sinners, and Abraham is receiving the elect into his bosom. The Apostles, and the four-and-twenty elders, holding musical instruments, and vases for the reception of the prayers of the just as a sweet-smelling incense, are there, looking on at the d.a.m.ned tossed into h.e.l.l. Upon the stylobate of the portal we read the parable of the Wise and foolish Virgins.

The southern doorway is decorated with the Martyrdom of S. Denis, and the appearance of our Blessed Lord to the holy martyrs while in prison.

Unfortunately, much of these bas-reliefs is modern.