The Churches of Paris, from Clovis to Charles X

This is followed by The Adoration of the Magi and Balaam, the text being: "Habitantibus in regione umbrae … lux orta est" (Isaiah ix. 2). The Old Testament subject depicts the moment when Balaam, taken to the top of Pethor by Balak, blesses instead of curses the enemy. Before them is the altar; around them are the princes of Moab, angry and threatening; in the background are the tents of the children of Israel. The victims are ready for the sacrifice, but to the astonishment of the king and his followers, Balaam lifts up his voice and blesses those he was brought to curse. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! This is one of the finest of the series.

In The Baptism we see the ascetic figure of S. John the Baptist pouring water upon Our Lord's head, while three Angels kneel upon the bank of the river, doing homage. Above is the descending dove and the verse: Erit Sanguis Vobis in Signum (Exodus xii. 13). In the Passage of the Red Sea, the majestic figure of Moses stands upon the shore, his hair and drapery blown by the wind. He raises his hand, and the waters close over the Egyptians, while the Israelites lift up their voices in triumphant songs, Miriam leading them to the sound of the timbrel: Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

The Institution of the Eucharist is treated from the purely Roman Catholic point of view. Our Blessed Lord is standing, holding up the wafer for adoration, while He places the other hand upon His side, symbolical of the gift of the sacred heart combined with His precious body. The Apostles form two groups, one on each side: Novi Testamenti Mediator est (Hebrews ix. 15). The Old Testament type is Melchizedek appearing to Abram: And Melchizedec King of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the most high God.

The next pictures, close to the choir, are badly lighted, but both are very fine. The Treason of Judas, and Joseph sold by his Brethren: Pro salute vestra misit me Deus (Genesis xiv. 5).

And now we come to a subject into which Flandrin threw all his strength – The Crucifixion – which is not inferior in feeling to the great Angelico in the Convent of San Marco at Firenze. The divine expression of the dying Saviour, the heart-rending sorrow of the Mother, and the passionate grief of the Magdalen, are all exquisitely portrayed. So, too, The Sacrifice of Isaac, which is its type, is full of pathos and true religious sentiment. Proprio filio non pepercit (Romans viii. 32) is the text.

In the treatment of Jonah, the type of The Resurrection, the painter has avoided what must always be a difficulty – the great fish. Those who saw this tableau years ago at Ober-Ammergau must remember that even the good souls of that village could not divest the subject of the ludicrous element, and they did well, in 1890, to omit it. But Flandrin has got over the difficulty by making his prophet walking upon a beach, with waves breaking upon the shore around him. He has been ejected from the whale, and is giving thanks for his deliverance. Signum Jonæ Prophetæ (Matthew xii. 39).

That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel, is the legend of the charge to Peter. Gentes esse cohaeredes … promissionis in Christo (Ephesians iii. 6). In the foreground kneels S. Peter, to whom Our Lord gives the keys of heaven and hell: but the rest of the Apostles stand around, and form part of the group: Feed my sheep. The type is The Dispersion of the Nations subsequent to the building of Babel; and Flandrin has most graphically described the wonder and amazement of the crowd, who, not being able to converse any longer, leave the town and scatter themselves over the face of the earth.

Above the frieze of subject-pictures are numerous personages in the panels which surround the windows, all from the Old Testament: Adam and Eve, Jacob Blessing his Children, Job, Samson, Aaron, Joshua, Miriam, Deborah, Judith, and ending with John the Baptist. Adam and Eve are, perhaps, the finest of these figures. Adam stands erect, thoughtful, repentant, and ashamed; but his clasped right hand seems to indicate steadfastness of purpose to retrieve the past. Eve abandons herself to sorrow, and leans upon her husband's shoulder as if resolving in the future to depend upon him. The treatment is at once almost Classic in its simplicity, and realistic in its naturalism; the only discordant note being a something in the way in which Eve's hair falls upon her forehead, an echo, as it were, of the model, and the ugly fashion of dressing the hair peculiar to the thirties and forties, which so often shocks us in the Nymphs and Venuses by Etty, and gives them an unclothed appearance.

Formerly, judging from Dibden's account of the church, there was great display in the religious functions at S. Germain: "The immediate vicinity of S. Germain is sadly choked by stalls and shops – the West front has been cruelly covered by modern appendages. It is the church dearest to antiquaries, and with reason. I first visited it on a Sunday, when that part of the service was performed which required the fullest intonations of the organ. The effect altogether was very striking. The singular pillars of which the capitals are equally massive and grotesque, being sometimes composed of human beings, and sometimes of birds and beasts, especially towards the choir – the rising up and sitting down of the congregation, and the yet more frequent movements of the priests – the swinging of the censers – and the parade of the vergers, dressed in bag wigs, with broad red sashes of silk, and silk stockings – but above all, the most scientifically-touched, as well as the deepest and loudest toned organ I ever heard – perfectly bewildered and amazed me! Upon the dispersion of the congregation – which very shortly followed this religious excitation – I had ample leisure to survey every part of this curious old structure, which reminded me, although upon a much larger scale, of the peculiarities of S. Georges de Bocherville and Notre-Dame at Guibray. Certainly, very much of this church is of the twelfth century, and, as I am not writing to our friend N., I will make bold to say that some portions of it yet 'smacks strongly' of the eleventh."

I cannot say that I have ever noted much ceremonial, or any fine music, at S. Germain. Times have changed probably; certainly, its chief beauty now is the building itself – its grand architecture and beautiful decoration.

SAINT-GERVAIS-SAINT-PROTAIS

There can be no doubt that the quaint inscription informing "les bonnes gens" that the church of Messeigneurs Saint Gervais et Saint Prothais was dedicated in 1420, refers to an earlier building than the present one. The Saints were twin-brothers, and are represented here as elsewhere, vested as deacons, although there is no evidence in their history of their having been in holy orders. The full inscription is as follows: —

BONNES GENS PLAISEVOUS SAUOIR QUE CESTEPRESENTE ESGLISE DEMESSEIGNEURS SAINT GERVAIS ETSAINT PROTHAIS FUT DEDIÉE LEDIMÂNCHE DEUANT LA FESTE DESAINT SIMON ET SAINT JUDE, L'ANMIL QUATRE CENS ET VINT PAR LAMAIN DU REUEREND PERE EN DIEUMAISTRE GOMBAUT, EVESQUE D'A-GRENCE, ET SERA A TOUSJOURS LAFESTE DE LA SAINTE DÉDICACE LEDIMÂNCHE DEUANT LA DICTE FESTE DESAINT SIMON ET SAINT JUDE. SIVOUS PLAIS Y VENIR, GANGNIER LESGRANS PARDONS ET PRIEZ POUR LESBIENS-FAICTEURS DE CETTE ESGLISE ETAUSSI POUR LES TRESPASSEZ. PATERNOSTER AUE MARIA.

The twins were discovered as martyrs by S. Ambrose at Milano, when, in 387, he was desirous of founding a new church. The people called upon him to consecrate the building by placing some holy relics therein; and he, good bishop, was only too eager to gratify their wish. And so he had a dream, or a trance, or something between the two; for, while possessed of this desire to gratify the piety of his children, he, like a good shepherd, went to the church of S. Nabor and S. Felis to pray for his sheep; and as he knelt, he saw a vision of two beauteous young men clothed in white, standing with S. Peter and S. Paul. And it was revealed to S. Ambrose that these two young men were holy martyrs, whose bodies had been buried where he knelt. So he called his clergy-folk, and they all searched, and found two bodies of gigantic size separated from the heads, with much blood, and some writing recording their names. They were Gervasius and Protarius, who had suffered martyrdom under Nero. Having been sent bound to Milano, together with Nazarus and Celsus, they were brought before Count Artesius and accused of being Christians. Upon being commanded to sacrifice to Artesius' idols, they refused and were condemned, Gervasius to be beaten to death with lead-loaded scourges, Protarius to be beheaded. Thus they died, and a good man named Philip took up their bodies, and buried them in his own garden, where they rested until discovered by S. Ambrose. On the second day of the discovery, the bodies were borne with great solemnity to the Basilica; and many persons, touching the pall which covered the Saints, were cured of divers diseases, and of evil spirits. One man who had been blind for many years, Severus by name, and who had lived upon the alms of the wealthy, obtained permission to touch the bones of the holy martyrs, and was restored to sight; and then all the people rejoiced, for the man's infirmity being well known to everyone in the city, there could be no doubt that the cure had been effected through the intercession of the blessed saints. And this being so, S. Ambrose laid their bones under the altar, saying: "Let the victims be borne in triumph to the place where Christ is the sacrifice; He upon the altar, who suffered for all; they beneath the altar, who were redeemed by His suffering!" Then came the Arians, and scoffingly accused S. Ambrose of bribing Severus and others to aid and abet him in his miraculous performances; but the bishop defeated their wicked ways, and the church was dedicated to the twin brothers. S. Ambrose was buried in the same church, and subsequently its name was changed to that of Sant' Ambrogio Maggiore. In Italy the brothers were held in little repute as time went on; but S. Germain, bishop of Paris, having in 560 carried some of their relics to France, they became exceedingly popular, and the patrons of several cathedrals and parish churches, besides being favourite subjects with some of the French school of painters, Le Sueur, Philippe de Champagne, and Nicholas Poussin.

In the History of S. Germain by Fortunat, a church dedicated to the twin brothers is mentioned, the door of which, when the good bishop desired to enter the building, flew open of its accord. S. Germain entered the church, and after much praying, restored his sight to a blind man, and worked other wondrous miracles through the intervention of the martyrs.

The present church is of Pointed and Classic architecture, the portal and façade being in the latter style.91 Louis XIII. laid the first stone in 1616, Jacques de Brosse being the architect. A not very favourable, but tolerably just, opinion is passed upon it by our old friend Dibden:

"The next Gothic church to Notre-Dame in size and importance is that of S. Gervais, situated to the left, in the Rue de Monçeau. It has a very lofty nave, but the interior is exceedingly flat and divested of ornaments. The pillars have scarcely any capitals. The choir is totally destitute of effect. Some of the stained glass is rich and old, but a great deal has been stolen or demolished during the Revolution. There is a good large modern picture in one of the side chapels to the right, and a yet more modern one much inferior on the opposite side. In almost every side chapel, and in the confessionals, the priests were busily engaged in the catechetical examination of young people previous to the first Communion on the following Sabbath, which was the Fête Dieu. The Western front is wholly Grecian – perhaps about 200 years old. It is too lofty for its width – but has a grand effect, and is justly much celebrated. Yet the situation of this fine old Gothic church is among the most wretched of those in Paris. It is preserved from suffocation only by holding its head so high." The last remark is no longer applicable, as the church is now quite disencumbered from secular excrescences.

The interior is cold, dull, and dreary, almost the only part that relieves its monotony being the organ tribune, which is quaintly ornamented with Angels and Corinthian columns, a device of the 17th century. The statues of the Saints upon the altar are the work of Bourdin, a sculptor of the 17th century. The six candelabra and the cross of gilt bronze, belonging formerly to the abbey church of S. Geneviève, are among the bronze chefs-d'œuvre of the 18th century. The stalls are finely carved, and bear various designs upon their bas-reliefs; but especially notable are the little histories upon the misereres: a writer at his desk; an architect measuring some blocks of stone, accompanied by his workmen; a baker putting his bread in the oven; a man stooping down with a fool's cap on his head; the vinedressers in a vat; a Genus sleeping upon a grave with his head resting upon a skull; two men squabbling; a shoemaker at his last, surrounded by a fine collection of foot-gear; two men roasting; a Syren, a crowned Salamander, a grotesque animal, a lion, and a pig gobbling in a gluttonous fashion; and finally a man in a boat traversing a river.

Some of the glass is fine, but much has been destroyed; and only the other day the Anarchists did their best to demolish the little which remains. In the choir the story of Lazarus, and the Pilgrimage to Mont Saint-Michel, were painted by Robert Pinaigrier, as well as the windows of the Lady Chapel; and another great vitrier, Jean Cousin, embellished S. Gervais with some beautiful golden-toned glass – The Martyrdom of S. Laurence, The Good Samaritan, and The Judgment of Solomon. On one fragment of the latter is the date 1531. The story is told most quaintly; Solomon sleeps surrounded by his books; and it is thus that he drinks in the wisdom which the Queen of Sheba, in the next panel, comes to enjoy.

Among the other subjects, we see S. Peter baptising Cornelius, surrounded by divers Scripture events. In the Lady Chapel a Tree of Jesse has survived, and also the Legend of S. Anne, attributed to Pinaigrier; but the latter is filled in with much that is modern – clever, but wanting in the vigorous drawing of the old glass painters, and the glorious transparency of the colours. One of the old panes shows us the Virgin weaving a curtain for the Temple, and being fed by an Angel. In this chapel there is a remarkable boss which descends from the vault. If is 6ft. in diameter, and falls 3ft.; and although iron has been used in its fabrication, it is, notwithstanding, a wonderful piece of masonry of the brothers Jacquet. It is a mass of carving – emblems of the Blessed Virgin; a fortified town (the Tower of David), and the Morning Star; attributes found in the offices of Our Lady.

A good many distinguished people were buried at S. Gervais: Scarron, more celebrated as having been the first husband of the notorious Mme. de Maintenon than for his writings; that excellent, but insufficiently appreciated painter, Philippe de Champaigne; Ducange, the antiquarian and historian; the chancellors Le Tellier, Louis Roucherat and Charles Voysin; archbishop Le Tellier of Reims, son of the chancellor and founder of the library of S. Geneviève; and the poet Crébillon, author of Rhadamistus, Electra, Catiline, and other tragedies. The only monument which remains is that of Le Tellier, who reposes in white marble upon a black marble mattress, with allegorical figures watching over his slumbers. It was the work of Mazeline and Hurtrelle, members of the Academy, but not otherwise celebrated, as is occasionally the case.

In one of the chapels of the nave is a 13th century bas-relief of Our Lord receiving His mother's soul as she expires, surrounded by the Apostles; a fine old picture painted upon wood, of various scenes from the Passion, formerly attributed to Albrecht Dürer, but more probably by some master of the Flemish school. Many of the pictures by Lesueur, Bourdon, and Philippe de Champaigne, formerly in this church, are now in the Louvre.

LA TOUR SAINT-JACQUES

This tower is all that remains of the church of S. Jacques de la Boucherie, which had to be demolished to make way for the Rue de Rivoli. It was commenced in 1508, and finished in 1522. The figure of S. James upon the little turret, and his friends the Evangelistic animals, by Rauch, were thrown down in 1793; but in 1836, when the municipality saved the tower by purchasing it, the statues were repaired and replaced. The church contained many tombs and slabs, some of which have found a home in the Hôtel Cluny. One of the most famous persons buried at S. Jacques was Nicholas Flamel, a member of the University, and librarian, who died in 1417, leaving large sums of money to the church. His effigy, and that of his wife, were to be seen kneeling at the Virgin's feet in the tympanum of the porch. He was venerated as their patron by the alchymists, for having, as was affirmed, discovered the philosopher's Stone; and several times his house in the Rue des Écrivains was rummaged in order to find some indication of his secret. His funeral tablet has the following epitaph engraven upon it, and is numbered 92 in the collection of the Hôtel Cluny:

FEU NICOLAS FLAMEL JADIX ESCRIVAIN A LAISSÉ PAR SON TESTAMENT ÀLEUSORE DE CESTE ÉGLISE CERTAINESRENTES ET MAISONS QU'IL AVOITACQUESTÉES ET ACHETÉES À SON VI-VANT POUR FAIRE CERTAIN SERVICEDIVIN ET DISTRIBUCIONS D'ARGENTCHASCUN AU PAR AUMOSNE TOU-CHANS LES QUINZE VINS: LOSTEL DIEU ET AULTRES ÉGLISES ET HOSPITEAUXÀ PARIS. – SOIT PRIÉ POURS LES TRÉPASSÉS.

The Tour S. Jacques is an excellent example of what may be done with the remaining portions of demolished buildings. As it stands, surrounded by gardens, it is a most beautiful object, an oasis in the desert of streets, and trams, and omnibuses, a quiet spot where children may skirmish, and mothers can sit in the open air and knit their stockings. Why cannot we do likewise in London? If churches must be felled to the ground, why cannot we leave their towers as a centre to the burial-ground gardens, or remove and re-erect them in our parks? We might with advantage follow the example of Paris, both in the preservation of the old tower of S. Jacques, and in the arrangement of the garden of the Hôtel Cluny, where, also, fragments of churches are set up as ornaments.

It was from the top of the tower of S. Jacques that Pascal made certain experiments of the density of the air; and in memory of this, his statue, in white marble, was placed under the porch.

SAINT-JACQUES DU HAUT-PAS

In no way remarkable, this church need only be mentioned as having been built between 1630-1684, in the Italian fashion. It is in the street of the same name.

SAINT-JEAN-SAINT-FRANÇOIS

Founded in 1623, in the Rue Charlot, as a chapel for the Capuchins, S. Jean contains a statue of S. Francis of Assisi, by Germain Pilon, and a S. Denis, sculptured by Jacques Sarazin for the Abbey of Montmartre, by order of Anne d'Autriche.

SAINT-JULIEN LE PAUVRE

In a little back street not far from S. Séverin is the old church of S. Julien, a fragment only of its former self, and all that remains of the ancient priory. Its locality is described in Guillot's Dict. des Rues de Paris, which gives a description in verse of the principal houses and streets in the city at the end of the 13th century, as follows: —

Puis la rue de Saint-JulienQui nous gart de mauvais lien,M'en revins à la BuscherieEt puis en la Poissonnerie.

And it appears that "il y avait jadis, près du Petit-Pont et la prison du Petit-Châtelet, une ruelle appelée ruelle du Carneaux,92 qui conduisait au marché au poisson d'eau douce." This fish-market evidently occupied the site of the old annexe of the Hôtel-Dieu, and doubtless was in great requisition when the priory was inhabited by its fifty brethren.

Some years ago, when S. Julien was used as the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu, it formed a picturesque object from the hospital garden, and no doubt was often a great comfort to some of the patients, who found within its walls a peaceful spot where they could be alone, and out of turmoil of sick wards and their accompaniments. But when the old hospital was pulled down, the church's very existence was threatened, and for some years it seemed as if Paris would have one more vandalism to lament. Happily its demolition was prevented, and it has been restored to God's service, for the use of members of the Greek branch of the Church.

Many were the Julians canonized by the Early Church, and it is difficult to say to which saint this edifice was dedicated, although the fact of the relics of S. Julien de Brioude, who was martyred in 304, having been placed upon the left-hand side of the High Altar, seems to point to him as the patron. S. Julien was born at Vienne in Dauphiné about 270, and became a distinguished soldier in the Roman army; but having embraced Christianity, he was beheaded during the reign of Diocletian in 304, at Brioude in Auvergne, where he had taken refuge from his persecutors. There his remains were discovered by S. Germain d'Auxerre in 431, and forthwith the town became celebrated for the many cures performed at its miraculous well. "Est enim ad hunc fontem virtus eximia," said S. Grégoire of Tours; and Sidonius Apollinaris, who died in 489, also bears witness to the Saint's burial place in a letter to a friend who was travelling in Auvergne: "Hic te suscipiet benigna Brivas Sancti quae fovet ossa Juliani." S. Grégoire, in his life of the Saint, gave a list of the churches dedicated to his memory; and although S. Julien le Pauvre is not enumerated, it would seem that it must have been one of them, as he speaks of lodging in a house attached to the little basilica, when he came to Paris, and called it S. Julien the Martyr: "His diebus Parisius adveneram et ad Basilicam Beati Juliani martyris metam habebam."

Another S. Julien was a confessor, and first bishop of Mans. He was a Roman by birth, and upon being consecrated, was sent by Pope Clement to convert the Cenomans. He arrived at Suindinum (Le Mans) while the town was besieged and deprived of water. Entering it, he caused water to spring from the ground, and henceforth the well was called Sanct-nomius, or fountain of S. Julien. The bishop worked in his diocese over 40 years, and then retired to S. Marceau, where he died in 117, his decease being revealed in a vision to his first convert, a Gaul, surnamed Le Défenseur, who caused the Saint's body to be carried back to Le Mans, and buried with great pomp at Notre-Dame du Pré. In 840 it was translated to the cathedral, where many miracles were wrought. S. Julien is generally represented destroying a dragon, symbolizing paganism, or accompanied by a young girl carrying a pitcher of water, an allegory of the miraculous well. This connection of different Saints of the same name with wells is curious, and makes it difficult to decide the patronage of S. Julien le Pauvre; for there also are two wells, one the so-called "miraculous," just outside the eastern apse of the church, and another outside one of the windows of the 17th century façade. If, as many authorities think, the old 13th century west front occupied a space in advance of the present one, this well may have been originally inside the church, an arrangement frequently adopted by Mediæval architects, and still existing in some of our old churches. There is one of exquisite beauty in the south aisle of Regensburg Cathedral, and at Coutances there are two in the transepts. S. Germain des Prés also had its miraculous well, but it is now closed up. There is yet another one at the corner of Rues S. Jacques and S. Séverin, which formerly bore the name of Julien, but is now re-christened S. Séverin. It was re-constructed in the 17th century and bore the following inscription by the poet Santeuil:

DUM SCANDUNT JUGA MONTIS ANHELO PECTORE NYMPHÆ,HIC UNA E SOCIIS VALLIS AMORE SEDET.

Which is prettily rendered by d'Amaury Duval: "Tandis que les nymphes, haletantes, montent vers le sommet de la montagne, l'une d'elles, éprise de la beauté du vallon, y fixe sa demeure."