S. Denis is rich in columns erected as memorials, often bearing urns upon the top containing some worthy heart. That of François II. was formerly at the church of the Célestins. It is the work of Germain Pilon, and was considered by Sauval and "les habiles gens" to be as beautiful as the "Three Graces" or "Charités" which bore the urn containing the heart of Henri II. The pedestal is triangular, of white marble; so, too, are the three little Genii who guard the corners. One weeps for the defunct; the other two seem to take the matter philosophically. The shaft of the column is dotted over with flames, said to be symbolic of the pillar of fire which marched before the Hebrews; may they not rather mean the flames of purgatory?[32] The gilt bronze urn which formerly surmounted it, and the winged child holding a crown, were both consigned to the melting pot. This column was an act of fraternal homage on the part of Charles IX.
The column of Henri III. was originally erected in the church of S. Cloud by the secretary of Henri III., Charles Benoise. The shaft is of red marble, twisted, with ivy twirling round it—the work of Barthélemy Prieur.
The column of the Cardinal Louis de Bourbon formerly bore the effigy of the great man, if honours and emoluments can make a man great. He was naturally a peer; bishop of Laon, of Saintes, of Mans, of Luçon, and of Tréguier; archbishop of Sens; abbot of S. Denis, of Corbie, of Saint-Vincent-de-Laon, of Saint-Faron-de-Meaux, of Ainay, of Saint-Amand, of Saint-Crépin-le-Grand, of Soissons, and of Saint-Serge. And yet some people profess to be scandalised at the excesses of the unprivileged classes!
The cardinal was, however, a great patron of art; at Sens and at Laon, monuments testify to this and all his other magnificences. His body was buried in the cathedral of Laon; the Benedictines of S. Denis only having succeeded in obtaining his heart. The column, like many other beautiful works of art, is by an unknown artist. It is of red marble with a white alabaster base and capital, which is exquisitely sculptured with little figures of children bathed in foliage.
The history of some of the recumbent statues of the kings is curious. Having been made to lie down, they were, after the dispersal of the Musée des Monuments Français, stuck up against the wall of the crypt; and others were rebaptised and renamed. Thus, at the museum, Charles V. and Jeanne de Bourbon became S. Louis and Marguerite de Provence; and so named, when they were trotted back to S. Denis, they received the homage of the faithful. To make matters worse, a copy of S. Louis' statue was sent to Tunis for the church which was built in memory of the saint, and the head became the authentic type for his portraits. The same may be said of the false Marguerite; she wears a costume more than a hundred years too late.
The elaborately enamelled brass slabs of the children of S. Louis, Jean and Blanche, came from Royaument. The design is rude, but the colouring good; the figures are in relief upon a ground incrusted in enamel; the heads and hands, the lions at the feet, and the Angels swinging censers are of polished brass; while the feet and the draperies are in coloured enamel. To see these brasses, permission must be obtained from the architect of the church, as they are upon one side of the High Altar, a part which is not generally shown to ordinary visitors. The motto upon the tomb of Jean is as follows:
HIC JACET: IOANNES: EXCELLENTISSIMI LVD
ovici regis francorum filius qui in etate infancie migra
VIT AD XPM ANNO GRACIE: MILLESI
MO: DVCENTESSIMO: QVADRAGESIMO: SEPTIMO: SEXTO: IDVS: MARTII
The body of Turenne did not have much peace after it was routed out of its tomb. Not being royal, it was put aside in a chapel until the Convention should decide its fate; when thinking so great a man a worthy object as a specimen of natural history, and deeming it profitable for students of various "ologies," it was put into a glass case by the side of stuffed birds, bottled snakes, criminal curiosities, and monstrosities. Then it was transferred to the Petits-Augustins, where it found a niche to repose in; but when Consuls reigned supreme, it was marched with great pomp, with drums and guns and all the paraphernalia of a military funeral, to the church of the Invalides, where it was placed in its old house or the remains of it rebuilt—the S. Denis tomb. The epitaphs of some of the Kings remain, or have been restored:—
ICY GIST LE ROY CHARLES LE QUINT SAGES
ET ELOQUENT FILS DU ROY IEHAN QUI REGNA SEIZE ANS CINQ MOIS ET SEPT JOURS ET TRESPASSA L'AN DE GRACE MCCCLXXX LE XVI^E JOUR DE SEPTEMBRE.
ICI GIST LE ROY CHARLES SIXIESME TRES AME LARGE ET DEBONNAIRE FILS DU ROY CHARLES LE QUINT QUI REGNA QUARANTE ET II ANS UNG MOIS ET SIX JOURS ET TRESPASSA LE XXIE JOUR DOCTOBRE LAN MIL CCCC VINGT ET DEUX: PRIES DIEU QUEN PARADIX SOIT SON AME:
CY GIST LA ROYNE ISABEL DE BAUIERE ESPOUSE DU ROY CHARLES VIE ET FILLE DE TRES PUISSANT PNCE ESTIENNE DUC DE BAUIERE COTE PALATIN DU RIN QUI REGNA AUEC SOND ESPOUS ET TRESPASSA LAN M: CCCC ET XXXV LE DERNIER JOUR DE SEPTEMBRE: PRIES DIEU POUR ELLE:
CY GIST LE ROY CHARLES SEPTIESME TRES GLORIEUX VICTORIEUX ET BIEN SERUY FILS DU ROY CHARLES SIXIESMES: QUI REGNA TRENTE NEUF ANS NEUF MOIS ET I JOUR ET TRESPASSA LE JOUR DE LA MAGDELAINE XXVIIE JOUR DE JUILLET LA M: CCCCLXI: PRIES POUR LUY:
ICY GIST LA ROYNE JEHANNE DE BOURBON ESPOUSE DU ROY CHARLES LE QUINT ET FILLE DE TRES NOBLE PRINCE MONS^R PIERRE DUC DE BOURBON QUI REGNA AUĒC̄Q̄S SONE ESPOUS XIII ANS ET DIX MOIS ET TSPĀSSA PASSA LA M: CCCLXXVII LE DERN JOUR DE F̄ĒUER
CY GIST LA ROYNE MARIE FILLE DU ROY DE SICILE DUC DANIOU ESPOUSE DU ROY CHARLES VII^E QUI REGNA AUECQS̄ S̄OND ESPX ET TRESPASSA LE PENULTIESME JOUR DE NOUEMBRE LAN MIL: CCCCLXIII: PRIES DIEU POUR ELLE.
After the restoration of the tombs a tablet was set up to the memory of Jeanne-d'Arc, bearing the representation of some armour of the 16th century, and the following epitaph:—
CE QUE ESTAIT LE HARNAIS DE JEHANNE PAR ELLE BAILLE EN HOMMAGE A MONSEIGNEUR SAINCT DENIS.
Several portraits of the great Abbot Suger existed in Dom Millet's time: "On voit encores aujourd'huy en la partie supérieure de l'église Saint-Denis que nous nommons le chevet, une vieille tapisserie où le roy Louis VII. est représenté avec les habits royaux, et la couronne en teste, qui donne son sceptre et sa main de justice au susdit abbé Sugere représenté en habit pontifical, et au-dessus y a une inscription contenant ceste escriture: Lud. rex franc Suggerium abbatem et reaedificatorem hujus templi, viceregem constituit, anno 1140. Mais le tapissier, ou ceux qui ont fourny le mémoire se sont trompez; car ceste commission ne fut donnée à Sugère que l'an 1147, auquel an le roy partit de France, au mois d'aoust, pour un voyage de la Terre-Sainte."
"Il y a en ceste royale abbaye plusieurs figures de l'abbé Sugère, deux desquelles sont en veue à toutes personnes. L'un est sur l'un des battans de la grande porte de l'église,[33] l'autre en une vitre de la Chapelle Notre-Dame, en la partie supérieure que nous nommons le chevet[34]. Il est représenté en tous les deux endroits, non revestu d'un rochet ou d'un camail, non avec la perruque ou le bonnet carré sur la teste, mais au plus simple habit et en la plus humble posture, qu'on puisse représenter un pauvre religieux, scavoir est avec un froc plissé[35] (approchant fort de celuy dont nous usons maintenant) et la tonsure monacale, couché à plate terre; en la vitre, devant une image de la sacrée Vierge, avec ces mots: Suggerius abbas; sur la porte, devant l'image de Notre-Sauveur, assis à table avec les pélerins d'Emmaüs. Il n'a en l'une ny en l'autre figure aucune marque qui le puisse distinguer d'avec le moindre novice de son monastère, sinon la crosse abbatiale qu'il tient d'une main, pour marque de sa dignité, et pour monstrer que c'est luy qui est là représenté."
"Or, comme il est très-certain que c'est luy-mesme qui a fait faire ces figures, aussi est-il très-asseuré qu'il n'avoit garde de les faire représenter en autre habit que celuy qu'il portoit publiquement et continuellement, spécialement depuis la réformation; car autrement c'eust par une hypocrisie trop grossière se sacrifier à la risée de tout le monde." This description of the portrait is most interesting; we can see the great abbot as Dom Millet paints him upon the glass which he himself devised, if he did not absolutely design it.
The tomb of Dagobert is an enormous canopied structure, originally of the 13th century, but so much restored that it is practically modern. Dagobert died in 638, and was embalmed and buried in the church of his foundation; but of the style of this first tomb we have no knowledge whatever. Of the existing tomb, the principal part is the legendary history of the king taken from the "Gesta Dagoberti," told in three alto-reliefs. Below these, the king sleeps upon his left side in a rather uncomfortable fashion; standing on one side is his wife Nantilde, or Nantechilde; on the other, one of his sons, Clovis II. or Sigebert. At the apex of the arch is Our Lord giving the benediction, with SS. Martin and Denis on each side. These two saints, with S. Maurice, had the kindness to hear the prayers of Dagobert, when he was held in bondage by devils, during a voyage in a boat, on the waters of the great gulf fixed between Abraham and Hades. The story was told by a hermit to Ansoald, on his way back from Sicily, and by the 9th century had been worked up into a fact, as it is mentioned in a letter from Louis le Débonnaire to Hilduin, abbot of S. Denis. May it not have been originally a dovetailing together of the story of Charon and le bon roy Dagobert, a mélange of Classic myth and Christian legend which was very common in the early centuries of the Christian era? The sculptures, although, as regards the drapery, sufficiently graceful, are very curious and quaint, especially the boat and its contents. The three saints coming to the rescue, Dagobert pressing the hand of the foremost, the discomforted demons, and the soul of the king standing upon a napkin held by S. Denis and S. Martin, are all vigorous to a degree, if somewhat rude; but the Angels round the voussure carrying censers, are charming. In the account of the legend given by Guillaume de Nangis, quoted by Alexandra Lenoir, we seem to have another reading of the opening part of the story of Job. "Mais monseigneur saint Denis, qui n'oblia mie son bon amy le roy Dagobert, requist à Nostre Seigneur Jesus-Crist qui luy donast congié d'aler secourre la dicte ame; laquelle chose comme Nostre Seigneur luy eust ottroié, sainct Denis s'en ala et mena avecques luy Sainct Morise et aultres amys que le roy Dagobert avoit moult honorés en sa vie, et avecques eulx orent des anges qui les conduirent jusques en la mer, et quant ils vindrent là où les deables tenoient et ammenoient à grant feste l'ame du roy Dagobert, si le misrent entre eulx et se combattirent encontre les deables". It was all done because of Monseigneur S. Denis' love of "le bon roy," who had founded the abbey in honour of the martyr; and if you doubt these facts, and "ne me croyez, alez à Sainct-Denis en France, en l'église, et regardez devant l'autel où l'en chante tous les jours la grant messe, là où le roy Dagobert gist. La verrez vous audessus de luy ce que vous ay dit, pourtrait et de noble euvre richement enluminée." From this, there can be no doubt that the whole mass of sculpture was originally coloured; indeed, a close inspection shows a little still visible in the folds of the drapery. Lenoir, whose depreciation of Mediæval sculpture as compared to that of the Renaissance was considerable, speaks of the draped figures as pour le style comme pour le goût, comparable aux belles inventions de Raphaël.
Upon the platform of the apse is the mosaic effigy of Frédégonde, not earlier than the 12th century. It is composed of a stone slab of the form of the early stone coffins. The design is marked out by thin bands of metal between which are incrustations of very small pieces of porphyry, serpentine, and white marble. This, like several of the early tombs, was originally in the abbey of S. Germain-des-Près.
The central part of the crypt was formerly the depository for the relics—a sort of sanctuary dedicated to S. Démètre. Another part of the crypt became the burial place of the Bourbon family. All the princes were buried in vaults underneath their tombs. "Tous le roys, reynes et autres ensépulturez à Saint-Denys reposent dans les caveaux qui sont sous leurs tombeaux, sans qu'il y en ait aucun ailleurs, ce que je dis pour désabuser plusieurs personnes (mesmes des gens de qualité) qui s'imaginent qu'il y ait une grande cave dans laquelle sont tous les roys, en chair et en os, et demandent qu'on la leur monstre, dont je me suis souventefois estonné, veu mesme que plusieurs qui vivent encores ont peu voir mettre les cinq derniers roys décédéz non en ceste cave imaginaire, mais dans le tombeau des Vallois, sçavoir, Henry II. et ces trois fils, et Henry IV., dans le caveau commun des rois, où il est encore. On en peut dire autant de François Ier. et de Louis XII., et de tous les autres; car quant à la grotte qui est sous le chevet, il n'y a, ny eut jamais, corps ny sépulture d'aucune personne.[36] The day of the funeral the body was placed in the vault, "sur des barres de fer, devant une statue en marbre de Nostre-Dame." There it remained for a year, after which it was deposited in the tomb of the sovereign's ancestors. This curious arrangement became a custom by pure accident. Henri IV. not having signified any desire as to his place of burial, was left in this vault, "le caveau des cérémonies," while his widow and les Etats discussed the question of erecting a monument; and thus, by force of habit, the succeeding Bourbons being placed by the side of Henri, the "caveau" became the mausoleum of the family. But the Bourbons were a prolific race, and before very long the overcrowding became too great to admit of any more inhabitants; so upon the burial of Marie-Thérèse, the wife of Louis XIV., it was decided to tunnel a long passage to connect it with the central part of the crypt. It was a difficult and dangerous proceeding: "On perça," says Félibien, "par-dessous le chevet, à l'endroit où estoit une ancienne chapelle de Saint-Démètre, un petit corridor de la largeur de trois pieds sur sept de haut. Les ouvriers voûtoient à mesure qu'ils avançoient; et dans le poursuite de leur ouvrage, ils découvrirent quelques tombeaux dont on ne reconnut que celui de l'abbé Antoine de La Haye, par une inscription qu'on y trouva. Enfin, après avoir poussé environ sept toises et demie, les ouvriers arrivèrent à l'ancien caveau; de sorte qu'il a été aisé d'y joindre, par ce corridor de communication, un caveau spécieux qui occupe aujourd'huy, dessous le chevet, l'ancienne crypte où estoient autrefois les corps des saints martyrs. La place est de neuf toises de long sur environ deux toises et demi dans sa plus grande largeur." The new vault was consecrated the 31st August, 1683. This accounts for the apparent want of an entrance to the centre of the crypt; as all visitors to the church are aware, you look through little apertures to the place where a few post-revolution burials have taken place. I commend all these particulars, which exemplify the horrors of burial above ground, with the rifling of tombs and coffins perpetrated by the officers of the Convention, to the opposers of cremation. Had all these poor royalties been converted into ashes, no such doings could have taken place. The entrance to the Bourbon vaults still exists, close to the altar of S. Maurice, to the right of the High Altar looking eastwards; but visitors enter by some steps farther east, by the side of the ascent to the apse. It is a miserably gloomy hole, with a few coffins upon trestles, shedding their violet coverings. Can any sort of burial equal in horror this of open vaults?
The statues of the early kings were erected by S. Louis. Ordered by him as commemorative effigies of his ancestors, it does not seem to have been within the wit of the 13th century sculptors to vary the physiognomy of the early sovereigns. Thus there is a strong likeness between Charles Martel[37] and Pépin, and Louis and Carloman. There is a curious divergence in the opinions passed upon Louis III. The chronicle of S. Denis calls him a "homs plains de toutes ordures et toutes vanitez;" whereas the annals of Metz say, "Tous les peuples des Gaules pleurèrent sa mort avec une extrème douleur. Il fut en effet homme de rare mérite, et défendit courageusement et virilement contre les incursions des payens le royaume qui lui était soumis." So we see that it is not only the 19th century which vaunts and cries down a man, according as he belongs to the political sheep or the goats.
Carloman, at his eighteen years, has the appearance of a man of forty, and many years older than his brother. The statue of Charlemagne's brother Carloman has had a queer history. It was marched to the Petits-Augustins with the rest, and there christened Charles le Chauve, but when sent back to S. Denis it was rebaptised Henri I.
Hugues Capet was buried at S. Denis close to his father, the great Hugues; his last words addressed to his son Robert prove him to have been possessed of piety, a proper notion of justice, and a large amount of common sense. "Bon fils, je t'adjure, au nom de la sainte et indivisible Trinité, de ne pas livrer ton âme aux conseils des flatteurs et de ne pas écouter les vœux de leur ambition, en leur faisant un don empoisonné de ces abbayes que je te confie pour toujours. Je désire également qu'il ne t'arrive point, conduit par la légèreté d'esprit ou ému par la colère, de distraire ou enlever quelque chose de leurs biens. Je te recommande surtout de veiller à ce que, pour aucune raison, tu ne déplaises jamais à leur chef commun, le grand saint Benoit, qui est un accès certain auprès du souverain juge, un port de tranquillité et un asile de sûreté après la sortie de la chair."[38] His particular friends to whom he commends his son are the Blessed Virgin, S. Benedict, S. Martin, S. Aignan, and SS. Cornelius and Cyprian, and above all S. Geneviève. Queen Adélaïde, like most Middle-Age ladies, did much embroidering as she sat up in her tower, and naturally S. Denis was her first thought. She gave the great statue of S. Martin (I do not know in what part of the church this was placed) a wondrous cope, embroidered between the shoulders with a "Pontife éternel" and adoring Cherubim and Seraphim. In the front was the "Lamb of God" and the Four Beasts of the Apocalypse.[39]
Robert must have profited by the good advice given him by his father, for we find the monk Helgaud giving him a tremendous panegyric in the account of his death. "Peu de temps après avoir reçu le saint et salutaire viatique du corps vivifiant de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, Robert alla au Roi des rois, au Seigneur des seigneurs, et entra heureux dans les célestes royaumes. Il mourut le vingtième jour de juillet (1031) au commencement de la journée du mardi, au château de Melun, et il fut porté à Paris, puis enseveli à Saint-Denis, près de son père. Il y eut là un grand deuil, une douleur intolérable; car la foule de moines gémissait sur la perte d'un tel père,[40] et une multitude innombrable de clercs se plaignait de leur misère que soulageait avec tant de piété ce saint homme. Un nombre infini de veuves et d'orphelins regrettait tant de bienfaits reçus de lui. Tous poussaient de grands cris jusqu'au ciel, disant d'une commune voix: 'Grand Roi, Dieu bon, pourquoi nous tuer ainsi en nous ôtant ce bon père et l'unissant à toi!' Ils se frappaient avec les poings la poitrine, allaient et venaient au saint tombeau, répétaient encore les paroles marquées plus haut et se joinaient aux prières des saints afin que Dieu eût pitié de lui dans le siècle éternel. Dieu! quelle douleur causa cette mort. Tous s'écriaient avec des clameurs redoublées: 'Tant que Robert a régné et commandé, nous avons vécu tranquilles, nous n'avons rien craint; que l'âme de ce père pieux, ce père du sénat, ce père de tout bien, soit heureuse et sauvée! qu'elle monte et habite pour toujours avec Jésus-Christ, Roi des rois!'.... Dans tout cela, nous avons un grand sujet de douleur, en voyant qu'un tel et si grand homme repose sans une pierre ornée d'inscriptions, sans monument, sans épitaphe, lui dont la gloire et la mémoire ont été en bénédiction à toute la terre." As late as the 16th century Robert's tomb was enriched with colour, and even now a small amount remains.
Another king's death, that of Louis le Gros, is recorded by Suger: "Après avoir reçu en communion le corps et le sang de Jésus-Christ, le roi rejetant loin de lui toutes les pompes de l'orgueil du siècle, s'étendit sur un lit de simple toile. M'ayant vu pleurer sur lui qui, par le sort commun aux hommes, était devenu si petit et si humble de si grand et si élevé qu'il était, il me dit: 'Ne pleure pas sur moi, très-cher ami, mais plutôt triomphe et réjouis-toi de ce que Dieu, dans sa miséricorde, m'a donné, comme tu le vois, les moyens de me préparer à paraître devant lui.'.... Un peu avant de mourir, il ordonna qu'on étendit un tapis par terre, et que sur ce tapis on jetât des cendres en forme de croix; puis il s'y fit porter et déposer par ses serviteurs, et fortifiant toute sa personne par le signe de la croix, il rendit l'âme le jour les calendes d'août (Ier. août 1137), dans la trentième année de son règne et presque la soixantième de son âge. Son corps fut à l'heure même enveloppé de riches étoffes pour être transporté et enterré dans l'église des saints martyrs."
Suger mentions the finding of the remains of Carloman when they were about to bury Louis VI., and how the former were removed to a spot between the altar of the Holy Trinity and that of the Martyrs: "On l'y déposa donc avec le cérémonial d'usage pour les rois, au milieu de chants nombreux, d'hymnes et de prières, après lui avoir fait de pieuses et solennelles funérailles. C'est là qu'il attend d'être admis à jouer de sa résurrection future, et qu'il est d'autant plus près de se réunir en esprit à la troupe des esprits célestes, que son corps est plus voisin des corps des saints martyrs et plus à portée d'en être protégé."
"Puisse le Rédempteur ressusciter l'âme de ce roi à l'intercession des saintes martyrs pour lesquels il avait un si pieux dévouement! puisse cette âme être placée au rang des saints par celui qui a donné la sienne pour le salut du monde, notre seigneur Jésus-Christ qui vit et règne, Roi des rois, et maître des puissances, aux siècles des siècles. Amen."[41]
Of the burial of Louis VII. the monk Rigord gives some interesting details: "L'année 1181, le jeudi dix-huitième jour de septembre, mourut à Paris Louis, roi des Français. Son corps fut honorablement enseveli et couvert d'aromates dans l'église de Sainte-Marie de Barbeau, qu'il avait fondée. C'est là qu'en l'honneur de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ et de la bienheureuse mère de Dieu, Marie toujours vièrge, de saints religieux célèbrent jour et nuit les offices divins pour l'âme du défunt roi, pour celles de tous ses prédécesseurs et pour le salut du royaume de France. C'est aussi dans cette église, et sur le lieu même de la sépulture du roi, que l'illustre reine des Français, Adèle[42] son épouse et mère de Phillippe-Auguste, roi des Français, fit construire un tombeau où l'art le plus exquis avait fait un heureux mélange des matières les plus brillantes, d'or et d'argent, d'airain et de pierres précieuses. Jamais chef-d'œuvre aussi étonnant n'avait paru dans aucun royaume depuis le règne de Salomon." In 1182 Philippe Auguste decreed that a taper should always be kept alight before the tomb of his father. What became of the monument is not known. At the Revolution it consisted of a sarcophagus which had been renovated in 1695 by the Cardinal de Furstemberg, abbot of Barbeau[43] and prince bishop of Strasburg. When Charles IX. was at Fontainebleau he had the curiosity to open this latter tomb of Louis. The body was nearly entire; but the sceptre, some silver seals and ornaments, were partially destroyed. The king had rings on his fingers and a gold cross on his neck; "le roi et les princes du sang qui se trouvèrent là présents, les prirent pour les porter en mémoire d'un si bon est religieux prédécesseur."[44] One would like to know why ignorant, poverty-stricken fisher and peasant folk should be anathematized for robbing the dead after a wreck or a battle, when such a pious prince as the author of the massacre of S. Bartholomew pilfered the rings from his ancestor without a word of protest—on the contrary, his relations and friends "du sang" aided and abetted him. But then, of course, a few centuries had elapsed in the latter case, and poor Louis was reduced to a state of dry bones; it was robbing a skeleton, not a body. In the reign of Napoléon the abbey of Barbeau was converted into a school for the daughters of members of the Legion of Honour, and in 1817 the remains of Louis VII. were transported to S. Denis.
Why does it happen that children who die young seem to be so superior to those who survive? Would the Duc de Bourgogne, Philippe, son of Louis VI., Edward V., or Prince Arthur have made better sovereigns than their relations who reigned in their stead? Suger gives a picturesque account of the death of Philippe, "un enfant dans la fleur de l'âge." This "malheur étrange" happened on the 13th October, 1131. "Le fils aîné du roi Louis Philippe, d'une grande douceur, l'espoir des bons et la terreur des méchants, se promenait un jour à cheval dans un faubourg de la cité de Paris; un détestable porc se jette dans le chemin du cheval; celui-ci tombe rudement, renverse, écrase contre une pierre le noble enfant qui le montait, et l'étouffe sous le poids de son corps. Ce jour-là même on avait convoqué l'armée pour une expédition; aussi les habitants de la ville et tout les autres qui apprennent cet évènement, consternés de douleur, crient, pleurent, poussent des sanglots, s'empressent à relever le tendre enfant presque mort, et le portent dans une maison voisine. O douleur! à l'entrée de la nuit il rendit l'âme. Quelle tristesse et quel désespoir accablèrent son père, sa mère et les grands du royaume! Homère lui-même ne pourrait l'exprimer. On l'enterra dans l'église du bienheureux Denis, dans le lieu réservé à la sépulture des rois et à la gauche de l'autel de la Sainte-Trinité, avec tout le cérémonial usité pour les rois, en présence d'une foule d'évêques et de grands de l'Etat."[45] Philippe's was the last statue that S. Louis gave to the church, and the crown and sceptre show that the young prince had been crowned by his father at Reims during the latter's life—probably in order to share the duties of kingship.
Although three abbeys were the happy possessors of the remains of Blanche of Castille (Maubuisson, Lys, and Saint-Corentin-lez-Mantes), no tomb exists of the sweet mother of S. Louis.[46] Upon the monument at Maubuisson the queen was attired in the habit of the Cistercian order, which she assumed in her last moments; the crown was placed over the veil, the royal robes over the nun's habit, and so she passed away, and was thus buried. In 1793 various tombs, armorial bearings, and the like aliments de l'orgueil, were transported from Maubuisson to Pontoise; some were broken, some burnt; golden vessels and silver saints were thrust into the melting-pot; and Blanche of Castille, with the help of a prince perhaps, or a warrior, became transformed into an instrument of war. But the museum of the Petits-Augustins wanted an effigy of the mother of Monsieur Saint Louis; and so they set up a black marble image of Catherine de Courtenay, empress of Constantinople and wife of Charles of Valois, who had lately, and all alone, journeyed from Maubuisson; and, thinking it a joke to turn a black empress into a white queen, they wrote upon the slab, in 13th century characters, that it was the true monument of Madame la royne Blanche mere de Monsieur Saint Loys. After twenty years Madame Catherine-Blanche became divorced from her other half, and the white queen faded away in favour of the black empress.
One of the most beautiful tombs is that of Philippe, the brother of S. Louis, which was formerly at Royaumont. The prince lies upon a sarcophagus, round which are niches filled with little figures of monks, bishops, and angels, full of character and expression. One of these represents a king: "On y voyait le cercueil de Louis porté par les barons de France et par le roi d'Angleterre.[47] Une figure couronnée porte sur l'épaule un des bâtons; c'est le roi anglais"[48]—proving the sovereignty of France over England. There is a curious engraving by Boulogne representing this procession. The church is in the distance; a string of monks are zigzagging across the plain, and in the foreground we see this crowned head and others bearing the reliquary; behind are bishops; the whole in the grandiose style of the 17th and 18th centuries—drapery flying in the wind, bishops and monks prancing, and all the faces turned to the spectator. S. Louis had always held the abbey in most respectful esteem. He visited it before he started upon his various expeditions; and in 1267, when he had conferred the order of chivalry upon his son Philippe and sixty other young noblemen, he rode to S. Denis on horseback to implore the blessing of God, accompanied by a large concourse of courtiers and princes.
The monuments of the battle of Bouvines came from the church of S. Catherine-du-Val-des-Écoliers. They are incised stones, coloured and gilt, bearing the following inscriptions:—
Another epitaph to Blanche de France came from the Cordeliers:
When Isabelle d'Aragon died at Cosenza, in Calabria, her husband, Philippe le Hardi, wrote to the abbot and religious of S. Denis to commend her soul to their prayers, for her life était aimable à Dieu et aux hommes. Her epitaph begins:
Louis XI. was not buried at S. Denis; he desired to be laid in the church of Our Lady of Cléry, "for which the Heretics (meaning the Huguenots and Calvinists) had not the same respect which they inviolably entertained for the holy and royal tombs of S. Denis.[49] But inspired by the Devil, with an abominable and hellish spirit of rage and profanation, they tore the king's remains from the tomb, and, together with the queen's, burnt them and scattered their ashes to the winds. Thus he who would not let his body rest under the protection of the Holy Martyers found no rest in the grave."[50]
This monument was of bronze, but another was erected in 1622 by an Orléans sculptor, Michel Bourdin. La Fontaine described the latter as follows, in a letter to his wife, dated 1633: "Nous nous arrêtâmes à Cléry. J'allai aussitôt visiter l'église; c'est une collégiale assez bien rentée pour un bourg. Louis XI. y est enterré. On le voit à genoux sur son tombeau, quatre enfants aux coins; ce seraient quatre anges, si on ne leur avait pas arraché les ailes. Le bon apôtre du roi fait là le saint homme, et il est bien mieux pris que lorsque le Bourguignon le mena à Liége.
"À ses genoux sont ses heures et son chapelet, la main de justice, son sceptre, son chapeau et sa Notre-Dame. Je ne sais comment le statuaire n'y a pas mis le prévôt Tristan; le tout est en marbre blanc et m'a paru d'assez bonne main."
This monument suffered some mutilations during the Revolution, the head being chopped into three pieces[51]; but in 1817 it was repaired. It is, in style, very similar to the descriptions of the bronze monument of Charles VIII.
TOMB OF THE HOUSE OF ORLÉANS.
TOMB OF THE HOUSE OF ORLÉANS.
The tomb of the house of Orléans was erected by Louis XII. in the centre of the magnificent chapel of the family, in the church of the Célestins. It contained besides, the statue of Philippe de Chabot, by Jean Cousin; Germain Pilon's Three Graces; the columns of Anne de Montmorency, of François II., and of Timoléon de Brissac; the obelisk of the Longuevilles; the tombs of Rénée d'Orléans, and of the duc de Rohan, by Michel Anguier. The destruction of this chapel and the dispersal of its contents was one of the greatest acts of vandalism of modern times; although a good deal has been preserved, the loss of the rest cannot but be bewailed.
Charles, duc d'Orléans, was a lettered man and given to verse writing; he was made prisoner at the battle of Agincourt, and passed more than twenty years of his life in England. The little porcupine at the king's feet (upon the tomb) symbolized the order of chivalry which he founded, and which adopted that animal as its emblem.
The beautiful marble monument of Rénée d'Orléans recalls those of Santa Croce, and other Italian churches, and it is a magnificent example of French Renaissance sculpture.
The epitaph to Marguerite de Valois, first wife of Henri IV., attributed to the queen's authorship, is taken from a manuscript in the Bibliothèque:
The epitaph upon Henri's second wife, Marie de' Medici, is in a very different style. Marie, after having built the splendid Luxembourg palace, and filled it with Rubens' sparkling magnificences of colour, died in exile at Köln:
TOMB OF RÉNÉE D'ORLÉANS-LONGUEVILLE.
TOMB OF RÉNÉE D'ORLÉANS-LONGUEVILLE.
Louis XIII., or rather, part of him, was buried at the Jesuits' church; and Anne d'Autriche erected therein a fine monument sculptured by Jacques Sarrazin. Two colossal angels in bronze and silver supported a silver-gilt heart; but its magnificence only made it of greater use to the mint for coinage.
This good king, the thirteenth of his name, was a great devotee of S. Denis. He had instituted reform in the abbey by introducing the congregation of S. Maur; and we are told that he acquired "strength and spirits in his last illness, as he lay languishing upon his bed, as often as he thought of S. Denis. At such times he would remark to his attendants, with a smile of pious serenity, how much he felt himself reconciled to his near approaching dissolution, and fortified against all the usual desires of life or dread of death; in a sweet anticipation of the happiness he should enjoy by reposing near the tombs of the Holy Martyrs, in whom he placed the most sacred and unbounded confidence."
There is one more exquisite work of art which ought to be mentioned, the beautiful urn from the abbey of Haute-Bruyère, which contained the heart of that magnificent profligate, François I^er. It is of white marble, of perfect form, with the most delicious little Genii sitting on the top. The bas reliefs represent the Arts and Sciences, Faith, and the Church. It is the work of Pierre Bontems.
Some of the kings were crowned at S. Denis after having been anointed and consecrated at Reims; some, like Philippe Auguste, were re-invested at the abbey. Philippe le Hardi, Charles VIII., Louis XII., François Ier., and Louis XIII., were all anointed at Reims and crowned at S. Denis. An account in an old book of the coronation of Louis XIII. is so quaint, and gives so graphic a picture of some of the manners and customs of the period, that it is, I think, worth quoting in full.[53]
The description of the magnificent ceremony was extracted from a chronicle of the reign of Louis XIII., and translated into English a hundred and fifty years ago:—
"The royall ornaments, which are kept in the Abbey of Saint Denis, being caryed to Rheims, on the 14th October, 1610, the King made his entrie into the towne, where his Maiestie was received with greate pompe and magnificence; the particularities whereof I am forced, for brevities sake, to omit. The day before the ceremonie, the King went vnto the Cathedrall, to assist at Euensong, and to heare a sermon made by Father Coton, vpon the diuine institution of the unction of the Kings of France, and of confirmation, which he received from the hands of the Cardinall of Joyeuse, to whom he was presented by Queen Marguerite and the Prince of Condé.
"On Sunday, the 17th of October, the King sent foure Barons vnto the Abbey of Saint Remy, to fetch the holie oyle. They parted earlie in the morning, with their Esquires and Gentlemen; either of them having a banner, with his armes, caried before him, causing a white hackney to be led, for the Prior of Saint Remy, who was to carry the said holie oyle.
"The Cardinal of Joyeuse, who was to represent the Archbishop of Rheims, and to doe the office, at the ceremonie, came soone after into the church, with eight Bishops to assist him, where, attending the comming of the Peeres, he sat him downe in his pontificall robes. Two of these Bishops were attired like Deacons, with mitres; two like Sub-Deacons, with mitres; and foure with copes and mitres. Soon after arrived the ecclesiasticall Peeres, in their pontificall robes.... At the same instant there came, from the King's lodging, the Princes of Condé and Conty ... who were deputed by the King to hold the places of ... attyred in their robes and coronets, according to their qualities. Having done their devotions, and saluted one another, they sent the bishops of Laon and Beauuais to fetch the King, in their pontificall habits (having certaine reliques of the holie Saintes hanging about their neckes), conducted by the Master of the Ceremonies; all the Prebendes of oure Ladies church marching in goodlie procession before them. Being come to the King's chamber, and finding it shut, the Bishop of Laon knocked three several times, to either of which the greate Chamberlaine demanded, 'What would ye?' The Bishop answered, 'Lewis the Thirteenth, son to Henrie the Greate'; whereunto the Chamberlaine replied, 'He sleepeth'; then knocking againe, he had the like answere. But at the third time the Bishop answered, 'Lewis the Thirteenth, which God hath given us for King'; then the door was opened, and the Bishops entered with the cheife chaunter of Rheims, &c., where they found the King laid on his bed, having his shirt slit before and behind, to receive the holie Vnction, and uppon it a waistecoat of crimson sattin, slitted in like maner, and thereon a long robe of cloth-of-siluer. The Bishop of Laon having finished a prayer, kissing their hands, they lifted the King from his bed, with all shewes of honour, and then led him, singing, to the church doore. Before him, there marched, first the greate Prouost, with his archeres; then the Clergie which had accompanied the two Prelates; the hundrede tall Swissers of his guard: the drummes, haultbois, and herauldes; the nobilitie; the great Master of the Ceremonies; the Knights of the Holie Ghoste, with their great order hong about their neckes, in the middest of two hundred Gentlemen of the King's house; and the Scottish Guards, in their own proper habiliments. Before his Maiestie went the Mareschall la Chastre, representinge the Constable, carying a naked sworde, &c. &c. After some ceremonies at the church doore, the King approacheth neare untoe the high altar, where he was presented, by the Bishops of Laon and Chalons, untoe the Cardinal Joyeuse, who said many prayers, whilest the King was at his deuotions. After this he was led untoe his seate, with his Noblemen and officers about him. In the meane tyme, all the religious men of Saint Remy came solemnlie in procession, being accompanied by the cheife of the towne, caryinge torches of virgines waxe in their hands: Their Prior was mounted upon the white hackney, having a foote-cloath of cloath-of-silver, carying the violl of holie oyle, in a pixe, hanginge about his necke, being under a canopie of cloath-of-silver, borne by foure Monkes. The Cardinall being advertised of the arrivall of the said oyle, hee went, in his pontificalibus, to meet it, with the eight Bishops which assisted him, and all the singinge men and quiristeres. But before they would deliver it unto the Cardinall, they made him (according to the custome) binde himself to restore it untoe them againe. After saying a praier, hee shewed the holie oyle untoe the people; and then set it down vpon the high altar, with all the Godlie reuerence. (The coronation oath and some ceremonies are here omitted for brevity). The King having taken the oathes, with inuocation of the name of God, laying his handes vpon the Gospel, which he kist with greate reuerence. The King's ornaments ... were layd upon the altar; and on the left hande side, neere vnto them, stoode the Prior of Saint Denis, who hath the keeping of them; and on the right side stoode the Prior of Saint Remy, looking sharplie to the holie oyle.[54] The Bishops of Laon and Beauvais, hauing conducted him vnto the altar, Mons. de Belgarde tooke off his roabe of cloath-of-silver. Being in his waistecoate of sattin, when the Cardinall had made certaine prayers and blessings, the Duke of Esguillon put on his buskins, and the Prince of Condé put on his spurres (in the place of the Duke of Bourgundie) and presentlie took them off againe. After this, the Cardinall blessed the royale sworde, it being in the scabberd, and girt the King therewith, and presentlie ungirted him againe. Then he drew it out of the scabberd, and kissed it, saying manie praiers, whilest that the Quier sang certaine anthems. The King kist the sworde also; and layd it upon the altar, in testimonie of his zeale and affection to the defence of the holie church. The Cardinall delivered it into his hande againe; which his Maiestie tooke reuerentlie vpon his knee, and gave it to the Mareschall la Chastre. The Cardinall returning to the altar, to prepare the sacred vnction, after this manner: 'Hee drewe out of the forenamed holie violl, with a needell of gold, a small quantitie of liquor, of the bignesse of a pease, and mingled it, with his finger, with the holie creme prepared in the couer of the chalice.
"This vnction being thus ordered, the tyinges of the King's garments were let loose both before and behinde, by the Cardinall and the two Bishops; after which his Maiestie kneeled down in his oratorie, and the Cardinall with him, to crave the assistance of God for the preseruation of France. The Lettanie being sung, the Cardinall stoode up, to saye certaine praiers ouer the King, who was yet kneelinge. Then the Cardinall sett him downe, as in the consecration of a Bishop, and holding in his hand the patenne whereon the heavenlie oyle was layd, he beganne, with his right thumbe, to anoynte the King, in divers places, viz., on the crowne of the head, on the stomacke, betwixte his shouldere blades, on bothe shoulderes, and on the bendinges of his armes. The consecration praiers being ended, the Cardinall, with the two Bishops, closed vp his shirte, waistecoate, and other garmentes, in reverence of the sacred Vnction. Then the high Chamberlaine presented the three habitts accustomed to be worne, in the lyke ceremonies, viz., a long jackett, representinge a Sub-Deacon, a surplis for a Deacon, and a royall cloake, insteade of a coape, representinge a Prieste; which ended, the Cardinall anoynted the palmes of his handes, and then put him on thin gloues, lest, peradventure, hee should touche anie thinge with his bare handes, for reverence of the vnction, which gloues he blest, and sprinkled with holie water; the royall ringe being alsoe blest by the Cardinall (a symbole of loue, whereby the King was wedded untoe his realme), he put it on the fourthe fingere of his Maiesties right hande, with all the accustomed ceremonie. This done, hee tooke the sceptere from the altar, and put it intoe his right hande, for a mark of the Soueraigne power: then he tooke the hande of Justice, which hee put into his lefte hande, it being a wande, hauing, on the top thereof, a hande of mylke white iuorie.
"Then the Chancelloure of France came vp, with his face towarde the King, and, with a stoute voyce, did call vp the Peeres, according to their dignities, to assist at the coronation. When as, this ceremonie being ended, the Cardinall took the great crowne from the altar, and lifting it with bothe his handes, did poise it over the King's heade; the Peeres did then come to support them, and the Cardinall blest it; and then he alone sett the crowne upon the King's heade, whereuntoe all the Peeres did incontinentlie put their handes. The Cardinall then said manie praiers, and blest the King; the which being ended, hee took him bie the right sleeve, and conducted him to his royall throne, the which was builded on high at the bottome of the quier, forasmuch as that he might be seene of all the people, holdinge still in his handes the royall sceptere and rod of Justice. The Queen Regent, the whilst she beheld all these ceremonies, was sorely disquieted, not being able to endure, with patience, to see his Maiestie bare headed, vnder the crowne, havinge his capp taken from him; which shewes that crownes and greatness have their discomodities, as well as the most ordinarie thinges, and the poorest cottages. The King being come to his royall throwne, attended bie the Princes, Peeres, and Officers, according to their degrees, the Cardinall, holding him by the hande, caused him to sit downe, and praied untoe God to confirme him in his throne, and to make him invincible and inexpugnable against his enemies. After which, having sayd a praier, being bare-headed, he made a low obeysance untoe the King, and kissed him, saying thrice, with a loude voyce, 'God save the King'; and at the laste, he added, 'God save the King eternallie.' All the Peeres did the lyke obeysance, one after the other, and kist him, with the lyke acclamation, and then returned untoe the seates that were prepared for them on either hand."
RELIQUARY CONTAINING THE HEAD OF S. DENIS.
RELIQUARY CONTAINING THE HEAD OF S. DENIS.
The treasury of S. Denis was one of the richest in Europe. Commenced by the religious enthusiasts of the time of Charlemagne, it increased year by year, through the donations of the grateful patients who had been cured, or whose sufferings had been relieved, by the intercession of S. Denis and his companions. For every wax arm or leg, which we see hanging up in bunches at the side of a shrine in these days, the ages of Faith could have produced a valuable plaque, gem, cross, reliquary, or altar vessel. Thankfulness was then more costly in its expression. Doubtless poor offerings were also made, but the richness of the churches and their contents, as compared with the difficulty of obtaining a few thousands at the present day, shows that gratitude was more practical than in modern times. Charles le Chauve was a great donor to the monastery. It was he who gave the magnificent ante-pendium, besides some jewelled Gospels and altar-vessels. Philippe-Auguste bequeathed all his jewels to the abbey, including a cross of gold valued at 400 livres, this benefaction being for the maintenance of twenty additional monks; but his son, Louis, repurchased some of the valuables at the estimated price of 11,600 livres, a little business transaction which was not unprofitable to the convent. Louis le Gros established the custom of leaving the royal ornaments to the abbey at the decease of the kings. Matthieu de Vendôme, one of the regular abbots, gave the marvellous chef of S. Denis, a gold reliquary in the form of a head, with a jewelled mitre, and silver-gilt supporting Angels, and a young Child-angel holding another reliquary containing a portion of the Saint's shoulder-blade. Gilles de Pontoise, another abbot, presented a beautiful reliquary, containing the under-jaw of S. Louis—a marvel of goldsmithy in the form of statuettes of gold, jewelled and enamelled. The great Suger gave a number of magnificent objects of all kinds; the huge gold cross, six feet in height, placed over the altar, and another which stood upon the grille dividing the choir from the nave. These probably were made at S. Denis, as Suger set up a great school for the fashioning of gold and silver, as well as for writing and painting; and so famous did it become, that brethren from other monasteries flocked to the monks of S. Denis to perfect themselves in these arts.
THE "MASS OF S. GILES" (FRAGMENT).
THE "MASS OF S. GILES" (FRAGMENT).
There is a representation of Charles le Chauve's ante-pendium in the picture formerly in the Dudley collection, and now in the possession of Mr. Edward Steinkopff, and generally known as the "Mass of S. Giles." The altar stands as at present; on the right we see a portion of the tomb of Dagobert; and behind are the windows of the apsidal clerestory. The only difference in the sculptures, as represented in the picture, and the actual monument, is that the head of Nantilde is bent in the modern statue, but is erect in the old one; and the feet of Dagobert seem to have nothing to rest upon. A priest is before the altar; on his left is a king; behind are some assistants, one holding a tall candle; and above is an Angel bearing a paper, alluding to the legend, that as S. Giles was once saying mass before a king with some hidden sin he dare not confess, an Angel descended with a written pardon. The question is, Who is the king? May it not be Charles le Chauve, the donor of the retable? Charles was abbot of S. Denis; and his devotion to the Saint was so great that he attended the offices of the church on all solemn days, and passed the rest of the time in pious conversation with the monks. The crown the king wears is of the time of Charles V., but it has upon it the Imperial circle, which seems to point to Charles the Bald; and the later style of the crown may be accounted for, as it has evidently been copied from one in the treasury of S. Denis (see Félibien). Moreover, it very much resembles the one worn by Charles le Chauve in a miniature of a Latin Bible in the Bibliothèque; on the other hand, the king wears a moustache in the latter, whereas in the picture he is bearded.
Another question is this, Does the picture represent a mass? It probably has gained its title as much from being the companion volet to Lord Northbrook's S. Giles as to the incident of the scroll-bearing Angel. But there is not the slightest resemblance between the hunting personage in Lord Northbrook's picture and the king in the "Mass." In the former, the kneeling hunter appears in a cap, and has no beard; may not this be Charles Martel? We are told in the legend of S. Giles that the king of France was one day hunting in the South, near Nismes, when, in the pursuit of a hind, the hunters came upon S. Giles living hermit-wise in a cave. Charles Martel was never actually sovereign, although governing the kingdom; therefore a cap would be an appropriate head covering for the Maire du Palais. And the dates correspond. S. Giles died in 725; Charles Martel in 741. Is there any evidence that the S. Denis picture represents the S. Giles legend? There is no reason why each volet of a triptich should be decorated with incidents in the life of the same saint. Again, does the picture represent a mass? There are no lights upon the altar, which is contrary to the almost invariable custom of the church from all time. Two lights were used from the earliest period; whereas a single light, either taper, torch, or lantern, borne by an assistant kneeling behind the celebrant, generally denotes a communion of the faithful, after, or out of, mass. It is true there is a picture by van der Weyden in the National Gallery of the "Mass of S. Hubert," with no lights, and there is no doubt about the subject, as the vessels requisite for a mass are visible upon the altar; but in the "Mass of S. Giles" there are no evidences of the celebration of mass, except that the priest is elevating the Host while facing the altar, and reading from a book placed thereon; whereas at a communion the celebrant turns his back to the altar when elevating the consecrated wafer. Now may not the picture represent either the communion of Charles le Chauve, or his induction as abbot, or his presentation of the retable? I have not lost sight of the difficulty of the Angel. But if it be really the sin-forgiven scroll which he holds, there is no reason why this particular king should not have had a hidden sin, pious man though he may have been; indeed, that would be a reason for his thinking ill of himself. And must the subject be necessarily that incident, when we know that in Mediæval times Angels were constantly in the habit of flying about with all kinds of objects of celestial manufacture—stoles, girdles, chalices, crowns, palms, &c. (In van der Weyden's picture, mentioned above, an Angel is descending with a stole).
These are merely suggestions of a theory, which others, more qualified than myself, may be able to solve. Suger is said to have added to the ante-pendium given by Charles le Chauve, and placed it over the altar as a retable;[55] therefore there would be nothing extraordinary in the 15th-century artist placing Charles kneeling as the original donor, and Suger celebrating, as the founder of the new altar, or reredos. Has the abbot Giles de Pontoise, who died in 1325, caused any confusion in naming this picture? There is another curious resemblance in the crowns borne by the Angels upon the retable, and the crowns of Guarrazar in the Hôtel Cluny. The latter are supposed to be of Byzantine workmanship, the largest bearing the name of Reccesvinthus, king of the Visigoths, who reigned from 649 to 672. Charles le Chauve died in 823; but, according to Grégoire de Tours, when Childebert returned from a campaign against the Visigoths in Spain, he brought away divers gold and silver treasures, including a gold cross from Toledo; therefore there must have been an extensive school of goldsmithy in Spain at that time, and Toledo is the very spot near which the Guarrazar spoils were discovered. Were they made there some 100 years or so after Childebert's death? Grégoire de Tours also speaks of the king setting up workshops in the Parvis Notre-Dame, doubtless in imitation of the Spanish school; and in his Notice de l'Orfévrerie, M. Alfred Darcel points out a similarity between the Merovingian and the Spanish style of work. "Ce qui ressort de la plupart des passages que nous venons de citer, c'est que l'orfévrerie mérovingienne a pour principal caractère l'alliance des pierreries aux métaux précieux. Ce caractère se retrouve dans l'ornamentation des couronnes de Guarrazar ... et dans l'orfévrerie Byzantine." Is it possible, then, that the ante-pendium presented by Charles le Chauve to S. Denis was made at the workshops set up by Childebert in the Parvis Notre-Dame, in imitation of those he had seen at Toledo; and that the workmanship was also an imitation of the Spanish goldsmithy of a hundred years earlier?
But of all this beauty, of all this wealth, what have we now? Marvellously little; still, considering the robbers, royal and plebeian, the fires, the wars, and the undisciplined mobs, we ought to be thankful that so much has been preserved. That even the great churchmen were not above suspicion we see by the account of the coronation of Louis XIII.; the cardinal being obliged "to binde himself" to restore the "holy oyle" before the monks would let him take it into his hands; and the Prior of S. Remy, who had the custody of it, standing by and "looking sharplie to the holie oyle."
Of the few things which remain from the wreck, the following will be found in the Louvre and the Bibliothèque Nationale, commencing with the former.[56]
The beautiful Egyptian Amphora of porphyry transformed by Abbot Suger[57] into an eagle for service as an altar vessel. It is silver-gilt, and bears an inscription round the bird's neck: Includi Gemmis lapis ista meretur et auro—marmor erat sed in his marmore carior est.[58] Suger himself thus describes it: "Un vase de porphyre, chef-d'œuvre de taille et de sculpture; depuis longues années il était sans emploi dans l'écrin; d'amphore qu'il était, nous l'avons transformé en un aigle, au moyen de l'or et de l'argent, nous l'avons adapté au service de l'autel, et sur ce vase nous avons fait inscrire les vers qui suivent."
Another antique sardonyx[59] set by Suger, with a mounting of silver-gilt filagree and precious stones ornamenting it. Suger's account of this vase is as follows: "Nous avons acheté, pour le service du même autel, un calice précieux de sardonyx; nous y avons joint, en guise d'amphore, un autre vase de la même matière, mais de forme différente, sur lequel sont ces vers: Dum libare Deo gemmis debemus et auro—Hoc ego Sugerius offero vas Domino.".... "Il était de ce sentiment que l'on doit employer à la décoration des autels tout ce que l'on a de plus précieux; il disait que si les juifs se sont servis dans l'ancienne loi de vases et de fioles d'or, pour ramasser le sang des animaux, à plus forte raison doit-on moins épargner, dans la nouvelle, l'or et les pierreries pour tout ce qui a rapport au saint sacrifice du corps et du sang de Jésus Christ." Twenty-four plaques which decorated a book of the Gospels, in cloisonné enamel, are of the 9th century. Some of them are ornamented with foliage, others with the four Evangelists. They belonged to the gold book-cover bearing the legend: Beatrix me in honore Dei omnipotentis et omnium sanctorum eius fieri precepit; which probably refers to Beatrix, grand-daughter of Hugues Capet and sister of Robert, king of France, wife of Ebles I., count of Reims.
A 13th century reliquary in champlevé enamel.
The psalter of Charles le Chauve.