■M. y 
 
 LIBRARY OF 
 
 DALHOUSiE UNIVERSITY 
 
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 PARIS 
 
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// is proposed to issue the Guides of this 
 series in the followini^ probable order : — 
 
 PARIS. 
 FLORENCE. 
 
 [Ready. 
 
 CITIES OF BELGIUM— Bruges, Ghent, 
 Brussels, Antwerp. \^In preparation. 
 
 VENICE. 
 
 MUNICH. 
 
 CITIES OF NORTH ITALY-Milan, 
 Verona, Padua, Bologna, Ravenna. 
 
 DRESDEN (with Nuremberg, etc.). 
 
 ROME, Pagan and Christian. 
 
 CITIES OF NORTHERN FRANCE- 
 
 Rouen, Amiens, Blois, Tours, Orleans. 
 
 Each 3s. 6d. net, of all Booksellers, Post Free. 
 
 ! I 
 
\ 
 
 GRANT ALLEN'S HISTORICAL 
 
 GUIDES 
 
 PARIS 
 
 
 ep- 
 
 LONDON: GRANT RICHARDS 
 
 9 HENRIETTA STREET 
 
 COVENT GARDEN 
 
 1897 
 
 I 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE object and plan of Uicse Historical Handbooks is 
 somewhat different from that of any other guides at 
 present before the public. They do not compete or clash 
 with such existing works ; they arc rather intended to 
 supplement than to supplant them. My purpose is not to 
 direct the stranger through the streets and squares of an 
 unknown town towards the buildings or sights which he 
 may desire to visit ; still less is it my design to give him 
 practical information about hotels, cab fares, omnibuses, tram- 
 ways, and other every-day material conveniences. For such 
 details, the traveller must still have recourse to the trusty 
 pages of his Baedeker, his Joanne, or his Murray. I desire 
 rather to supply the tourist who wishes to use his travel as a 
 means ot culture with such historical and antiquarian in- 
 formation as will enable him to understand, and therefore to 
 enjoy, the architecture, sculpture, painting, and minor arts of 
 the towns he visits. In one word, it is my object to give the 
 reader in a very compendious form the result of all those 
 inquiries which have naturally suggested themselves to my 
 own mind during thirty-five years of foreign travel, the solution 
 of which has cost myself a good deal of research, thought, and 
 labour, beyond the facts which I could find in the ordinary 
 handbooks. 
 
 For several years past I have devoted myself to collecting 
 and arranging p->aterial for a set of books to embody the idea 
 
4 INTRODUCTION 
 
 I had thus entertained. I earnestly hope they may meet a 
 want on the part of tourists, especially Americans, who, so far 
 as my experience goes, usually come to Europe with an honest 
 and reverent desire to learn from the Old World whatever of 
 value it has to teach them, and who are prepared to take an 
 amount of pains in turning their trip to good account which 
 is both rare and praiseworthy. For such readers I shall call 
 attention at times to other sources of information. 
 
 These guide-books will deal more particularly with the Great 
 Towns where objects of art and antiquity are numerous. 
 In every one of them, the general plan pursued will be some- 
 what as follows. First will come the inquiry why a town ever 
 gathered together at all at that particular spot — what induced 
 the aggregation of human beings rather there than elsewhere. 
 Next, we shall consider why that town grew to social or political 
 importance and what were the stages by which it assumed its 
 present shape. Thirdly, we shall ask why it gave rise to that 
 higher form of handicraft which we know as Art, and towards 
 what particular arts it especially gravitated. After that, we 
 shall take in detail the various strata of its growth or develop- 
 ment, examining the buildings and works of art which they 
 contain in historical order, and, as far as possible, tracing the 
 causes which led to their evolution. In particular, we shall 
 lay stress upon the origin and meaning of each structure as 
 an organic whole, and upon the allusions or symbols which 
 its fabric embodies. 
 
 A single instance will show the method upon which I intend 
 to proceed better than any amount of general description. 
 A church, as a rule, is built over the body or relics of a 
 particular saint, in whose special honour it was originally 
 erected. That saint was usually one of great local importance 
 at the moment of its erection, or was peculiarly implored 
 
INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 .%^1inst plajjue, foreign enemies, or some other pressing and 
 dreaded misfortune. In dealing with such a church, then, 1 
 endeavour to show what were the circumstances which led to 
 Ml its erection, and what memorials of these circumstances it still 
 
 i retains. In other cases it may derive its origin from some 
 special monastic body — Benedictine, Dominican, Franciscan — 
 and may therefore be full of the peculiar symbolism and his- 
 
 '' torical allusion of the order who founded it. Wherever I have 
 
 to deal with such a church, I try as far as possible to exhibit 
 
 i the effect which its orij^in had upon its architecture and decora- 
 
 I tion ; to trace the image of the patron saint in sculpture or 
 stained glass throughout the fabric ; and to set forth the con- 
 nection of the whole design with time and place, with order 
 and purpose. In short, instead of looking upon monuments 
 of the sort mainly as the product of this or that architect, I 
 look upon them rather as material embodiments of the spirit 
 of the age — crystallizations, as it were, in stone and bronze, in 
 form and colour, of great popular enthusiasms. 
 
 By thus concentrating attention on what is essential and 
 important in a town, I hope to give in a comparatively short 
 space, though with inevitable conciseness, a fuller account than 
 IS usually given of the chief architectural and monumental 
 works of the principal art-cities. In dealing with Paris, for 
 example, I shall have little to say about such modern con- 
 structions as the Champs Elysces or the Eiffel Tower ; still 
 less, of course, about the Morgue, the Catacombs, the waxworks 
 of the Musee Grevin, and the celebrated Excursion in the Paris 
 Sewers. The space thus saved from vulgar wonders I shall 
 hope to devote to fuller explanation of Notre- Dame and the 
 Sainte Chapelle, of the mediiEval carvings or tapestries of 
 Cluny, and of the pictures or sculptures m the galleries of the 
 Louvre. Siniilarly in Florence, whatever I save from descrip- 
 
 I 
 
 
6 INTRODUCTION 
 
 tion of the Calcine and even of the Ijcautiful Viale dei Colli 
 (where explanation is needless and word-painting superfluous), 
 I shall give up to the IJargello, the Ufifizi, and the 1 itti Palace. 
 The passing life of the moment does not enter into my plan ; 
 I regard each town I endeavour to illustrate manly as a 
 museum of its own history. 
 
 For this reason, too, I shall devote most attention in every 
 case to what is locally illustrative, and less to what is merely 
 adventitious and foreign. In Paris, for instance, I shall have 
 more to say about truly Parisian art and history, as embodied 
 in St. Denis, the tie de la Cite, and the shrine of Ste. Genevieve, 
 than about the Egyptian and Assyrian collections of the Louvre. 
 In Florence, again, I shall deal rather with the Etruscan re- 
 mains, with Giotto and Fra Angelico, with the Uuomo and the 
 Campanile, than with the admirable Memlincks and Rubenses 
 of the Uffizi and the Pitti, or with the beautiful Van der Goes 
 of the Hospital of Santa Maria. In liruges and Brussels, 
 once more, I shall be especially Flemish ; in the Rhine towns, 
 Rhenish ; in Venice, Venetian. I shall assign a due amount 
 of space, indeed, to the foreign collections, but I shall call 
 attention chiefly to those monuments or objects which are of 
 entirely local and typical value. 
 
 As regards the character of the information given, it will be 
 mainly historical, antiquarian, and, above all, explanatory. 
 I am not a connoisseur — an adept in the difficult modern 
 science of distinguishing the handicraft of various masters, in 
 painting or sculpture, by minute signs and delicate inferential 
 processes. In such matters, I shall be well content to follow 
 the lead of the most authoritative experts. Nor am I an art- 
 critic — a student versed in the technique of the studios and the 
 dialect of the modelling-room. In such matters, again, I shall 
 attempt little more than to accept the general opinion of the 
 
INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 most discriminative judges. What I aim at rather is to expound 
 the history and meaning of each work — to put the intelligent 
 reader in such a position that he may judge for himself of the 
 iesthetic beauty and success of the object before him. To 
 recognise the fact that this is a Perseus and Andromeda, that 
 a St. Barbara enthroned, the other an obscure episode in the 
 legend of St. Philip, is not art-criticism, but it is often an almost 
 indispensable prelude to the formation of a right and sound 
 judgment. We must know what the artist was trying to repre- 
 sent before we can feel sure what measure of success he has 
 attained in his representation. 
 
 For the general study of Christian art, alike in architecture, 
 sculpture, and painting, no treatises are more useful for the 
 tourist to carry with him for constant reference than Mrs. 
 Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art^ and Legends of the 
 Madonna (London, Longmans). For works of Italian art, both 
 in Italy and elsewhere, Kugler's Italian Schools of Painting is 
 an invaluable vade-mecutn. These books should be carried 
 about by everybody everywhere. Other works of special and 
 local importance will occasionally be noticed under each par- 
 ticular city, church, or museum. 
 
 I cannot venture to hope that handbooks containing such 
 a mass of facts as these will be wholly free from errors and 
 misstatements, above all in early edition^. I can only beg 
 those who may detect any such to point them out, without 
 unnecessary harshness, to the author, care of the publisher, 
 and if possible to assign reasons for any dissentient opinion. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction .... 
 IIow TO Use these Guide-Books 
 Origins of Paris .... 
 
 I The Ile de la Cite . 
 
 A. The Palais de Justice and the Sainte 
 
 B. Notre-Dame .... 
 Map of Historic Paris . 
 
 II The Left or South Bank. 
 
 A. The Roman Palace and the Musce 
 
 B. The Ilill of Ste. Genevieve 
 
 III Renaissance Paris (The Louvre) 
 
 A. The Fabric . 
 
 B. The Collections 
 
 I. Paintings 
 II. Scidpture 
 
 1. Antique Sculpture . 
 
 2. Renaissance Sculpture 
 
 3. Modern Sculpture . 
 III. The Smaller Collections. 
 
 IV The North Bank (Rive Droite) 
 
 A. The Core of the Right Bank . 
 
 B. The Outer Ring of Louis XIW 
 
 V The Faitbouro St. Germain 
 
 VI St. Denis 
 
 VII The Outer Ring, Etc. 
 
 Chr 
 
 pelle 
 
 eCh 
 
 ny 
 
 PAGE 
 
 3 
 10 
 
 II 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 22 
 
 33 
 
 34 
 35 
 55 
 
 62 
 64 
 
 71 
 
 72 
 
 153 
 
 154 
 1 68 
 
 187 
 
 189 
 
 197 
 198 
 208 
 
 213 
 
 230 
 246 
 
HOW TO USE THESE GUIDE- 
 BOOKS 
 
 "^ I " HE portions of this hook intended to he read at 
 
 J- leisure at home, he/ore proceeding to explore each 
 
 toivn or montinient, are enclosed in brackets \thus\. 
 
 The portion relatin<^ to each principal object should 
 
 be quietly read and di,\:esfed before a visit, and re- 
 
 fei'red to again aflericards. The portion to be read on 
 
 the spot is made as brief as possible, and is printed in 
 
 large legible type, so as to be easily read in the dim light of 
 
 churches, chapels, and galleries. 77/^^ key = note yvor As are 
 
 printed in bold type, to catch the eye. Where objects are 
 
 ?iumhered, the numbers used are always those of the latest 
 
 o/ficial catalogues. 
 
 Baedeker's Guides are so printed that each principal por- 
 tion can be detached entire from the volume. The traveller 
 who uses Baedeker is advised to carry in his pocket one 
 such portion, referring to the place he is then visiting, to- 
 gether 7vith the plan of the town, while carrying this hook 
 ifi his hand. These Guides do not profess to supply prac- 
 tical i?iformation. 
 
 Individual works of merit are distinguished by an aster- 
 isk (*) / those of very exceptional interest and merit liaise 
 two asterisks. Nothing is noticed in this hook which does 
 not seem to the writer worthy of attention. 
 
 See little at a time, and see it thoroughly. Never attempt 
 to ^^do" any place or any jnonument. By folloiving strictly 
 the order in which objects are noticed in this hook, you ivill 
 gain a conception of the historical evolution of the town 
 which you cannot obtain if you go about looking at churches 
 and palaces hap-hazard. The order is arranged, not quite 
 chrotwlogically, but on a definite plan, wJiich greatly facili- 
 tates comprehension of the subject. 
 
 to 
 
ORIGINS OF PARIS 
 
 PARIS is not, like Rome, London, Lyons, an inevitable 
 city. It does not owe its distinctive place, like New 
 York, Chicago, San Francisco, Melbourne, to natural posi- 
 tion alone. Rather does it resemble Madrid or Berlin in 
 being in great part of artificial administrative origin. It 
 stands, no doubt, upon an important navigable river, the 
 Seine ; but its position upon that river, though near the 
 head of navigation, when jud,yed by the standard of early 
 times, is not exactly necessary or commanding. Rouen in 
 mediaeval days, Havre at the present moment, are the real 
 ports of the Seine. The site of Paris is in itself nothing more 
 than one among the many little groups of willow-clad alluvial 
 islets which are frequent along the upper reaches of the river. 
 The modern city owes its special development as a town, first 
 to its Roman conquerors, then to its bridges, next to its 
 mediaeval counts, last of all to the series of special accidents by 
 which those counts developed at last into kings of the nascent 
 kingdom of France, and inheritors of the traditions of the 
 Frankish sovereigns. It is thus in large part a royal residential 
 town, depending mainly for prosperity upon its kings, its nobles, 
 its courts of justice, its parliaments, its university, its clergy, and 
 its official classes ; comparatively little, till quite recent times, 
 upon the energy and industry of its individual citizens. We 
 say, as a rule, that Paris is the capital of France ; it would be 
 truer to say that France is the country which has grouped itself 
 under the rulers of Paris. 
 
 The name itself points back to the antiquity ot some human 
 'i^fgregation upon this particular spot. It is the name of a 
 tribe, «^/ that of their capital. The Parisii were a Celtic people 
 of comparatively small importance, who occupied the banks of 
 
 the Seine at the period of the Roman conquest. Their town or 
 
 II 
 
12 PARIS 
 
 stronghold, Lutetia, called distinctively Lutetia Parisiorum 
 (Lutetiaof the Parisii), was situated, says Ccesar, " in an island 
 of the river Sequana '— the same which is now called the lie de 
 la Cite. Two adjacent islands of the same alluvial type have 
 long since coalesced to form the lie St. Louis : a fourth, the lie 
 Louviers, is at present enclosed in the mainland of the northern 
 bank by the modern quays. 
 
 This stockaded island village of the Parisii was conquered 
 by the Romans in B.C. 53. Under Roman rule, it remained at 
 first an unimportant place, the really large towns of Gaul at 
 that time being Aries, Nimes, Marseilles, Bordeaux, and Lyons. 
 In the north, Treviri was the chief Roman settlement. Towards 
 the end of the Roman period, however, Paris seems to have 
 increased in importance, and overflowed a little from the island 
 to the south bank. The town owed its rapid rise, no doubt, to 
 the two Roman bridges which here crossed the two branches 
 of the Seine, probably on the same sites as the modern Petit- 
 Pont and Pont Notre-Uame. The river formed its highway. 
 Constantius Chlorus, who lived in (iaul from A.D. 292 to 306, is 
 supposed to have built in the faubourg on the south side the 
 palace of the Thermes, which now forms a part of the Museum 
 of Cluny. Julian certainly inhabited that palace in 360. The 
 town was known as Lutetia almost as long as the Roman power 
 lasted ; but after the Prankish invasion (and even in late Roman 
 times), the name of the tribe superseded that of the ancient 
 fortress : Lutetia became known as l\'uis, the stronghold of 
 the Parisii, just in the same way as the Turones gave their 
 name to Tours, the Ambiani to Amiens, and the Senones to 
 Sens. 
 
 After the occupation of Gaul by Clovis (Hlodwig), Paris sank 
 for a time to the position of a mere provincial town. The 
 Merwing (or Merovingian) kings, the successors of Clovis, 
 resided as a rule at Orleans or Soissons. The Prankish em- 
 perors and kiuijs of the line of Charlemagne, again (the Karlings 
 or Carlovingians), held their court for the most part at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle. The town by the Seine was so completely neglected 
 under later sovereigns of the Karling line (who were practically 
 Germans), that during the invasions of the Northmen from 841 
 to 885 it was left entirely to its own resources. But its count. 
 
ORIGINS OF PARIS I3 
 
 Eudes, defended it so bravely from the northern pirates, that 
 he became the real founder of the French State, the first in- 
 augiirator of France as a separate country, distinct from the 
 Empire. His provincial city grew into the kernel of a mediccval 
 monarchy. From his time on, Paris emerges as the capital of 
 a struggling kingdom, small in extent at first, but gradually 
 growing till it attained the size which it now possesses. The 
 Teutonic King of the Franks was reduced for a time to the 
 rocky fortress of Laon ; the Count of Paris became Duke of 
 the French, and then King of France in the modern accepta- 
 tion. 
 
 As the kingdom grew (absorbing by degrees Flanders, Nor- 
 mandy, Aquitaine, Provence, Champagne, and Burgundy), the 
 capital grew with it ; its limits at various times will be more 
 fully described in succeeding pages. From first to last, how- 
 ever, Paris preserved its character as rather the official and 
 administrative centre than the commercial emporium. Never- 
 theless, even under the Romans, its symbol was a ship. Its 
 double debt to the river and the monarchy is well symbolised 
 by its mediiuval coat of arms, which consists of a vessel under 
 full sail, surmounted by \.\\cJlcHr dc lis of the French kings, and 
 crested above by a mural crown. 
 
 So few remnants of Roman Paris exist at our day, that we 
 will begin our survey with the He de la Cite, the nucleus of the 
 mediicval town, leaving the scanty earlier relics to be noted later 
 on in their proper places. Put before we proceed to this detailed 
 description, two other facts of prime importance in the history 
 of old Paris must be briefly mentioned, because without them 
 the character of the most ancient buildings in the city cannot 
 be properly understood. These two facts— even if mythical, yet 
 facts none the less — are the histories of the two great patron 
 saints of the early burghers. It is not too much to say that to 
 the mediicval Parisian, Paris appeared far less as the home of 
 the kings or the capital of the kingdom than as the shrine of 
 5t. Denis and the city of Ste. Genevieve. 
 
 Universal tradition relates that St. Denis was the first 
 preacher of Christianity in Paris. lie is said to have suffered 
 martyrdom there in the year 270. As the apostle and evange- 
 list of the town, he was deeply venerated from the earliest 
 
14 PARIS 
 
 times ; but later legend immensely increased his vogue and 
 his sanctity. On the one hand, he was identified with Dionysius 
 the Areopagite ; on the other hand, he was said to have walked 
 after his decapitation, bearing his head in his hand, from his 
 place of martyrdom on the hill of Montmartre (Mons Martyrum), 
 near the site from which the brand-new church of the Sacre 
 CcEur now overlooks the vastly greater modern city, to a spot two 
 miles away, where a pious lady buried him. On this spot, a 
 chapel is said to have been erected as early as a.d. 275, within 
 five years of his martyrdom ; later, Ste. (ienevi6ve, assisted by 
 the people of Paris, raised a church over his remains on the 
 same site. In the reign of King Dagobert, the sacred body was 
 removed to the Abbey of St. Denis (see later), which became 
 the last resting-place of the kings of France. It is probable 
 that the legend of the saint having carried his head from Mont- 
 martre arose from a misunderstanding of images of the decapi- 
 tated bishop, bearing his severed head in his hands as a symbol 
 of the mode of his martyrdom ; but the tale was universally 
 accepted as true in mediiuval days, and is still so accepted by 
 devout Parisians. Images of St. Denis, in episcopal robes, 
 carrying his mitred head in his hands, may be looked for on all 
 the ancient buildings of the city. St. Uenis thus represents the 
 earliest patron saint of Paris — the saint of the primitive Church 
 and of the period of persecution. 
 
 The second patron saint of the city — the saint of the Prankish 
 conquest — is locally and artistically even more important. Like 
 Jeanne d'Arc, she touches the strong French sentiment of 
 patriotism. Ste. Genevieve, a peasant girl of Nanterre (on the 
 outskirts of Paris), was born in 431, during the stormy times of 
 the barbarian irruptions. When she was seven years old, St. 
 Germain, of Auxerre (of whom more will be said under the 
 church of St. Germain I'Auxerrois), on his way to Britain, saw 
 la pucellette Gencviive^ and became aware, by divine premoni- 
 tion, of her predestined glory. When she had grown to woman's 
 estate, and was a shepherdess at Nanterre, a barbarian leader 
 (identified in the legend with Attila, King of the Huns) 
 threatened to lay siege to the little city. But Genevieve, warned 
 of God, addressed the people, begging them not to leave their 
 homes, and assuring them of the miraculous protection of 
 
ORIGINS OF PARIS 
 
 15 
 
 heaven. And indeed, as it turned out, the barbarians, without 
 any obvious reason, changed their hne of march, and avoided 
 Paris. Again, when Childeric, the father of Clovis, invested the 
 city, the people suffered greatly from sickness and famine. 
 Then Genevieve took command of the boats which were sent 
 up stream to Troyes for succour, stilled by her prayers the 
 frequent tempests, and brought the ships back laden with pro- 
 visions. After the Franks had captured Paris, Ste. Genevieve 
 carried on Roman traditions into the Frankish court ; she was 
 instrumental in converting Clovis and his wife Clotilde ; and 
 when she died, at eighty-nine, a natural death, she was buried 
 by the side of her illustrious disciples. The history of her body 
 will be given at length when we come to examine her church on 
 the South Side, commonly called the Pantheon ; but her image 
 may frequently be recognised on early buildings by the figure 
 of a devil at her side, endeavouring in vain (as was his wont) to 
 extinguish her lighted taper — the taper, no doubt, of Roman 
 Christianity, which she did not allow to be quenched by the 
 Frankish invaders. 
 
 Round these two sacred personages the whole art and history 
 of early Paris continually cluster. The beautiful figure of the 
 simple peasant enthusiast, Ste. Genevieve, in particular, has 
 largely coloured Parisian ideas and Parisian sympathies. Her 
 shrine still attracts countless thousands of the faithful. 
 
 Having premised these facts, we are now in a position to 
 commence our survey of the city. I strongly recommend the 
 reader to visit the various objects of interest in the exact order 
 here prescribed. Otherwise, he will not understand the various 
 allusions to points already elucidated. But no necessary 
 organic connection exists between the collections of the 
 Louvre and the town in which they are housed. Therefore, 
 they may be visited off and on at any time (see Introduction to 
 the Collections in Part III). Utilize rainy days in the 
 Oalleries of the Louvre. 
 
I 
 
 THE ILE DE LA CITE 
 
 F'' I ^HE lie clc la Cite, the oldest Paris, consisted in the 
 L X Middle Ages of a labyrinth of narrow and tortuous 
 lanes, now entirely replaced by large and stately modern 
 official buildings. In Roman and Frankish times, it com- 
 prised the whole of the town, save a small suburb extend- 
 ing as far as the present Museum of Cluny, on the South 
 Side. Among its sunless alleys, however, in later medi- 
 aeval days, numerous churches raised their heads, of which 
 Notre=Dame and the Sainte Chapelle alone now remain ; 
 while others, dedicated to the oldest local saints, such as Ste. 
 Genevicve-des-Ardents, St. Kloy, and St. Germaui-le-Vieu\, have 
 been entirely destroyed. The west extremity of the island was 
 formerly occupied by the old Royal Palace, parts of which 
 still survive, included in the buildings of the modern Palais de 
 Justice. On the east end stood the cathedral of Notre-Dame, 
 with the episcopal palace in its rear ; while, close by, rose the 
 earliest hospital in Europe, the Hotel- Dieu, said to have been 
 originally founded by Clovis, and now represented by a vastly 
 larger modern building on a different site. As the burgesses 
 began to shift their homes to the quarters north of the Seine, in 
 the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Cite was gradually 
 given over to the clergy. The kings also removed from the 
 Palace of the Capets to their new residences on the North Bank 
 (Bastille, Hotel Saint-Paul, old castle of the Louvre), and gave 
 up their island m.ansion to the Parlement or Supreme Court, 
 since which time it has been commonly known as the Palais 
 de Justice, and extensively modernised. At the present day, 
 the Cite has become the head-quarters of Law, Police, and 
 Religion, and is almost entirely occupied by huge official struc- 
 tures, which cover enormous areas, and largely conceal its. 
 
 10 
 
I.] 
 
 THE IlE DE la CITi 
 
 17 
 
 primitive character. It still contains, however, the most pre- 
 cious mediaeval monuments of P^aris. 
 
 At least two days should be devoted to the fie de la Cite; 
 one to the Palace and the Sainte Chapelle, another to the 
 Cathedral. Do not attempt to see them both together.] 
 
 A. THE PALAIS DE JUSTICE AND THE 
 SAINTE CHAPELLE 
 
 Go along the Rue de Rivoli as far as the Sc[uare of the Tour 
 St. Jacques. If driving, alight here. Turn down the Place du 
 Chatelet to your right. In front is the pretty modern fountain 
 of the Chatelet : right, the Theatre du Chatelet ; left, the Opera 
 Comique. The bridge which faces you is the Pont-au-Change, 
 so-called from the money-changers' and jewellers' booths which 
 once flanked its wooden predecessor (the oldest in Paris), as 
 they still do the Rialto at \'enice, and the Ponte Vecchio at 
 Florence. 
 
 Stand by the right - hand corner of the bridge before 
 crossing it. In front is the He de la Cite. The square, dome- 
 crowned building opposite you to the left is the modern Tribu- 
 nal de Commerce ; beyond it leftward lie the Marche-aux-Fleurs 
 and the long line of the Hotel-Dieu, above which rise the 
 towers and spire of Notre-Dame. In front, to the right, the 
 vast block of buildings broken l)y towers forms part of the 
 Palais de Justice, the ancient Palace of the French kings, 
 begun by Hugues Capet. The square tower to the left in this 
 block is the Tour de I'Horloge. Next, to the right, come the 
 two round towers of the Conciergerie, known respectively as 
 the Tour de Cesar and the Tour de Montgomery. The one 
 beyond them, with battlements, is the Tour d'Argent. It was 
 in the Conciergerie that Marie Antoinette, Robespierre, and 
 many other victims of the Revolution were imprisoned. 
 
 These mediaeval towers, much altered and modernized, are 
 now almost all that remains of the old Palace, which, till after 
 the reign of Louis IX (St. Louis), formed the residence of the 
 Kin^s of France. Charles VII gave it in 1431 to the Parle- 
 n\ent or Supreme Court. Ruined by fires and rebuilding, it 
 now consists for the most part of masses of irregular recent 
 
 B 
 
1 8 PARIS [r. 
 
 edifices. The main modern facade fronts the Boulevard 
 du Palais. 
 
 Cross the bridge. The Tour de I'Horloge on your right, at 
 the corner of the Boulevard du Palais, contains the oldest 
 public clock in France (1370). The figures of Justice and Piety 
 by its side were originally designed by Germain Pilon, but are 
 now replaced by copies. Walk round the Palais by the quay 
 along the north branch of the Seine till you come to the Rue de 
 Harlay. Turn there to your left, towards the handsome and 
 imposing modern facjade of this side of the Palais de Justice. 
 The interior is unworthy a visit. The Kue de Harlay forms the 
 westernmost end of the original lie de la Cite. The prow- 
 shaped extremity of the modern island has been artificially 
 produced by embanking the sites of two or three minor islets. 
 The Place Dauphine, which occupies the greater part of this 
 modern extension, was built in 1608 ; it still affords a character- 
 istic example of the domestic Paris of the period before Baron 
 Haussmann. Continue along the quay as far as the Pont-Neuf, 
 so as to gain an idea of the extent of the lie de la Cite in this 
 direction. The centre of the Pont-Neuf is occupied by an 
 equestrian statue of Henri IV, first of the pjourbon kings. Its 
 predecessor was erected in 1635, and was destroyed to make 
 cannon during the great Revolution. Louis XVIII re-erected 
 it. From this point you can gain a clear idea of the two 
 branches of the Seine as they unite at the lower end of the tie 
 de la Citd. To your right, looking westward, you also obtain a 
 fine view of the Colonnade of the Old Louvre, with the south- 
 western gallery, and the more modern buildings of the Museum 
 behind it. (See later.) 
 
 Now, walk along the southern quay of the island, round the 
 remainder of the Palais de Justice, as far as the Boulevard du 
 Palais. There turn to your left, and go in at the first door of 
 the Palace on the left (undeterred by sentries) into the court of 
 the 5ainte Chapelle, the only important relic now remaining 
 of the home of Saint Louis. You may safely neglect the 
 remainder of the building. 
 
 [The thirteenth century (age of the Crusades) was a period of 
 profound religious enthusiasm throughout Europe. Conspicu- 
 
'.] 
 
 THE Ile de la CI Tit 
 
 19 
 
 ous among its devout soldiers was Louis IX, afterwards 
 canonized as St. Louis. The saintly king purchased from 
 Baldwin, Empe)or of Constantinople, the veritable Crown of 
 Thorns, and a fragment of the True Cross— paying for these 
 relics an immense sum of money. Having become possessed 
 of such invaluable and sacred objects, Louis desired to have 
 them housed with suitable magnificence. He therefore en- 
 trusted one Pierre de Montereau with the task of building a 
 splendid chapel (within the precincts of his palace), begun in 
 1245, and finished three years later, immediately after which 
 the king set out on his Crusade. The monument thus breathes 
 throu;4hout the ecstatic piety of the mystic king ; it was conse- 
 crated in 124S, in the name of the Holy Cjown and the Holy 
 Cross, by Kudes de Chaleauroux, Bishop of Tusculum and 
 papal legate. 
 
 Three things should be noted about the Sainte Chapelle. 
 (i) It is a chapel, not a church ; therefore it consists (practi- 
 cally) of a choir alone, without nave or transepts. (2) It is the 
 domestic Chapel of the Royal Palace. (3) It is, above all 
 things, the 5hrine of the Crown of Thorns. These three 
 points must be constantly borne in mind in examining the 
 building. 
 
 Erected later than Notre- Dame, it represents the pointed 
 style of the middle of the thirteenth century, and is singularly 
 pure and uniform throughout. Secularized at the Revolution, 
 it fell somewhat into decay ; but was judiciously restored by 
 Viollet-le-Duc and others. The " Messe Rouge," or " Messe du 
 St. Esprit," is still celebrated here once yearly, on the re-open- 
 ing of the courts after the autumn vacation, but no other 
 religious services take place in the building. The Crown of 
 Thorns and the piece of the True Cross are now preserved 
 in the Treasury at Notre Dame. 
 
 Open daily, free, except Mondays, 1 1 to 4 or 5. Choose 
 a very bright day to visit it.] 
 
 Examine the exterior in detail from the court on the south 
 side. More even than most Gothic buildings, the Sainte 
 Chapelle is supported entirely by its massive piers, the wall 
 being merely used for enclosure, and consisting for the most 
 
20 PARIS [I. 
 
 part of lofty windows. As in most French Gothic buildings, 
 the choir terminates in a round apse, whereas English cathe- 
 drals have usually a sc|uare end. The beautiful light fleche 
 or spire in the centre has been restored. Observe the graceful 
 leaden angel, holding a cross, on the summit of the chevet or 
 round apse. To see the fa(;ade, stand well back opposite it, 
 when you can observe that the chapel is built in four main 
 stories, — those, namely, of the Lower Church or crypt, of the 
 Upper Church, of the j^rcat rose window (with later flamboyant 
 tracery), and of the gable-end, partially masked by an open 
 parapet studded with the royal fleurs-de-lis of France. The 
 Crown of Thorns surrounds the two pinnacles which flank the 
 fourth story. 
 
 The chapel consists of a lower and an upper church. The 
 Lower Church is a mere crypt, which was employed for the 
 servants of the royal family. Its portal has in its tympanumi (or 
 triangular space in the summit of the arch) the Coronation of 
 the Virgin, and on its centre pillar a good figure of the Madonna 
 and Child. Enter the Lower Church. It is low, and has pillars 
 supporting the floor above. In the polychromatic decoration of 
 the walls and pillars, notice the frequent repetition of the royal 
 lilies of France, combined with the three castles of Castille, in 
 honour of lilanche of Castille, the mother of St. Louis. 
 
 Mount to **the Upper Chapel (or Sainte Chapelle proper) by 
 
 the small spiral staircase in the corner. This soaring pile was 
 
 the oratory where the royal family and court attended service ; 
 
 its gorgeousness bespeaks its origin and nature. It glows like a 
 
 jewel. First go out of the door and examine the exterior and 
 
 doorway of the chapel. Its platform was directly approached 
 
 in early times from the Palace. The centre pillar bears a 
 
 fine figure of Christ. In the tympanum (as over the principal 
 
 doorway of almost every imi)ortant church in Paris and the 
 
 district) is a relief of the Last Judgment. Below stands St. 
 
 Michael with his scales, weighing the souls ; on either side 
 
 is depicted the Resurrection, with the Angels of the Last Trump. 
 
 Above, in the second tier, is Christ, holding up His hands with 
 
 the marks of the nails, as a sign of mercy to the redeemed : to 
 
 R and L of Him angels display the Crown of Thorns and the 
 
 True Cross, to contain which sacred relics the chapel was built. 
 
I] 
 
 THE IlE DE la CIT^ 
 
 21 
 
 Extreme L kneels the Blessed Vir^'in ; extreme R, Saintc 
 Genci^ve. This scene of the Last Judgment was adapted with 
 a few alterations from that above the central west door of Notre- 
 Dame, the Crown of Thorns in particular beinj,' here signifi- 
 cantly substituted for the three nails and spear. The small 
 lozenge reliefs to R and L of the portal are also interesting. 
 Those to the L represent in a very naive manner God the 
 Father creating the world, sun and moon, light, plants, animals, 
 man, etc. Those to the R give the story of Genesis, Cain and 
 Abel, the Flood, the Ark, Noah's Sacrifice, Noah's Vine, etc. ; 
 the subjects of all which the visitor can easily recognise, and is 
 strongly recommended to identify for himself. 
 
 The interior consists almost entirely of large and lofty win- 
 dows, with magniticent stained glass, in large part ancient. The 
 piers which divide the windows and alone support the graceful 
 vault of the roof, are provided with statues of the twelve 
 apostles, a few of them original. Each bears his well-known 
 symbol. Spell them out if possible. Beneath the windows, in 
 the quatrefoils of the arcade, are enamelled glass mosaics repre- 
 senting the martyrdoms of the saints — followers of Christ, each 
 wearing his own crown of thorns : a pretty conceit wholly in 
 accord with St. Louis's ecstatic type of piety. Conspicuous 
 among them are St. Denis carrying his head, St. Sebastian 
 pierced with arrows, St. Stephen stoned, St. Lawrence on his 
 gridiron, etc. Examine and identify each separately. The apse 
 (formerly separated from the body of the building by a rood- 
 screen, now destroyed) contains the vacant base of the high 
 altar, behind which stands an arcaded tabernacle, now empty, 
 in whose shrine were once preserved the Crown of Thorns, the 
 fragment of the True Cross, and other relics. Amongst them in 
 later times was included the skull of St. Louis himself in a 
 golden reliquary. Two angels at the summit of the large centre 
 arch of the arcade bear a representation of the Crown of Thorns 
 in their hands. Above the tabernacle rises a canopy or baldac- 
 chino, approached by two spiral staircases ; from its platform 
 St. Louis and his successors, the kings of France, were in the 
 habit of exhibiting with their own hands the actual relics them- 
 selves once a year to the faithful. The golden reliquary in 
 which the sacred objects were contained was melted down in the 
 
Revolution. The small window with bars to your R, as you 
 face the high altar, was placed there by the superstitious and 
 timid Louis XI, in order that he might behold the elevation of 
 the Host and the sacred relics without being exposed to the 
 danger of assassination. The visitor should also notice the 
 inlaid stone pavement, with its frequent repetition of the fleur- 
 de-lis and the three castles. The whole breathes the mysticism 
 of St. Louis : the lightness of the architecture, the height of the 
 apparently unsupported roof, and the magnificence of the decor- 
 ation, render this the most perfect ecclesiastical building in 
 Paris. 
 
 In returning from the chapel, notice on the outside, from the 
 court to the S., the apparently empty and useless porch, sup- 
 porting a small room, which is the one through whose grated 
 window Louis XI used to watch the elevation. 
 
 I would recommend the visitor on his way home from this 
 excursion to walk round the remainder of the tie de la Cite in 
 the direction of Notre- Dame, so as to gain a clear idea of the 
 extent of the island, without, however, endeavouring to examine 
 the cathedral in detail on this occasion. 
 
 Vary your artistic investigations by afternoons in the Bois de 
 Boulogne, Champs Elysdes, etc. 
 
 B. NOTRE-DAME 
 
 [In very early times, under the Frankish monarchs, the prin- 
 cipal church of Paris was dedicated to St. Stephen the Proto- 
 martyr. It stood on part of the site now covered by Notre- 
 Dame, and was always enumerated first among the churches of 
 the city. A smaller edifice, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin 
 Mary, also occupied a part of the site of the existing cathedral. 
 About the middle of the twelfth century, however, it was re- 
 solved to erect a much larger cathedral on the tie de la Cite, 
 suitable for the capital of so important a country as France had 
 become under Louis VI and Louis VII ; and since the cult of 
 the Blessed Virgin had then long been increasing, it was also 
 decided to dedicate the new building to Our Lady alone, to the 
 exclusion of St. Stephen. The two early churches were there- 
 fore cleared away by degrees, and in 1163 the work of erecting 
 
1 
 
 I.] THE !lE DE la CIT^. 23 
 
 the present church was begun under Bishop Maurice de Sully, 
 the first stone being laid by Pope Alexander III, in person. 
 The relics of St. Stephen were reverently conveyed to a new 
 church erected in his honour on the hill of Ste. Genevieve, south 
 of the river (now represented by St. Etienne-du-Mont, to be 
 described hereafter), and Our Lady was left in sole possession 
 of the episcopal edifice. Nevertheless, it would seem that the 
 builders feared to excite the enmity of so powerful a saint as 
 the Protomartyr ; for many memorials of St. Stephen remain 
 to this day in the existing cathedral, and will be pointed out 
 during the course of our separate survey. 
 
 Notre-Dame de Paris is an edifice in the Early French 
 Gothic style, the first great church in that style to be erected 
 in France, and the model on which many others were after- 
 wards based. Begun in 1163, it was consecrated in 1 182, but 
 the western front was not commenced till 12 18, and the nave 
 was only finished towards the middle of the 13th century. 
 Much desecrated in the Revolution, the cathedral has been on 
 the v/hole admirably restored. It stands at present lower than 
 it once did, owing to the gradual rise of the surrounding 
 ground ; formerly, it was approached by thirteen steps (the 
 regulation number, imitated from the Temple at Jerusalem). 
 It has two western towers, instead of one in the centre where 
 nave and transepts intersect, as is usual in England ; so have 
 all the cathedrals in France which imitate it. This peculiarity 
 is due to the fact that French (lothic aims especially at height, 
 and, the nave being raised so very high, a tower could not 
 safely be added above it. Other di..'jrences between English 
 and French Gothic will be pointed out in detail in the course 
 of our survey. 
 
 Though Notre-Dame was the first great building in Paris 
 proper, it must be borne in mind that the magnificent Basilica 
 of St. Denis, four miles to the north, and also the Abbey 
 Church of St. Germain-des-Pres, in the southern suburb, ante- 
 dated it by several years. 
 
 Recollect three things about Notre-Dame. (i) It is a church 
 of Our Lady: therefore, most of it bears reference to her cult 
 and legends. (2) It is the cathedral church of Paris: there- 
 fore, it is full of memorials of local saints— St. Denis, Ste. 
 
24 PARIS [I. 
 
 Genevi6ve, St. Marcel, Bishop of Paris, etc., amongst whom 
 must also be classed St. Stephen. (3) It is a royal church: 
 therefore it contains many reminders of the close alliance of 
 Church and State. Thus understood, Notre-Dame becomes an 
 epic in stone. 
 
 Open daily, all day long, free. Take your opera-glasses.] 
 
 Go along the Rue de Rivoli as far as the Square of the Tour 
 St. Jacques. Walk through the little garden. Notice, in pass- 
 ing, ■'^'the tower— all that now remains of the church of St. 
 Jacques-de-la- Boucherie — used at present as a meteorological 
 observatory. Turn down the Rue St. Martin to the Pont Notre- 
 Dame. In front, L, stands the Hotel-Dieu ; R, the Tribunal de 
 Commerce; centre, the Marche-aux-Pleurs ; at its back, the 
 Prefecture de Police. Continue straight along the Rue de la 
 Cite, passing, R, the main fai^ade of the modern Palais de 
 Justice (with a glimpse of the Ste. Chapelle) till you come to 
 the broad and open Place Notre-Dame (generally known by its 
 mediaeval name of the Parvis). Take a seat under the horse- 
 chestnuts on the north side of the Place, opposite the equestrian 
 statue of Charlemagne, in order to examine the facade of the 
 cathedral. 
 
 The **west front, dating from the beginning of the 13th 
 century (later than the rest), consists of two stories, flanked by 
 towers of four stories. The first story contains the three main 
 portals : L, the door of Our Lady ; centre, of her Son ; R, of her 
 Mother. On the Ijuttresses between them stand four statues : 
 extreme L, St. wStcphen ; extreme R, St. Marcel, Bishop of Paris 
 (a canonized holder of this very see) ; centre L, the Church, 
 triumphant ; centre R, the vSynagogue, dejected (representing 
 between them the Law and the (jospel). This first story is 
 crowned and terminated by the Galerie des Rois, containing 
 figures of the kings of Israel and Judah, ancestors of the 
 Blessed Virgin (others say, kings of France to the date of the 
 building), destroyed in the great Revolution, but since restored. 
 On the parapet above it stand, R and L, Adam and Eve ; 
 centre, Our Lady and Child with two adoring angels — the Fall 
 and the Redemption. The second story contains the great rose 
 window and two side-arches with double windows. The third 
 
I] 
 
 THE IlE DE la cite 
 
 25 
 
 story of the towers consists of a graceful open-work screen, 
 continued in front of the nave, so as to hide its ugly gable 
 (which is visible from further back in the Place), thus giving 
 the main front a fallacious appearance of having three stories. 
 The final or fourth story of the towers is pierced on each side 
 by two gigantic windows, adding lightness to their otherwise 
 massive block. The contemplated spires have never been 
 added. This faiiade has been copied with modifications in 
 many other French cathedrals. 
 
 Now approach the front, to examine in detail the ^'^great 
 portals, deeply recessed, as is usual in French cathedrals, owing 
 to the massive masonry of the towers. The left or 7iorthcrn 
 doorway — that of Our Lady (by which her church is usually 
 entered) bears on its central pier a statue of the Virgin and 
 Child ; beneath her feet are scenes from the temptation of Eve, 
 who brought into the world sin, and the first murderer Cain, as 
 C(. asted with her descendant, the Blessed Virgin, who 
 brought into the world the Redeemer of mankind. Over Our 
 Lady's head, a tabernacle, representing the relics preserved 
 within. In the tympanum, first tier, L, three patriarchs ; R, 
 three kings, typifying the ancestors of the Blessed Virgin. 
 Above, second tier, the Entombment of the Virgin, placed in 
 her sarcophagus by angels, and attended by the apostles with 
 their familiar symbols. Higher still, third tier, the Coronation 
 of the Virgin, in the presence of her vSon, with adoring angels. 
 The whole thus represents the (llory of Our Lady. At the 
 sides below, life-size figures ; extreme L, Constantine, first 
 Christian Emperor ; extreme R, Pope Silvester, to whom he is 
 supposed to have given the patrimony of St. Peter — the two 
 representing the union of Church and State. Next to these the 
 great local saints : L, St. Denis, bearing his head, and guided 
 by two angels ; R, St. John Baptist, St. Stephen, and Ste. Gene- 
 vieve, with the devil endeavouring to extinguish her taper, and 
 a sympathizing angel. The figures on the arch represent spec- 
 tators of the Coronation of the Virgin. Minor subjects— signs 
 of the Zodiac, Months, etc. — I leave to the ingenuity and skill 
 of the reader. The * centre doorway (commonly called the 
 Porte du Jugement) is that of the Redeemer, Our Lady's Son ; 
 on its central pier, fine modern figure of Christ blessing ; above, 
 
20 PARIS [I. 
 
 in the tympanum, the usual Last Judgment. First tier (modern), 
 the General Resurrection, with angels of the last trump, and 
 kings, queens, bishops, knights, etc., rising from their tombs ; 
 conspicuous among them is naturally St. Stephen. Second tier, 
 St. Michael the Archangel weighing souls, with devils and angels 
 in waiting, the devils cheating ; R, the wicked (on Christ's left) 
 hauled in chains to hell ; L, the saints (on His right) ascending 
 to glory. On the summit, third tier, the New Jerusalem, with 
 Christ enthroned, showing His wounds in mercy, flanked by 
 adoring angels holding the cross, spear, and nails ; L, the 
 Blessed Virgin, patroness of this church ; and R, Ste. Genevi6ve, 
 patroness of Paris, interceding for their votaries. (Last figure is 
 usually, but I think incorrectly, identified as St. John the Evan- 
 gelist, who has no function on a Parisian Cathedral.) This 
 relief, closely copied at the Ste. Chapelle, is itself imitated from 
 one at St. Denis. On the lintels the Wise (l) and Foolish (r) 
 Virgins ; Land Ron jambs, life-size figures of the Twelve Apostles, 
 with their usual symbols. Observe the beautiful ironwork ot 
 the hinges. The third or southern portal, that of St. Anne— the 
 Mother of the Virgin —contains older work than the other 
 two, replaced from the earlier church on the same site. The 
 style of the figures is therefore Romanesque, not Gothic ; so is 
 the architecture represented in them. On the centre pier, St. 
 Marcel, Bishop of Paris. Above, tympanum, history of St. 
 Anne ; first tier, centre, the meeting of Joachim and Anna at the 
 Golden Gate ; L, Marriage of the Virgin ; R, her Presentation by 
 St. Anne in the Temple, etc. Second tier, the Nativity, and the 
 visit of the Magi to Herod ; at the summit, third tier. Madonna 
 enthroned, with adoring angels, a king, and a bishop — Church 
 and State once more identified. The work on this doorway 
 much resembles that at St. Denis. Magnificent iron hinges, 
 brought from old St. Stephen's. 
 
 Walk round the quay on the South side to examine the body 
 of the church. Notice the lofty Nave, and almost equally 
 lofty Aisles, with (later) side-chapels built out as far as the level 
 of the Transept ; also, the flying buttresses. As in most French 
 churches, the transepts are short, and project but little from 
 the aisles. The South Transept has a good late fai^ade with 
 two rose windows. Its portal — ill visible — is dedicated (in 
 
I] 
 
 THE IlE DE la cite 
 
 27 
 
 compensation) to the displaced St. Stephen, and contains on 
 the pier a figure of the saint, robed, as usual, as a deacon ; in 
 the tympanum are reliefs of his preaching, martyrdom, death, 
 and glorification, Note, to the R, a small relief of St. Martin 
 of Tours dividing his cloak with the beggar. 
 
 Enter the little garden further east, which occupies the site 
 of the former archeveche, in order to observe the character- 
 istic French form of the choir — a lofty and narrow apse, with 
 apsidal aisles and circular chapels added below, the whole 
 forming what is called a chcvct. The light flying buttresses 
 which support the soaring and slender choir add greatly to the 
 beauty and picturesqueness of the building. Pretty modern 
 Gothic fountain. Quit the garden and continue round the 
 Northern side of the Cathedral. The first (small) door at which 
 we arrive — the Porte Rouge — admits the canons. It is a late 
 addition, built in 1407 by Jean sans Peur, Duke of Burgundy, 
 in expiation of his murder of the Duke of Orleans ; the donor 
 and his wife kneel on each side of the Coronation of the Virgin 
 in the tympanum. Notice here the gargoyles and the graceful 
 architecture of the supports to the buttresses. The second 
 (larger) door— the Portail du Cloitre, so called from the cloisters 
 long demolished — in the North Transept contains a good 
 statue of the Madonna on the pier ; above, in the tympanum, 
 confused figures tell obscurely the legend of the monk Theo- 
 philus, who sold his soul to the devil. Stand opposite this 
 door, on the far pavement, to observe the architecture of the 
 North Transept. The best point of view for the whole body of 
 the cathedral, as distinct from \\\^ fa(^ade^ can be obtained from 
 the Quai de Montebello on the south side of the river. 
 
 To visit the interior, enter by the L, or northern door of the 
 |/afrtrt'(?— that of Our Lady. The lofty nave is flanked by double 
 aisles, all supported by powerful piers. Walk across the church 
 and notice all five vistas. Observe the height and the delicate 
 arches of the triforium, or pierced gallery of the second story, as 
 well as the windows of the clerestory above it -the part of the 
 nave which rises higher than the aisles, and opens freely to the 
 exterior. Walk down the outer R aisle. The side-chapels, 
 each dedicated to a separate saint, contain the altars and 
 [statues of their patrons. Notice the shortness of the Transepts, 
 
28 PARIS [I. 
 
 with their great rose windows ; observe also the vaulting of 
 the roof, especially at the intersection of the four main arms of 
 the building. The entrance to the choir and ambulatory is in 
 the R or s Transept. Close by, near the pillar, Notre-Dame 
 de Paris, the wonder-working mediaeval statue of Our Lady. 
 The double aisles are continued round the choir, which is 
 separated from them by a wall and gateways. Approach the 
 brass grills, in order to inspect the interior of the choir, whose 
 furniture was largely modernised and ruined by Louis XIV, in 
 accordance with a misguided vow of his father. Chapels sur- 
 round the ambulatory, many of them with good glass windows 
 and tolerable frescoes. The chapel at the end is that of Our 
 Lady of the Seven Sorrows. 
 
 V>y far the most interesting object in the interior, however, is 
 the series of ^'^^ high reliefs in stone, gilt and painted (on the 
 wall between choir and ambulatory), executed early in the 14th 
 century by Jehan Ravy and his nephew, Jehan de Bouteillier, 
 which, though inferior in merit to those in the same position in 
 Amiens cathedral, arc admirable examples of animated and 
 vigorous French sculpture of their period. The series begins 
 on the N side of the choir, at the point most remote from the 
 grill which leads to the Transept. The remaining subjects (for 
 some, like the Annunciation, are destroyed) comprise the 
 Visitation; Adoration of the Shepherds; Nativity ; Adoration of 
 the Magi (note the Three Kings, representing the three ages of 
 man ; the oldest, as usual, has removed his crown, and is offer- 
 ing his gift) ; the Massacre of the Innocents ; the Flight into 
 Egypt (where a grotesque little temple, containing two odd 
 small gods, quaintly represents the prevalence of idolatry); 
 the Presentation in the Temple ; Christ among the Doctors ; 
 the Baptism in Jordan (with attendant angel holding a towel) ; 
 the Miracle at Cana ; the Entry into Jerusalem (with Zacchicus 
 in the tree, and the gate of the city) ; the Last Supper ; the 
 Washing of the Apostles' feet ; and the Agony in the Garden. 
 The tourist should carefully examine all these subjects, the 
 treatment of which strikes a keynote. Siinilar scenes, almost 
 identical in their figures, will be found in alDundance at Cluny 
 and elsewhere. Note, for example, the symbolical Jordan in 
 the Baptism, with St. John pouring water from a cup, and the 
 
I.] 
 
 THE ILE DE LA CITE 
 
 29 
 
 attendant angel, all of which we shall often recognise here- 
 after. 
 
 The series is continued on the other (s) side of the choir (a 
 little later in date, with names in Latin underneath ; better 
 modelled, but neither so quaint nor so vigorous). The subjects 
 begin by the grill of the South Transept, with the " Noli me 
 tangere"or Apparition to Mary Magdalen (Christ as a gar- 
 dener) ; the Apparition to the Marys ; to Simon Peter ; to the 
 Disciples at Emmaus (dressed as medi;eval pilgrims) ; to the 
 Eleven Apostles ; to the Ten and Thomas ; to the Eleven by 
 the sea of Tiberias ; to the Disciples in Galilee ; and on the 
 Mount of Olives. The intervening and remaining subjects — 
 Scourging, Crucifixion, Ascension, etc. — were ruthlessly des- 
 troyed by Louis XIV, in order to carry out his supposed im- 
 provements in accordance with the vow of his father, Louis 
 XIII. The woodwork of the choir-stalls, executed by his 
 order, is celebrated, and uninteresting. You may omit it. 
 The Treasury contains little of artistic value. The Crown of 
 Thorns still figures in its inventory. 
 
 Leave the Choir by the door by which you entered it, and 
 seat yourself for a while at the intersection of the Nave and 
 Transepts, in order to gain a good idea of the Apse, the Choir, 
 and the general arrangement of the shortly cruciform building. 
 Observe the beautiful vaulting of the roof, and the extent to 
 which the church is borne on its piers alone, the intervening 
 walls (pierced by windows and triforium-arches) being intended 
 merely for purposes of enclosure. Note also the fine ancient 
 glass of the rose windows. Quit the church by the North or 
 Left Aisle, and come back to il often. 
 
 Those who are not afraid of a spiral staircase, mostly well 
 lighted, should ascend the Left or North Tower (tickets fifty 
 cents, each, at the base of the tower). Stop near the top to 
 inspect the gallery, with the famous birds and demons. The 
 view hence embraces from the front the Tower of St. Jacques ; be- 
 hind it, the hill of Montmartre, with the white turrets and cupolas 
 of the church of the Sacre Cceur ; a little to the L, St. Eustache ; 
 then the Tribunal de Commerce ; St. Augustin ; the Louvre ; 
 the roof of the Ste. Chapelle ; the Arc de Triomphe ; the twin 
 towers of the Trocadcro ; the EifTel Tower ; the gilded dome of 
 

 d.0 
 
 fAKIS 
 
 l>- 
 
 the Invalides ; St. Sulpice, etc. The lie de la Cite is well seen 
 hence as an island. Note also the gigantic size of the open 
 screen, which looked so small from below. Ascend to the top. 
 Good general panorama of the town and valley. This is the 
 best total view of Paris, far superior to that from the Eiffel 
 Tower, being so much more central. 
 
 Return by the Pont d'Arcole (whence you get a capital notion 
 of the bifurcation of the Seine around the He St. Louis), and 
 then pass the modern H6tel-de-Ville, with St. Gervais behind 
 it, on your way home to the Rue de Rivoli. 
 
I. 
 
/ 
 
 
MAP OF HISTORIC PARIS. 
 
 This Map repn'sents approximately the growth oj Paris^ out- 
 side the island, at different epochs, liar Her l)i{ildini!^s are printed 
 in black ; later streets and edifices are shown by means of dotted 
 lines. But the Map does not i-epresent the aspect of Paris at 
 any one time ; it merely illustrates this Guide: thus., the original 
 CJuiteau of the Louvre is marked in black; the later Palace is 
 dotted; whereas the Madeleine., a much more modern buildin^^ 
 than the Louvre of Franqois /, is again inserted in black., be- 
 cause it does not interfere with the site of any )nore ancient 
 building. In very early times the to%un spread south as far only 
 as Cluny., and north (Just opposite the is I a nil) as far as the Rue 
 de Rivoli. The subsequent walls are marked approximately on 
 the Map., with the chief edifices enclosed by them. The fortifica- 
 tions of Louis Kill were demolished by Louis XIV., who sub- 
 stituted for them the broad streets still known as the Boulevards 
 This Map shoios, roughly speaking., the extent of Paris under 
 Louis XIV ; by comparing it with Baedeker's Map of Modern 
 Paris., the small relative size of the \yth-century town will be at 
 [ once appreciated. JVevertheless, the inner nucleus here mapped 
 lout contains almost everything worthy of note in the existing 
 
II 
 
 THE LEFT OR SOUTH BANK 
 
 V'^ I ^HE earliest overflow of Paris was from the tie de la 
 L J. Cite to the Left or South Bank (AVtv Gauche). 
 
 The reason for this overflow is clear. The city was situated 
 on a small island, near the head of navigation ; it guarded 
 the passage of the Seine by the double bridge. Naturally, 
 however, at a time when all civilization lay to the south, as 
 the town began to grow, it spread southward, towards Rome, 
 Lyons, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Aries, Nimes, and 
 the Roman culture. To the north at that time lay nothing 
 but comparative barbarism— the Britons and the Germans ; 
 or later, the English, the Normans, and the Teutonic hordes. 
 Hence, from a very early date, Paris first ran southward 
 along the road to Rome. Already in Roman times, here 
 stood the palace of Constantius Chlorus and Julian, now the 
 Thermes — the fortress which formed the tcte du pout for the 
 city. Later, the southern suburb became the seat of learning 
 and law ; it was known by the name which it still in part 
 retains of the Universite, but is oftener now called the Quarticr 
 Latin. At first, however, only a small portion of the Left Bank 
 was built over. But gradually the area of the new town spread 
 from the immediate neighbourhood of the old Hotel-Dieu, with 
 its church or chapel of St. Julien-le-Pauvre, to the modern limit 
 of the Boulevard St. Germain ; and thence again, by the time 
 of Louis Quatorze, to the further Boulevards just south of the 
 Luxembourg. It is interesting to note, too, that all this 
 southern side, long known as the Universite, still retains its 
 position as the learned district. Not only does it include the 
 students' region — the Quartier Latin — with many of the chief 
 artistic studios, but it embraces in particular the Sorbonne, or 
 
 34 
 
II.] 
 
 THE LEFT OR SOUTH BANK 
 
 35 
 
 ' 
 
 University, the Institute of France, with its various branches 
 (Academic Fran^aise, Acaclcmie cles Inscriptions et Belles- 
 Lettres, Academic des Sciences, des Beaux-Arts, etc.), the 
 Ecoie des Beaux- Arts, the Lcole de Medicine, the College de 
 France, the Lycees St. Louis, Louis-le-Cirand, and Henri IV, 
 the Kcole I'olytechnique, the Kcole des Mmes, the Biblioth^que 
 Ste. (ienevieve, the Jardin des I'lantes, and the Luxembourg 
 Museum of Modern Paintings. In short, the Left Bank repie- 
 sents literary, scientific, artistic, and educational Paris— the 
 students in law, arts, and medicine, with their own subventioned 
 theatre, the Odeon, and their libraries, schools, laboratories, and 
 cafe's. It is further noticeable that these institutions cluster 
 thickest round the older part of the southern suburb, just oppo- 
 site the Cite, while almost all of them lie within the limits of the 
 outer boulevards of Louis XIV. 
 
 The Quartier Latin surrounds the Sorbonne, and is traversed 
 by the modern Boulevard St. Michel. The Faubourg; St. 
 Germain, immediately to the west of it (surrounding the old 
 Abbey of St. Germain-des-i'res) is of rather later date ; it 
 owes its origin in large part to the Renaissance spirit, and 
 especially to Marie de Medicis' palace of the Luxembourg. It is 
 still the residence of many of the old nobility, and is regarded 
 as the distinctively aristocratic quarter of Paris, in the restricted 
 sense, while the district lying around the Champs Elysees is 
 rather plutocratic and modern than noble in the older signifi- 
 cation of the word. 
 
 The visitor will therefore bear in mind distinctly that the 
 South Side is the Paris of the Students.] 
 
 A. THE ROMAN PALACE AND THE 
 MUSEE DE CLUNY 
 
 [The primitive nucleus of the suburb on the South Side con- 
 sists of the Roman fortress palace, the teie au pont of the 
 Left Bank, now known as the Thermes, owing to the fact that 
 its principal existing remains include only the ruins of the baths 
 or thermcB. This colossal building, probably erected by Con- 
 stantius Chlorus, the father of Constantine, covered an enormous 
 
36 PARIS [II. 
 
 area south of the river. After the Frankish conquest, it still 
 remained the residence of the Merwing and Karling kings on 
 the rare occasions when they visited Paris ; and it does not 
 seem to have fallen into utter decay till a comparatively late 
 date in the Middle Ages, With the Norman irruptions, how- 
 ever, and the rise of the real P^ench monarchs under Eudes 
 and the Capets, the new sovereigns found it safest to transfer 
 their seat to the Palace on the Island (now the Palais de Justice), 
 and the Roman fortress was gradually dismantled. In 1340 
 the gigantic ruins came into the hands of the powerful Bene- 
 dictine Abbey of Cluny, near Macon, in Burgundy ; and about 
 1480, the abbots began to erect on the spot a town mansion 
 for themselves, which still bears the name of the Hotel de 
 Cluny. The letter K, the mark of Charles VIII (1483-1498), 
 occurs on many parts of the existing building, and fixes its 
 epoch. The house was mostly built by Jacques d'Amboise, 
 abbot, in 1490. The style is late Gothic, with Renaissance 
 features. The abbots, however, seldom visited Paris, and they 
 frequently placed their town house accordingly at the disposi- 
 tion of the kings of France. Mary of England, sister of Henry 
 VIII, and widow of Louis XII, occupied it thus in 15 15, soon 
 after its completion. It was usual for the queens of France to 
 wear white as mourning ; hence her apartment is still known 
 as the Cluimbrc de la reiiic blanche. 
 
 At the Revolution, when the property of the monasteries was 
 confiscated, the Hotel de Cluny was sold, and passed at last, in 
 1833, into the hands of M. du Sommerard, a zealous antiquary, 
 who began the priceless collection of works of art which it 
 contains. He died in 1842, and the Government then bought 
 the house and museum, and united it with the Roman ruin at 
 its back under the title of Musee des Thennes et de P Hotel de 
 Cluny. Since that time many further objects have been added 
 to the collection. 
 
 At Cluny the actual building forms one of the most interesting 
 parts of the sight, and is in itself a museum. It is a charming 
 specimen of a late mediieval French mansion ; and the works 
 of art it contains are of the highest artistic value. I am able 
 briefly to describe only what seem to me the most important out 
 of its many thousands of beautiful exhibits. At least two whole 
 
ir.] 
 
 THE LEFT OR SOUTH BANK 
 
 37 
 
 days should be devoted to Cluny —one to the lower and one to 
 the upper floor. Much more, if possible.] 
 
 Go to the Place du Chatelet ; cross the bridge, and the tie 
 de la Cite ; also, the Pont St. Michel to the South Side. 
 Good view of Notre- Daine to L. In front lies the modern 
 Boulevard St. Michel, with the Fontaine St. Michel in the 
 foreground (statue by Duret). Continue along the Boulevard 
 till you reach the Boulevard St. Germain, another great modem 
 thoroughfare which cuts right through the streets of the old 
 
 TV a|c m ^1^ n ^, 1 
 
 COURTYARD 
 
 RUE 
 
 t^ 
 
 musep: de cluny 
 
 (•ROUND FLOOR 
 
 Faubourg and the narrow alleys of rhe Latin Quarter. The 
 Garden at the corner contains all that remains of the Roman 
 Palace, Notice its solid masonry as you pass. Then, take 
 the first turn to the L, the Rue du Sommcrard, which leads 
 you at once to the door of the Museum. 
 
 Notice the late semi-Gothic Gateway, resembling that of an 
 Oxford college. Pass through the flat-arched gate into the 
 handsome courtyard. To the L is a late Gothic loggia^ con- 
 taining a few antiques. In front stands the main building, with 
 square windows and high dormers, bearing the staffand pilgrim's 
 
38 PARIS [II. 
 
 scallop, the symbol of St. James, with the cardinal's hat and 
 scutcheons and devices of the family D'Amboise, thus indicat- 
 ing the name of Jacques d'Amboise, the abbot who built 
 it. Entrance to the R. Open free, daily, 1 1 to 4 or 5, except 
 Mondays. 
 
 The first suite of rooms which we enter form some of the 
 apartments of the original building. Observe the fine timbered 
 ceilings. 
 
 Room I. — Panels, etc., in wood-carving. 
 
 Room II. — *Fine French chimney-piece, by Hugues Lalle- 
 ment, dated 1562, representing Christ and the Woman of 
 Samaria at the well, brought from a house at Chalons-sur- 
 Marne. R and L of entrance (wall A on plan), wooden seats, 
 with canopy, holding good Gothic wood-carvings. Notice L of 
 door, a Deposition in the Tomb; (801) Madonna and Child ; 
 then. Birth of the Virgin, with St. Anne in a bed ; and below, 
 head of a Saint, hollow, intended to contain her skull or relics. 
 Near it (762), decapitation of St. John Baptist, German, i6th 
 century ; and (789) Death of the Virgin. R of doorway, three 
 reliquary heads, and (783 and 784) two groups of the Education 
 of the Virgin. Above, several representations of the Circum- 
 cision. Wall B, between the windows, (745) quaint reliquary 
 head of St. Mabile, one of St. Ursula's 11,000 virgins, the hair 
 gilt, Italian, 15th century ; near it, Angel of the Annunciation ; 
 Madonna and Child ; and Flight into Egypt. Fine wooden 
 chests. In the cases, collections of shoes, uninteresting. 
 
 Room III. — Wood-carvings, more or less (iOthic. Wall A, 
 (788) Madonna supporting the dead Christ, under a canopy, 
 1 6th century ; (816) Holy Women, with small figure of the donor, 
 kneeling. (709) large carved altar-piece, end of 15th century ; 
 in the centre. Crucifixion, with quaintly brutal Roman soldiers, 
 fainting Madonna, and Holy Women in fantastic head-dresses 
 of the period ; below. Nativity, and Adoration of the Magi ; L 
 side, above. Flagellation, with grotesquely cruel soldiers ; 
 beneath it, angels displaying the napkin of St. Veronica ; R 
 side, above. Deposition in the Tomb ; beneath it, angels sup- 
 porting the instruments of the Passion — a splendid piece of 
 Flemish carving. Above, two statues of St. George. Further 
 on (712), votive triptych against the plague, Flemish, carved, 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH DANK 39 
 
 with painted flaps on the doors ; L, St. Sebastian, with arrows of 
 the pestilence ; R, St. Roch exhibiting his plague-spot, with 
 angel who consoled him and dog who fed him (see the legend 
 in Mrs. Jameson) ; centre, Adoration of the Magi ; the Three 
 Kings represent (as usual) the three ages of man, and also the 
 three old continents, Europe, Asia, Africa ; hence the youngest 
 king is represented as a Moor. Other episodes (Flight into 
 Egypt, Return of Magi, etc.), in the background — late 15th 
 centur/. Wall B, first window, stained glass, German panes, 
 15th century, Annunciation, in two panels (i960 and 1957). 
 Beyond it (830), in woodwork, i6th century. Coronation of the 
 Virgin by Christ and God the Father — a somewhat unusual 
 treatment. Above (758), Stem of Jesse, representing the descent 
 of Christ ; notice David with his harp and other kings of Israel ; 
 late 15th century. Second window (1958 and 1959), St. Hubert 
 and St. Lambert, companions to the Annunciation ; (721) 
 dainty little Crucifixion (i6th century), in coloured German 
 wood-carving ; (1686) Flemish painting, school of Van Eyck, 
 Crucifixion. Wall D, windows (1961 and 1962), St. Peter and 
 St. George ; (1963 and 1964) St. Hubert, and St. Antony Abbot 
 (with his pig, staff, and bell). Wall C, altar-piece, unnumbered ; 
 subjects much as opposite ; centre, Crucifixion ; beneath it, 
 Nativity, Adoration of Magi. L, Way to Calvary (with gro- 
 tesquely brutal soldiers) ; beneath it, Annunciation {notice the 
 pric-dictiy book, and bed in the background), and Visitation ; R, 
 Descent from the Cross, with St. John and the Marys ; beneath 
 it. Circumcision, and Presentation in the Temple. (710) 
 Deposition from the Cross, very good, with painted wings 
 from the Passion. All the wood-carvings in this room deserve 
 careful attention. Inspect them all, and, as far as possible, 
 discover their subjects. 
 
 Room IV. — Fine Renaissance chimney-piece, by Hugues 
 Lallement, i6th century, representing Activon transformed into 
 a stag by Diana, whom he has surprised in the act of bathing. 
 (Subjects from the myth of Diana are favourites with the 
 French Renaissance artists, owing to the influence of Diane 
 de Poitiers.) From Chalons-sur-Marne, same house as that in 
 Room II. Wall A (1779 and 1778), Renaissance classical paint- 
 ings, part of a large series continued elsewhere; (1428) fine 
 
 J 
 J 
 
40 PARIS [II. 
 
 Renaissance carved cabinet (Diana and Chimaerns) ; contrast 
 this and neighbouring Renaissance work with the mediaeval 
 carvings in adjacent rooms. Wa!l B (6329), quaint old Flemish 
 tapestry, representing the Angels appearing to the Shepherds ; 
 the Nativity ; the Adoration of the Magi ; and the Agony in the 
 Garden. Study the arrangement of all these figures, which are 
 conventional, and will reappear in many other examples of 
 various arts. Wall C, r and L of fireplace, good Renaissance 
 wood-carving. Wall D, fine cabinets. In the cases, medals. 
 
 Room V. to the side. Debased Italian and Spanish work 
 of the 17th and i8th centuries. Centre, Adoration of the Magi, 
 a meretricious Neapolitan group of the 17th century, intended 
 to place in a church as a Christmas berccait. The costun.es of 
 the Three Kings, representing the three continents, the rained 
 temple in which the action takes place, and the antique s;atue 
 in the background of the Madonna and St. Joseph, should all 
 be noticed. Contemptible as a work of art, this florid composi- 
 tion of dolls is interesting and valuable for its spirited arrange- 
 ment, and for the light it casts on the conception of the subject 
 The room also contains other similar church furniture of the 
 17th and 1 8th centuries. Observe their theatrical tinsel style 
 and their affected pietism, as contrasted with the simplicity, 
 naivete, and truth of earlier periods. Take, as an extreme 
 example of this tendency, the relief of the Annunciation on 
 Wall D, to the R of the entrance door, and compare it with 
 examples of the same subject in other rooms of the collection. 
 Wall B, facing the entrance, good case of miscellaneous wood- 
 work containing excellent Spanish art of this bad period — a 
 Last Supper, a St. Francis receiving the Stigmata, a Massacre 
 of the Innocents, the Faint of St. Catherine, St. Antony the 
 Abbot, St. Antony of Padua carrying the infant Christ, and 
 other figures. A large gilt tabernacle, on Wall C, also contains 
 a debased figure of St. Anthony of Padua, from an altar dedi- 
 cated to the Saint. Identify as many of these saints as possible, 
 and remember their symbols. 
 
 We now quit the older suite of apartments, and enter a large 
 central glass-covered court — Room VI, entirely modern. The 
 Corridor is occupied by early altar paintings, for the most 
 part of little value. Notice on the L, by the staircase (1701) 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH BANK 4 1 
 
 a Giottesque Madonna and Child — Florentine, 15th century. 
 Near it (1666), two oval panels, representing the Annunciation, 
 divided (as frequently happens with this subject) into two dis- 
 tinct portions, and probably flanking a doorway in their original 
 position — Italian, 14th century. All the paintings on this wall, 
 mostly unsatisfactory as works of art, are valuable for their 
 symbolism and the light they throw on the evolution of their 
 subjects. For example : (1676), between the Annunciation 
 pictures, represents the distribution of holy wine which has 
 touched the relics (I think) of St. Hubert. Further on, we have 
 a group of six Apostles ; beginning from the R, St. Peter with 
 the keys, St. John Evangelist with the cap and serpent, St. 
 Andrew with his cross, St. Bartholomew with his knife, St. 
 James the Greater with the pilgrim's staff and scallop, and St. 
 James the Less with a crosier and book. R of the staircase is 
 a stone figure of St. Denis bearing his head, French, 15th cen- 
 tury ; also, a good statue of the Madonna, a little later. Above 
 the doorway, R, are portions of a large Spanish altar-piece ; 
 in the centre, the Crucifixion ; extreme R, Assumption of the 
 Virgin, etc. Beyond it comes the continuation of the tabernacle 
 already noticed, containing the six remaining Apostles, with the 
 symbols of their martyrdom. Next, a fine Spanish altar-piece 
 of the 15th century, from a church of St. Martin ; in the centre, 
 St. Martin dividing his cloak with the beggar ; round it various 
 other subjects, among them St. Antony with his pig, St. 
 Stephen, in deacon's robes, with the stones of his martyrdom, 
 St. Jerome in the desert beating his bosom with a flint before 
 the crucifix, St. Francis displaying the stigmata or five wounds 
 of Christ, St. Paul the hermit with his lion, etc. R, towards 
 the courtyard, a fine figure of Adam from St. Denis, a splendid 
 example of the best French nude sculpture of the 14th century. 
 We now enter the covered courtyard or Room VI proper, 
 filled with fine examples of French mediiuval sculpture. Several 
 of the objects bear labels sufficiently descriptive. I will there- 
 fore only call attention to a few among them. Wall D, two 
 wooden Flemish statues (Our Lady and St. John at Calvary), 
 R and L of the doorway ; (417) carved marble monument of the 
 loth or nth century; very fine workmanship, with distinct 
 reminiscences of the antique. Wall A, ^Magnificent stone 
 
42 PARIS \,n. 
 
 frieze or reredos, originally gilt and coloured, representing the 
 History of St. Benedict, from St. Denis ; in the centre. Baptism 
 in Jordan (compare the relief of the same subject in Notre- 
 Dame) ; R and L, preaching and miracles of St. Benedict (over- 
 throw of idols, cure of a dying woman). Middle of wall (6328), 
 fine Italian tapestry, i6th century, representing the Adoration 
 of the Magi; observe the attitude of the kings, together with 
 the ox and ass in the background, invariable concomitants of 
 the Nativity in art. Beneath (728), early wooden Madonna 
 (13th century, Auvergne), with Byzantine aspect. Beautiful 
 Romanesque capitals — Creation of Eve, etc. Wall B ^(237), 
 exquisite stone frieze or reredos from the church of St. Germer, 
 about 1259, much mutilated, but originally one of the most 
 perfect specimens of French 13th century carving ; it still be- 
 trays traces of colour. In the centre. Crucifixion, with Virgin 
 and St. John : on either side (as at Notre-Dame), the Church, 
 with cross and chalice, and the Synagogue, with eyes blinded : 
 then, R and L of cross, St. Peter and St. Paul : beyond them, 
 Annunciation and Visitation : finally, L, St. Ouen, uncle of St. 
 Germer, cures a wounded warrior ; R, St. Germer asks leave of 
 King Dagobert to found the Abbey from which this came. 
 Above it (509), exquisitely grotesque relief of the Resurrection 
 with sleeping Roman soldiers, one of a set in alabaster, French 
 14th century (500 to 512), all of which deserve to be inspected; 
 meanings of all are obvious except (501) St. Ursula. Still 
 higher, fragment of the original Last Judgment on the central 
 west door of Notre-Dame, Paris, before the restoration — inter- 
 esting as showing the grounds on which Viollet-le-Duc pro- 
 ceeded ; (6322), tapestry, Arras, 15th century, various scriptural 
 subjects, confused, but decipherable. Beneath it, L, "''"beautiful 
 stone relief (reredos) of the legend of St. Eustace, from the 
 church of St. Denis— a fine French work of the 14th century. 
 In the centre. Crucifixion ; extreme L, St. Eustace, hunting, is 
 converted by the apparition of the Christ between the horns of 
 the stag he is pursuing ; further R, his baptism, nude, in a font, as 
 in all early representations ; still further R, his trials and history; 
 while he crosses a river with one of his children, a wolf seizes one, 
 while a lion devours the other ; last of all, reunited miraculously 
 with his family, he andjhey are burned alive as martyrs by the 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH BANK 43 
 
 Emperor Trajan, in a brazen bull. Observe naif boy with bel- 
 lows. The whole most delicately and gracefully sculptured. 
 Next, coloured stone relief of the Passion — French 14th century ; 
 subjects, from R to L : the kiss of Judas (observe Peter drawing 
 the sword) ; Flagellation ; Bearing of the Cross, with Simon of 
 Cyrene ; Deposition in the Tomb ; Resurrection ; and Christ 
 in Hades, delivering Adam and Eve from the jaws of death, 
 realistically represented here and elsewhere as the mouth of a 
 monster ; notice in this work the colour and the Gothic archi- 
 tecture and decoration of the background, which help one to 
 understand features that are missing in many other of these 
 reredoses. Then, stone relief of the Annunciation, Visitation, 
 and Nativity, very simply treated : notice the usual ox and ass 
 in the manger. Above it, *(4763), good mosaic of the Madonna 
 and Child with adoring angels, by Davide Ghirlandajo, of 
 Florence, placed by the President Jean de Ganay (as the in- 
 scription attests) in the church of St. Merri at Paris. Wall C 
 (513-518), interesting alabaster reliefs of the Passion, French, 
 14th century. Between them, Coronation of the Virgin, French, 
 15th century. (725) Good wooden figure of St. Louis, covered 
 with fleur-de-lis in gold, from the Sainte Chapelle. [Here is 
 the door which leads to the Musce des Thermes. Pass it by 
 for the present.] Beyond it, continuation of the alabaster 
 reliefs (514 and 517), etc. : examine them closely. I^etween 
 them (435), Circumcision, in marble, early 15th century, French, 
 full of character. Beneath it (429, etc.), admirable figures of 
 mourners, from the tomb of Philippe le Hardi, at Dijon, 14th 
 century. Wall D, again (1291), terra-cotta, coloured : Madonna 
 and St. Joseph, with angels, adoring the Child (child missing), 
 ox and ass in background ; R, Adoration of Magi ; notice once 
 more the conventional arrangement : L, Marriage of the Virgin, 
 a high priest joining her hand to Joseph's, all under Gothic 
 canopies, 15th century, from the chapel of St. Eloy, near 
 Bernay, Eure. I omit many works of high merit. 
 
 The centre of this room is occupied by several good statues. 
 Examine each ; the descriptive labels are usually sufficient. 
 (A noble *St. Catherine ; St. Barbara with her tower ; St. 
 Sebastian, pierced with the holes where the arrows have been ; 
 a beautiful long-haired wooden Madonna ; a fine [Pisan] Angel 
 
44 PARIS [II. 
 
 of the Annunciation, in wood, etc.) Also, several excellent 
 figures of Our Lady. The large part played by the Madonna 
 in this Room, indeed, is typical of her importance in France, 
 and especially in Paris, from the 13th century onward. The 
 church of Notre-Dame is partly a result, partly a cause, of this 
 special cult of the Blessed Virgin. 
 
 Room VII (beyond the corridor, a modern covered court- 
 yard).— Tapestries and textile fabrics, interesting chiefly to 
 ladies. On Wall A, and others, Flemish tapestry, representing 
 the History of Bathsheba, much admired and very ugly ; com- 
 pare it with the tapestry of the Lady and the Unicorn, to be 
 visited later in Room III, upstairs, contrasting them as models 
 of what such work should and should not be. Wall B, admir- 
 able Renaissance relief of the Cardinal Virtues. Above it, a 
 good Madonna, and figures of Grammar and Astronomy. 
 Wall C, Caryatid of inferior art, French, i6th century. ■'*''^(448), 
 Admirable group of the Three Fates, attributed to Germain 
 Pilon, the great French sculptor of the i6th century, whom we 
 shall meet again at the Louvre — a fine specimen of the plastic 
 art of the Renaissance, said to represent Diane de Poitiers and 
 her daughters. Below **(447), exquisite Renaissance bas-relief 
 of the huntress Diana, of the School of Jean Goujon, again in 
 allusion to Diane de Poitiers. (478) Good mask of the same 
 epoch. (251) Virgin and Child, meretricious ; in the decadent 
 style of the i6th century ; very French in type, foreshadowing 
 the Louis XV spirit — the Madonna resembles a little-reputable 
 court lady. Wall D (463, etc.). Judgment of Solomon, Solo- 
 mon and the Queen of Sheba, Annunciation, and other reliefs 
 in the florid and least pleasing French style of the i6th and 
 17th centuries. Table by the doorway ■^*(449), exquisite small 
 marble statue of the Deserted Ariadne (perhaps Diane de 
 Poitiers), in the best Renaissance manner, probably by 
 Germain Pilon : found in the Loire, near Diane's cJuUcan 
 of Chaumont. Beside it, three sleeping Venuscs, one of which 
 is also said to be Diane de Poitiers, the goddess of the Renais- 
 sance in Paris. L of doorway (457), singular marble relief of 
 Christ and the Magdalen after the Resurrection (Noli me 
 tangere) ; the Saviour strangely represented (as often) in a 
 gardener's hat and with a spade ; in the background, angels 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH DANK 45 
 
 by the empty sepulchre ; Flemish, florid style of the i6th 
 century. Beside it (467 and 468), two exquisite Renaissance 
 reliefs of Venus. In front of it, on the table *(479), Entomb- 
 ment, with the body of Christ placed in the sarcophag^us by 
 Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus — portraits, I think, of the 
 donors. 
 
 Room VIII — Textile fabrics andecclesiastical robes. Wall B, 
 L of door (487), pretty but meretricious little group of Venus and 
 Cupids, with grapes, French style of the 17th century; the 
 national taste still more distinctly showing itself. R of door 
 (459), in two separate figures, a quaint Annunciation — French, 
 i6th century, frankly anachronistic. Close by (464), the Judg- 
 ment of Solomon, same school and period. Above (563), clever 
 small alabaster group of the Rape of the Sabines, after Giovanni 
 da Bologna. These all stand on a handsome French carved chest 
 of the i6th century. Wall C, greatly worn altar-relief of the 
 Adoration of the Magi, from the chapel of the Chateau d'Anet, 
 F'rench Renaissance, i6th century. Above it (446), Mary Mag- 
 dalen, kneeling, with long hair and the alabaster box of ointment 
 — her symbol in art — 15th century, curious. At the back, gilt 
 and painted figures of the Holy Trinity, from the demolished 
 church of St. Marcel at Paris, 17th century. Similar represen- 
 tations of the Trinity, showing the three Persons thus, are 
 common in Italian art. Further on (493), good figure of a 
 shepherd, French, i6th century. Wall A (266), curious altar 
 back, Herod ordering the Massacre of the Innocents. (267) 
 St. Eustace crossing the river (see Room VI) with the lion and 
 the wolf seizing his children. A very different treatment from 
 the previous one. (291) A lintel of a chimney, Flemish, dated 
 1555 ; centre, a river god ; L and R, pelican and eagle ; between 
 the figures. Faith, Hope, Charity and Prudence. (273) Madonna 
 and Child (Notre-I)ame de I'Esperance, throned on an anchor). 
 On the wall, far L, interesting piece of French 14th century 
 tapestry, with a legend of St. Marcel and St. John Evangelist, 
 most naively represented. 
 
 Room IX. — State coaches and Sedan chairs of the 17th cen- 
 tury, as ugly as can be imagined. They need not detain you. 
 
 The staircase to the first floor is in the Corridor to Room 
 
46 
 
 PARIS 
 
 [II. 
 
 VI. Observe the staircase itself, in carved wood, bearing the 
 arms of France and Navarre, and also the crowned initials of 
 Henri IV and Marie de Medicis. It was formerly in the old 
 Chambre des Comptes of Paris, and was re-erected here at the 
 installation of the Museum. 
 
 CORRIDOR 
 
 II ^ T"^ TJcvift 
 
 mm A 
 
 D 
 
 ' mm 
 
 D 
 
 r 
 
 jsr 
 
 
 
 
 MUSEE DE CLUJSnr 
 
 FIRST FLOOR 
 
 The corridor above contains arms and armour. At the head 
 of the staircase (742), very quaint Maj^dalen in wood with the 
 box of ointment ; German in style, 15th century ; observe her 
 long hair, here twisted and plaited with German neatness. 
 (1466 and 1468) Renaissance cabinets in ebony. 
 
 Room I. — Gallery, looking down on the courtyard of Room 
 VI, below. Wall D, by which you enter ; tiles, French Renais- 
 sance. Wall C : first case, blue Flemish stoneware. Fine 
 wrought-iron gates, gilt. In front of them, female Satyr, French, 
 1 8th century, very characteristic of the national taste ; opposite 
 it, male Satyr, the same. Second case : Palissy ware, French 
 1 6th and 17th centuries. This fine ware is full of Renaissance 
 feeling. Notice particularly (3140), a Sacrifice of Abraham ; 
 (3145) the Baptism in Jordan, conventional treatment ; (3139) 
 Judith and Holofernes, with several other scriptural scenes in 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH BANK 47 
 
 the older spirit ; intermingled with these are classical and my- 
 thological scenes, displaying the growing love for the nude ; 
 observe particularly (31 19), a Venus with Cupids ; and another 
 dish below it, unnumbered, same subject ; also, a Creation of 
 Eve; (3131) Susanna and the Elders, and other scenes of 
 similar character. Observe that while the early work is purely 
 scriptural or sacred, the Renaissance introduces classical subjects. 
 Note too the frequent scenes of the Baptism in the same con- 
 nection. Centre (3102), beautiful vase with lid, of the period of 
 Henri II. Study all the Palissy ware. Wall B, French pottery 
 of the i8tli century, exhibiting the rapid decline in taste under 
 Louis XIV and XV, especially as regards colour. The most 
 satisfactory pieces are the blue and white dishes with royal mono- 
 grams, arms, etc. Second case : Rouen ware of the i8th century, 
 far superior in style and tone to the preceding. Good nude 
 figure of Venus. Wall A, Nevers pottery, delicate blue and 
 white ; (3338) figure of a page, to support a lamp. Last case : 
 Dutch pottery. Delft, i8th century, exhibiting the strong domestic 
 Dutch tendency. 
 
 Room II. — Also galleries, surrounding a courtyard. Exqui- 
 site Italian Renaissance pottery. Wall B, r of entrance, 
 beautiful Italian specimens of Faenza ware, 15th and i6th cen- 
 turies (whence the word fiiie lice) ; these should be closely studied 
 in detail. (2811) Quaint dish with Diana as archer ; beside it, 
 portraits. (2824 and 2825) Decorative plaques with heads of 
 women. (3949) St. George and the Dragon in green pottery. 
 Behind it, plate with admirable portrait. In the same case, 
 Judith receiving the head of Holofernes ; (3024) Hercules 
 playing the lyre to entice Auge. Wall C, first case, Deruta 
 and Chaffagiolo ware of the i6th century. Exquisite decora- 
 tive dishes and plaques ; (2814) Actaion changed to a stag by 
 Diana. (2849) Susanna and the Elders. (2887) St. Jerome 
 in the desert, with his lion. (2895) The doubting Thomas. 
 (2823) Another Actceon. Observe frequent repetition of cer- 
 tain scenes. Fine plates with arms of Medici Popes, etc. 
 Second case : Deruta ware, still more splendid specimens, 
 many of them with remarkable lustre. (2894) Madonna and 
 Child, with infant St. John of Florence. Other plates with 
 Mercury, a sphinx, a lion, the huntress Diana, a Moor's head, 
 
4^ PARIS [II. 
 
 portraits and decorative designs. Examine in detail. Wall 
 D, first case, Casteldurante and Gubbio ware, i6ih century 
 (3007) Manius Curtius leaping into the P'oruni. (3015) Cru- 
 cifixion, with the sun and the moon darkened. (3004) Diuda- 
 lus and the Minotaur. (3008) Fine conventional design. Other 
 plates have heads of St. Paul and mythological persons. (2802) 
 a quaint Temptation of St. Antony. (2818) Leda and the 
 Swan, etc. Second case : Urbino ware, 17th century. Head 
 of Raphael, and delicate Raphaelesque scenes, instinct with 
 the later Renaissance feeling. (2961) Perseus and Andromeda. 
 (3064) Expulsion from Paradise ; on either side, Temptation, 
 and Adam eating the fruit. (2872) a Baptism in Jordan. 
 Notice again the mixture of religious and mythological scenes, 
 with a preference for those where the nude is permissible — 
 Judith and Holofernes, Orpheus, etc. Wall A, fine Florentine 
 terra-cotta bust of the young St. John, patron saint of the 
 city. More Urbino ware, to be carefully examined. The 
 greater part of this wall, however, is occupied by ■'^■^Della 
 Robbia ware, glazed Florentine majolica of the 15th and i6th 
 centuries. (2794) Fine figure of St. Michael. (2799) Martyr- 
 dom of St. Catherine, the wheels of her torture broken by 
 angels. Above it. Madonna adoring the Child ; observe in 
 this and many other cases the beautiful setting of fruit and 
 tlowers, characteristic of the Delia Robbias. Beneath, no 
 number, the Beheading of St. Catherine ; in the background, 
 angels conveying her soul to Heaven. (2795) T^^e Infant St. 
 John, patron Saint of Florence. (2793) Temperance, with 
 fiagon and patera. Then, more Urbino ware, very fine examples 
 of the end of the i6th century ; above them, touching Ma- 
 donna and Child, Delia Robbia. Wall B, again, Castello ware, 
 and Venetian pottery, 15th, i6th and 17th centuries. Apothe- 
 cary's jars, plaques, etc., extremely beautiful. 
 
 Room HI. — A long corridor. Wall A, is entirely occupied 
 by the "^^magnificent suite of six early French tapestries, 
 known as " The Lady and the Unicorn " (symbol of chastity), 
 the finest work of its sort ever executed. They come from the 
 Chateau de Boussac, and belong to the second half of the 15th 
 century. The Lady is represented engaged in various domes- 
 tic pursuits of a woman of rank of her time, always accom- 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH DANK 49 
 
 panicd by the beast of chastity. The colour is inexpressibly 
 lovely. Above it, similar tapestry representing the History of 
 St. Stephen, and the Discovery of his Relics. Along Wall A, 
 R of entrance door (774), crowned wooden figure of St. 
 Catherine, holding the sword of her martyrdom, her broken 
 wheel at her feet, and trampling upon the tyrant, Maximian. 
 L of door, good early Madonna and Child ; another St. 
 Catherine ; and (760) Magdalen, described (erroneously, I 
 think) as Pandora. Wall B is mostly occupied by a hand- 
 some French Renaissance chimney-piece(i6th century), brought 
 here from a house at Rouen, and representing the history of 
 the Casa Santa at Lorelo, — its transport over the sea by angels, 
 its reception by the Faithful, and worship in front of it. The 
 ceiling above also comes from the same room. Wall C, small 
 stained-glass windows of various ages. Examine them separ- 
 ately. Wall D, large enamelled plaipies brought from Francois 
 I'remier's Chateau of Madrid, in the Bois de Boulogne, stated 
 to be the largest enamels in existence. Beneath them, fine 
 wooden statue of the Virgin and infant Christ, German 15th 
 century, very characteristic in its flat features, as well as in the 
 dress, and treatment of the hair, of the German style of the 
 period. Compare it with French Madonnas below. The 
 screens towards Wall A contain specimens of fine Renaissance 
 wood-carving. Contrast the finish and style of these with 
 their Gothic predecessors. Notice, near the chimney-piece 
 • (828), an Annunciation, with God the Father, wearing a triple 
 crown (like the Pope), and the Moly Spirit descending upon 
 the Madonna. Next screen, various classical scenes in the 
 taste of the Renaissance — Judgment of Paris, Venuses and 
 Cupids, etc. Much fine nude Renaissance detail. Centre 
 case, old glass ; notice, in particular (4763), fine 13th century 
 Arab mosque-lamp. Further on, more Renaissance wood- 
 carving— Leda and the Swan in very high relief: low re- 
 liefs of classical subjects and decorative panels. All these 
 works should be closely studied as typically illustrative of 
 Renaissance feeling. Cases by the window (wall C ), 
 Limoges and other enamels, too numerous to treat in full de- 
 tail, but many of them, at least, should be closely inspected and 
 comprehended by the visitor. Case next the chimney-piece, 
 
 D 
 
50 PARIS [II. 
 
 old raised enamels (12th and 13th centuries), enamelled gold 
 reliquaries for containing bones of Saints ; fine crucifix, etc. 
 Notice on 4497, the Flight into Egypt, Peter walking on the 
 Sea, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Presentation in the 
 Temple ; on 4498, the Crucifixion, and the Twelve Apostles ; 
 beneath, 4514, enamelled book-cover; near it. Crucifixion, 
 Adoration of the Magi, and other figures. Identify as many of 
 these as possible, and observe their archaic striving after effects 
 too high for the artist. Second case : Limoges enamels, more 
 modern in type (15th century): Madonna holding the dead 
 Christ, Crucifixion, Bearing of the Cross, and other scenes. 
 Notice particularly (4575), little triptych with a Nativity, Adora- 
 tion of the Magi, and Circumcision, in all of which observe 
 the conventional treatment. Third case : Limoges enamels of 
 the High Renaissance (i6th and 17th centuries), Raphaelesque 
 in spirit, better in execution, but far less interesting ; good por- 
 traits in frames ; a fine Flagellation, and other scenes from the 
 Passion ; above, delicate Tazzas. Observe in particular (4628), 
 the Descent into Hell, Christ rescuing Adam and Eve and the 
 other dead from Hades, typically Renaissance. On the far 
 side of the case, remote from window, a good series of the 
 Gospel history, —Marriage of the Virgin, Annunciation, Birth 
 of the Virgin (incorrectly labelled Nativity), etc. Last cases : 
 more recent enamels. Among the best are, in the la^c case of 
 all, the Expulsion from Paradise, and a series of the Gospel 
 History ; observe particularly (4650), Christ and the Magdalen, 
 with the usual curious disguise as a gardener. I recommend 
 to those who can spare the time, most attentive detailed study 
 of the subjects and treatment in all these enamels, many of 
 which throw much light on similar themes treated by other arts 
 in the same collection. Several hours should, if possible, be 
 devoted to them. 
 
 Room IV contains various •'^^ Mohammedan potteries, ex- 
 quisitely decorative, but (owing to the general absence of figure 
 subjects, prohibited by Islam) requiring comparatively littls 
 explanation. Occasional animal forms, however, occur in the 
 midst of the usually decorative arabesque patterns. Wall C, 
 L of entrance, charming Rhodian pottery (made by Persian 
 workmen), in prevailing tones of blue and green, with the 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH DANK 51 
 
 wonderful Persian feeling^ for colour. Wall B, Hispano- 
 Moorish lustre ware, the most exquisitely beautiful ever manu- 
 factured. The second case contains several lovely specimens. 
 Wall A, Rhodian ware again. Wall D, Persian. The 
 reader must examine these minutely for himself. It is impos- 
 sible to do more than point out their beauty. 
 
 Room V.— Jewish works of art of the Middle Ages, interest- 
 ing as showing the wealth and artistic taste of the mediiuval 
 Hebrews — phylacteries, seven-branched candlesticks, gold- 
 smiths' work, etc. (iSSj Chimney-piece (Christian) from an 
 old house at Le Mans. The groups represent the three ages 
 of life : right and left, the two sexes — man, armed ; woman, 
 with a ball of wool. 
 
 Room VI.— Wall C, opposite windows, carved chest (1360), 
 French, 17th century, with figures in high relief of the Twelve 
 Apostles. The paintings above it (1704, 1707, 1714). etc., are 
 the fronts of similar chests, Florentine, 15th century. Such 
 boxes were commonly given to a bride to contain her trousseau 
 and household linen. For instance, one (17 10) contains the 
 mythical history of a betrothal and wedding (yKneas and 
 Lavinia). The others have in many cases similar appropriate 
 subjects from classical story. (1455) Florentine mosaic cabinet, 
 in the worst taste. Beyond it, other cabinets and fronts of 
 wedding chests. This room also contains musical instruments, 
 interesting as illustrating the evolution of modern forms. Also, 
 florid Italian inlaid tables, in the bad expensive taste of the 
 17th century. In the windows, stained glass. 
 
 Room VII.— Carved oak cabinets. (1435) Good Flemish 
 work of the 17th century. 
 
 Room VIII. — (1S9) Carved chimney-piece, similar to that in 
 the Jewish room, and from the same house ; marriage scene, 
 allegorical. Carved • ooden cabinets and portals, all interest- 
 ing, but requiring little description. (1431) Again the favourite 
 Renaissance device of Acta:on and Diana. Carved oak bed, of 
 age of Francois V\ with hangings of the same period. (1509) 
 Good panel of a chair, with the Presentation of the Virgin in 
 the Temple by Saints Joachim and Anna ; above. Nativity ; 
 then Adoration of the Magi, and Flight into Egypt ; on the 
 front, patron saints of the owners. 
 
52 PARIS [II. 
 
 Room IX. — "^^Magnificent collection of ivories and ebonies, 
 all of which the spectator should examine in detail. Nothing 
 in this museum is more interesting. Notice, for example, the 
 beautiful triptych** (i 08 1) in the centre of the first case by 
 the window of Wall D; lower tier. Annunciation ; Shepherds ; 
 Joseph and the Madonna, with the babe in the manger ; and 
 Adoration of the Maj^i ; upper tier, Kiss of Judas, Crucifixion, 
 and Christ and the Magdalen in the Garden ; beautiful Italian 
 work of the 14th century. L of it **(io88), exquisite coloured 
 triptych with Madonna and Child ; L, St. Paul (with his sword) 
 and St. Catherine ; R, St. Peter and the Magdalen ; notice 
 their symbols. Several small ivories in the same case should 
 be observed carefully. Below the large triptych, for example, 
 are scenes from the Passion {not chronologically arranged in 
 their existing order), namely, from L to R, Crown of Thorns, 
 Scourging, Resurrection, Ascension, Disciples at Emmaus, 
 Apparition to the three Marys, Peter on the Sea, and Christ 
 with the Magdalen ; very naive French work of the 15th century. 
 (718) Exquisite little wood-carving of the Crucifixion, with scenes 
 from the Passion ; Spanish, i6th century. Above it (7227), 
 comb, with Adoration of the Magi ; 14th century, very curious. 
 The next case contains still earlier and more interesting work. 
 In the centre, a triptych ; lower tier, Adoration of the Magi, 
 Madonna with angels, Presentation in the Temple ; upper tier, 
 Bearing the Cross, Crucifixion, and Descent from the Cross ; 
 exquisite French work, in high relief, of the 14th century. L of 
 it (1082), Scenes from the Passion, Last Supper, Agony in the 
 Garden, Kiss of Judas (with Peter cutting off Malchus's ear), 
 Flagellation, etc. Each compartment here consists of two 
 subjects, which identify ; charming French work of the 14th 
 century. Above it (1085 ^^'^^ 1086), secular scenes, life in a 
 garden— 14th century. R of the triptych (1065, 1063', 1066, 
 1064), legends of saints ; St. Denis beheaded and bearing his 
 head ; Flagellation of an unknown Martyr, who takes it most 
 comfortably ; St. Peter, crucified, head downward ; and other 
 episodes — charming French 14th century work. Examine all 
 the pieces in this case carefully. In the first case, towards the 
 centre of the room, early ivory carvings, a ^consular diptych 
 of the 5th or 6th century, very inteiesting ; and other works 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH DANK 53 
 
 still displaying classical influence. (1035) Byzantine, Christ 
 and vSaints, (1049) Death of the Virgin ; fine work showing 
 Byzantine influence ; 12th century. (1054) Extremely rude 
 Northern nth century ivory, representing scriptural scenes, 
 mingled with decorative animals treated in withy-band fashion. 
 (1038) Fine Italo-Byzantine plaque with Crucifixion and Saints, 
 the name of each inscribed beside him. Central case: Ivory 
 statuettes, all deserving close attention. (1032) Antique Roman 
 goddess. (1037) Fine early French Madonna ; loth century. 
 Behind her ([052), beautiful ivory reliquary, French, 12th 
 century, with figures of Saints ; L, the personages of the Adora- 
 tion (;>., the Three Kings) bearing their gifts, and with their 
 names inscribed above them ; R, the personages of the Pre- 
 sentation — Madonna, Joseph, Simeon. Further side (1060), 
 beautiful coloured ivory coffer, 14th century, with numerous 
 scriptural scenes, easily recognisable ; identify them Inspect 
 also the ebony cabinets, of which 1458, time of Henri IV, 
 with classical scenes, is a magnificent Renaissance example. 
 By Wall A, more ebony cabinets and carvings, and exquisite 
 ivory statuettes, of later date, among which notice particularly 
 (1141) a Portuguese Madonna; (1163) a Spanish St. Peter; 
 (1164) Spanish St. Antony of Padua ; and (ii67)a very curious 
 Peruvian Good Shepherd, showing distinct traces of native art, 
 influenced by introduced Spanish feeling. Further to the R, 
 good classical figures of the later Renaissance. I have only 
 indicated a few of the most interesting among these exquisite 
 carvings ; but many hours may be devoted to this room, by 
 those who can afford the time, with great advantage. 
 
 Room X. — Bronzes and Renaissance metal work, mostly 
 self-explanatory. (193) Chimney-piece from a house in Troyes — 
 French, i6th century ; Plenty, surrounded by Fauns and 
 trophies. Good collection of keys, knives, etc. 
 
 Room XL— Goldsmith's work and objects in the precious 
 metals. Wall A (4988), gold altar-piece of the Emperor Henry 
 II, of Germany, with Christ, and figures of Saints, bearing their 
 names above them, given by the Emperor to Bale Cathedral in 
 the beginning of the i ith century. Central case, the Querrazar 
 find: votive offerings of crowns of the early Gothic kings of 
 Spain, the largest one being that of Reccesvinthus (died 672), 
 
54 PARIS [II. 
 
 discovered near Toledo. The crowns are rude Byzantine 
 work of the 7th century, inlaid with precious stones. The 
 names inscribed below them were probably added when they 
 were made into votive offerings. Uninteresting as works of art, 
 these curious relics possess great value as specimens of the 
 decadent workmanship of their period. Most of the other ob- 
 jects in this room derive their importance more from the material 
 of which they are composed than from artistic beauty, or even 
 relative antiquarian importance. Of these (4994), in the case 
 near Wall D, represents the Last Supper, with the fish which 
 in very early Christian work is a symbol of Christ. Near it, 
 quaint figures of the four Evangelists, writing, with their symbols. 
 Other symbols of the Evangelists in the same case. Quaint 
 Nuremberg figure of St. Anne, holding on her knee the crowned 
 M.idonna, and a little box to contain a relic. (5008) Reliquary 
 foot of a Saint, to enclose his bones ; it bears his name — 
 Alard. (4995) Curious figure of the Madonna, Limoges work, 
 very Byzantine in aspect. Other cases contain crucifixes, 
 monstrances, and similar articles of church furniture in the 
 precious metals, mostly of early date. The case by Wall B has 
 Gallic torques and Merovingian jewellery. 
 
 Return to Room VIII, and enter Room XII to the R. It 
 contains bed furniture and book-bindings. (782) Fine Renais- 
 sance Flagellation, after Sebastiano del Piombo. 
 
 From this room we enter 
 
 The Chapel, 
 
 a small apartment, with roof sustained by a single pillar. 
 Good niches, now destitute of their saints ; church furniture of 
 the Middle Ages, much of which deserves close attention. (708) 
 Fine wooden altar-piece, Flemish, 15th century : centre, the 
 Mass of St. Gregory, with Christ appearing bodily in the Holy 
 Sacrament ; beneath it, adoring anj^els ; L wing, Abraham and 
 Melchisedek, frankly mediioval ; R wing, the Last Supper ; an 
 excellent specimen. Other objects are : (726) Stiff early 
 wooden Madonna. (723) Crucifix, Auvergne, 12th century. 
 (727) St. John. End wall. Annunciation, with the Madonna 
 separated, as often, from the Angel Gabriel l)y a vase of lilies. 
 The staircase in the corner leads out to the Garden, where 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH BANK 55 
 
 are several fragments of stone decoration. Pass through the 
 door, and traverse Room VI ; the opposite door leads to^ 
 
 Les Thermes, 
 
 the remains of the old Roman palace. The scanty remnant, as 
 its name indicates, consists entirely of the baths attached to the 
 building. The masonry is massive. Fragments of Roman 
 altars and other remains found in Paris are arranged round the 
 room. The descriptive labels are sufficient for purposes of 
 identification. 
 
 If this brief survey of Cluny has succeeded in interesting you 
 in mediaeval art, buy the official catalogue, come here often, 
 and study it in detail. 
 
 B. THK HILL OF STE. GFNRVIEVE 
 
 (Pantheon, St. Etienne-du-Mont.) 
 
 [" High places" are always the first cemeteries and holy sites 
 — as at Montmartre and elsewhere. But the nearest rising 
 ground to Old Paris is the slight elevation just s. of Cluny, 
 now crowned by the colossal dome of the Pantheon. In 
 Frankish times, this hill lay quite outside the city ; but on its 
 summit (just behind his Palace of Les Thermes), Clovis, after 
 his conversion by Ste. Genevieve, is said to have erected a 
 church to St. Peter and St. Paul. Here Ste. Genevieve herself 
 was buried in 512 ; and the chapel raised over her tomb grew 
 into a church— the favourite place of pilgrimage for the inhabi- 
 tants of Paris. The actual body of the patron saint was en- 
 closed, in 550, m a magnificent shrine, executed by St. Eloy, the 
 holy blacksmith. Throughout the Middle Ages this church and 
 tomb of Ste. Genevieve, which occupied the site of the existing 
 Pantheon, nearly, were the objects of the greatest devotion. 
 St. Denis was the saint of the kings and nobles ; but Ste. 
 Genevieve was, and still remains, the saint of the people, and 
 especially of the women. Miracles were constantly performed 
 at her shrine, and her aid was implored at all moments of 
 national danger or misfortune. A great (Augustin) abbey grew 
 up in time behind the church, and was dedicated in honourjof 
 the holy shepherdess. The wall of Philippe Auguste bent 
 
56 PARIS [II. 
 
 abruptly southward in order to include her shrine and this 
 powerful abbey. 
 
 In the twelfth century, when the old church of St. Stephen 
 (in French, St. Etienne), on the site of Notre-Dame, was pulled 
 down in order to make room for the existing cathedral, the 
 relics of St. Stephen contained in it were transferred to a new 
 edifice— St. Etienne=du=Mont— which was erected by the 
 monks, close to the Abbey of vSte. Genevieve, as a parish 
 church for their servants and dependents. In the sixteenth 
 century this second church of St. Stephen was pulled down, 
 with the exception of its tower, which is still standing. The 
 existmg church of St. Etienne was then l)egun on the same site 
 in the Gothic style, and slowly completed with extensive Ren- 
 naissance alterations. 
 
 Later still, the mediaeval church of Ste. Genevieve, hard by, 
 having fallen into decay in the middle of the eighteenth century, 
 Louis XV determined to replace it by a sumptuous domed 
 edifice in the style of the period. This building, designed by 
 Soufflot, was not completed till the Revolution, when it was 
 immediately secularised as the Pantheon, under circumstances 
 to be mentioned later. The remains of Ste. Genevieve, which 
 had lain temporarily meanwhile in a sumptuous chapel at St. 
 Etienne-du-Mont (the subsidiary church of the monastery) 
 were then taken out by the Revolutionists ; the mediitn'al shrine, 
 or reliquary (which replaced St. Eloy's), was ruthlessly broken 
 up ; and the body of the patroness and preserver of Paris was 
 publicly burnetl in the Place de Greve. This, however, strange 
 to say, was not quite the end of Ste. Genevieve. A few of her 
 relics were said to have been preserved : some bones, together 
 with a lock of the holy shepherdess's hair, were afterwards 
 recovered, and replaced in the sarcophagus they had once 
 occupied. Such at least is the official story ; and these relics, 
 now once more enclosed in a costly shrine, still attract thousands 
 of votaries to the chapel of the saint in St. Etienne-du-Mont. 
 
 The Pantheon, standing in front of the original church, is 
 now a secular burial-place for the great men of France. The 
 remains of Ste. Genevieve still repose at St, Etienne. Thus it 
 is impossible to dissociate the two buildings, which should be 
 visited together ; and thus too it happens that the patroness 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH BANK 57 
 
 of Paris has now no church in her own city. Local saints are 
 always the most important ; this hill and Montmartre are still 
 the holiest places in Paris.] 
 
 Proceed, as far as the garden of the Thermes, as on the 
 excursion to Cluny. Then continue straight up the Boulevard 
 St. Michel. The large edifice visible on the R of the Rue 
 des Ecoles to your L, is the new building of the Sorbonne, or 
 University. Further up, at the Place du Sorbonne, the domed 
 church of the same name stands before you. It is the Univer- 
 sity church, and is noticeable as the earliest true dome erected 
 in Paris. The next corner shows one, R, the Luxembourg 
 garden, and L, the Rue Soufilot, leading up to the Pantheon. 
 
 The colossal domed temple which replaces the ancient church 
 of Ste. Genevieve was begun by Soufflot, under Louis XV, in 
 imitation of St. Peter's, at Rome. Like all architects of his 
 time, Soufflot sought merely to produce an effect of pagan or 
 "classical" grandeur, peculiarly out of place in the shrine of 
 the shepherdess of Nanterre. Secularised almost immediately 
 on its completion, during the Revolution, the building was 
 destined as the national monument to the great men of France, 
 and the inscription, " Aux Grands Hommes la Patrie Recon- 
 naissante," which it still bears, was then first placed under the 
 sculptures of the pediment. Restored to worship by the Re- 
 storation, it was again secularised under the Third Republic in 
 order to admit of the burial of Victor Hugo. The building 
 itself, a vast bare barn of the pseudo-classical type, very cold 
 and formal, is worthy of notice merely on account of its im- 
 mense size and its historic position ; but it may be visited to 
 this day with pleasure, not only for some noble modern paint- 
 ings, but also for the sake of the reminiscences of Ste. Gene- 
 vieve which it still contains. Open daily, free, from lo to 4, 
 Mondays excepted. 
 
 The tympanum has a group by David d' Angers, represent- 
 ing France distributing wreaths to soldiers, politicians, men of 
 letters, men of science, and artists. 
 
 The Interior is in the shape of a Greek cross (with equal arms). 
 Follow round the walls, beginning from the R. In the R Aisle 
 are paintings (modern) looking like frescoes, and represent- 
 
5^ PARIS [II. 
 
 ing the preaching of St. Denis, by Galand ; and *the history 
 of Ste. Genevieve — her childhood, recognition by St. Germain 
 I'Auxerrois, miracles, etc., delicate and elusive v^orks, by Puvis 
 de Chavannes. The paintings of the South Transept represent 
 episodes in the early history of France. Chronologically 
 speaking, they begin from the E. central corner. Choir, 
 Death of Ste. Genevieve, by Laurens, and Miracles before her 
 Shrine. Apse of the tribune, fine modern (archaic) mosaic, by 
 Hebert, representing Christ with the Guardian Angel of France, 
 tne Madonna, Jeanne d'Arc, and Ste. Genevieve. Stand under 
 the dome to observe the proportions of the huge, bare, unim- 
 pressive building. L, or Northern Transept, E. side, the history 
 of Jeanne d'Arc ; she hears the voices ; leads the assault at 
 Orleans ; assists at the coronation of Charles VII at Rheims ; 
 and is burnt at Rouen. W. side, vSt. Louis as a child instructed 
 by Blanche of Castille ; administering justice in the Palace ; and 
 a captive among the Saracens. N. aisle, history of Ste. Genevieve 
 and St. Denis (suite). The building is thus at once the apo- 
 theosis of patriotism, and the lasting memorial of the part 
 borne by Christianity in French, and especially Parisian, history. 
 
 As you descend the steps of the Pantheon, the building that 
 faces you to the L is the Mairie of the 5th Arrondissement ; 
 that to the R, the Ecole de Droit. Turn to the R, along the N. 
 side of the Pantheon. The long, low building which faces you 
 is the Biblioth^que Ste. Genevitn \othing now remains of 
 the Abbey of Ste. Genevieve except luc tall early Gothic tower 
 seen to the R, near the end of the Pantheon, and rising above 
 the modern buildings of the Lycee Henri IV. The singularly 
 picturesque and strangely-mingled church across the little 
 square is St, Etienne=du-Mont, which we now proceed to 
 visit. 
 
 Stand in the left-hand corner of the Place to examine the 
 jaqade. The church was begun (i 5 17) as late Gothic ; but before 
 it was finished, the Renaissance style had come into fashion, 
 and the architects accordingly jumbled the two in the most 
 charming manner. The incongruity here only adds to the 
 beauty. The quaintly original Renaissance portal bears a 
 dedication to St. Stephen the Protomartyr, beneath which is 
 a relief of his martyrdom, with a Latin inscription, " Stone 
 
II.] THE LEFT OR SOUTH DANK 59 
 
 destroyed the temple of the Lord," />., Stephen, " Stone re- 
 builds it." R and L of the portal are statues of Sts. Stephen and 
 Genevi6ve, whose monograms also appear on the doors. In the 
 pediment is the usual representation of the Resurrection and 
 Last Judgment. Above it, the rose window, on either side of 
 which, in accordance with Italian rather than with French 
 custom (showing Italian Renaissance influence) are the Angel 
 of the Annunciation and the Madonna receiving his message. 
 In the third story, a gable-end. Singular tower to the L, with an 
 additional round turret, a relic of the earlier (Gothic building. 
 The whole faqade (17th century), represents rather late Renais- 
 sance than transitional architecture. 
 
 The interior is the most singular, and in some ways the most 
 picturesque, in Paris — a Gothic church, tricked out in Renais- 
 sance finery. The nave is flanked by aisles, which are divided 
 from it by round pillars, capped by a singular balustrade 
 or gallery with low, flat arches, simulating a triforium. The 
 upper arches are round, and the decorations Renaissance ; but 
 the vaulting, both of nave and aisles, with its pendant key- 
 stones, recalls the Gothic style, as do also most of the windows. 
 Stand near the entrance, in the centre of the nave, and look up 
 the church. The most striking feature is the beautiful Renais- 
 sance ^w<5t' or *''*'rood=»loft (the only one now left in Paris) which 
 divides the Choir from the body of the building. This rood-loft 
 still bears a crucifix, for the reception of which it was originally 
 intended. On the arch below are two charmingly sculptured 
 Renaissance angels. The rood-loft is flanked by two spiral 
 staircases, which are wholly unique architectural features. 
 Notice also the exquisite pendentive of the roof at the point ot 
 intersection of the nave and short false transepts. 
 
 Now walk up the Right Aisle. The first chapel is the Baptis- 
 tery, containing the font and a modern statue of the boy Baptist. 
 Third chapel, St. Antony of Padua. The fourth chapel con- 
 tains a curious Holy Sepulchre, with quaint life-size terra-cotta 
 figures of the i6th century. Fifth chapel, a gilt c/uisse. Notice 
 the transepts, reduced to short arms, scarcely, if at all, project- 
 ing beyond the chapels. From this point examine the exquisite 
 Renaissance tracery of the rood-screen and staircases. Then 
 pass under the fine Renaissance door, with lovely decorative 
 
60 PARIS [II. 
 
 work, into the ambulatory. The Choir is in large part Gothic, 
 with late flamboyant tracery. The apparent triforium is con- 
 tinued round the ambulatory. The splendid gilded shrine in 
 the second choir-chapel contains the remains of 5te. Qene- 
 vi^ve, or what is left of them. Candles burn perpetually around 
 it. Hundreds of votaries here pay their devotions daily to the 
 Patroness of Paris. The shrine, containing what is alleged to 
 be the original sarcophagus of the Saint (more probably of the 
 13th century) stands under a richly-gilt Gothic tabernacle, 
 adorned with figures legibly named on their pedestals. The 
 stained-glass window behind it has a representation of a pro- 
 cessional function with the body of the Saint, showing this 
 church, together with a view of the original church of Ste. 
 Genevieve, the remaining tower, and adjacent houses, histori- 
 cally most interesting. The window beyond the shrine also 
 contains the history of Ste. Genevieve — her childhood, first 
 communion, miracles, distribution of bread during the siege of 
 Paris, conversion of Clovis, death, etc. Indeed the long sojourn 
 of the body of Ste. Genevi6ve in this church has almost over- 
 shadowed its dedication to St. Stephen, several memorials of 
 whom may, however, be recognised by the attentive visitor — 
 amongst them, a picture of his martyrdom (by Abel de Pujol) 
 near the entrance to the choir. The Protomartyr also stands, 
 with his deacon's robe and palm, in a niche near the door of the 
 sacristy, where L and R are frescoes of his Disputation with the 
 Doctors, and his Martyrdom. The chapel immediately behind 
 the high altar is, as usual, the Lady Chapel. The next con- 
 tains a good modern window of the Marriage of the Virgin. 
 Examine in detail all the windows ; one of the mystic wine-press 
 is very interesting. Votive offerings of the city of Paris to Ste. 
 Genevieve also exist in the ambulatory. Curious frescoes of 
 the martyrdom of the 10,000 Christians on Mount Ararat on the 
 N side. The best view of the choir is obtained from the N^ 
 side of the ambulatory, opposite the shrine of Ste. Genevieve. 
 In the north aisle notice St. Louis with the Crown of Thorns. 
 Stand again in the centre of the nave, near the entrance, and 
 observe the curious inclination of the choir and high altar to 
 one side — here particularly noticeable, and said in every case 
 to represent the droop of the Redeemei-'s head on the cross. 
 
II] THE LEFT OR SOUTH BANK 6l 
 
 Go out again. As you emerge from the door, observe the 
 cold and bare side of the Pantheon, contrasted with the internal 
 richness of St. Etienne. Curious view of the late Gothic portion 
 of the church from the little Place on the N. side. Return by 
 the Rue Cujas and Rue St. Jacques, passing the Lycee Ste. 
 Barbe, Lycee Louis-le-Grand, University, and other scholastic 
 buildings, which give a good idea of the character of the 
 quarter. 
 
 ^ .1 
 
 J. 
 
Ill 
 
 RENAISSANCE PARIS (THE LOUVRE) 
 
 rT])ARIS, which spread rapidly Soullnvard at first, was 
 L L somewhat slower in its Northward development. 
 Nevertheless, by the time of I'liilippe Auguste, the Town 
 (La Vnie)— the commercial portion N, of the river— more than 
 e([ualled the learned district on the s. side. This central 
 northern region, however, containing the Hotel de Ville, St. 
 Eustache, and some other important buildings, I purposely 
 postpone to the consideration of the Louvre and its neigh- 
 bourhood, which, though later in date, form the heart and 
 core of Renaissance Paris — the Paris of Fran(;ois P"^ and 
 his splendour-loving successors. 
 
 Most of the luiildings we have hitherto considered are 
 mediicval and Gothic. The Louvre introduces us at once to a 
 new world — the world of the Renaissance. The transition is 
 abrupt. In Italy, and especially in Florence, the Renaissance 
 was a natural ij^roiuth ; in France it was a fashion. It came in, 
 full-fledged, without history or antecedents. To trace its evolu- 
 tion, one must follow it out in detail in Florence and Venice. 
 There, it grows of itself, organically, by gradual stages. But in 
 France, Gothic churches and medii\:val chateaux give place at 
 once, with a bound, to developed Renaissance temples and 
 palaces. The reason for this fact is, that the French kings, 
 from Charles VIII onward to Henri IV, were thoroughly Itali- 
 anate. They fought, travelled, and married in Italy, to parts of 
 which they laid claim ; and being closely allied with the Medici 
 and other Italian families,— husbands of Medici wives, sons of 
 Medici mothers,— they introduced at once into France the 
 developed products of the Italian Renaissance. At the same 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 63 
 
 time the increased and centralized power of the Crown enabled 
 them to build magnificent palaces, like the Louvre and Fontaine- 
 bleau ; and to this artificial imj)ulse is mainly due the sudden 
 outburst of art in France under Fran(^ois I''' and his immediate 
 successors. 
 
 It is impossible to characterize the Renaissance in a few 
 short sentences. In one aspect, it was a return from Gothicism 
 to Classical usage, somewhat altered by the new conditions of 
 life. At first you will probably only notice that in architecture 
 it substituted round arches for pointed, and introduced square 
 doors and windows ; while in other arts it replaced sacred and 
 Christian subjects and treatment by mythological and secular. 
 But, in contrast with medi;cvalism, it will reveal itself to you by 
 degrees as essentially the dawn of the modern spirit. 
 
 The Louvre is the noblest monument of the French Renais- 
 sance. From the time of St. Louis onward, the French kings 
 began to live more and more in the northern suburb, the town 
 of the merchants, which now assumed the name of La Ville, in 
 contradistinction to the Cite and the Universitc. Two of their 
 chief residences here were the Iiastille and the Hotel St. Paul, 
 both now demolished — one, on the Place so called, the other, 
 between the Rue St. Antoine and the Quai des Celestins. But 
 from a very early period they also possessed a chateau on the 
 site of the Louvre, and known by the same name, which 
 guarded the point where the wall of Philippe Auguste abutted 
 on the river. Francois P''' decided to pull down this picturesque 
 turreted mediicval castle, erected by Philippe Auguste and 
 altered by Charles V. He began the construction in its place 
 of a magnificent Renaissance palace, which has ever since been 
 in course of erection. Its subsequent growth, however, is best 
 explained opposite the building itself, where attention can be 
 duly called to the succession of its salient features. But a visit 
 to the exterior fabric of the Louvre should be preceded by one 
 to St. Qerniain I'Auxerrois, the parish church, and practically 
 the chapel, of the old Louvre, to which it stood in somewhat 
 the same relation as the Ste. Chapelle to the home of St. Louis. 
 Note, however, that the church was situated just within the 
 ancient wall, while the chateau lay outside it. The visitor will 
 doubtless be tolerably familiar by this time with some parts at 
 
64 PARIS [III. 
 
 least of the exterior of the Louvre ; but he will do well to visit 
 it now systematically, in the order here suggested, so as to 
 gain a clear general idea of its history and meaning.] 
 
 A. THE FABRIC 
 
 Go along the Rue de Rivoli, past the Palais Royal, till you 
 reach the Rue du Louvre. Turn down it, with the Louvre on 
 your right. To your left stands a curious composite building, 
 with a detached belfry in the centre, and two wings, as it seems, 
 one on either side. The southernmost wing is the old church 
 of St. Qermain I'Auxerrois, the sole remnant of the earliest 
 Louvre ; the northernmost wing is the modern Mairie of the 
 1st Arrondissement, unhappily intended to " harmonize " with 
 it. The real result is, that the modern building kills the old 
 one. The belfry was designed to fill up the gap between the 
 two. Its effect is disastrous. 
 
 The church is older than the oldest Louvre. St. Germanus, 
 Bishop of Auxerrc (d. 430), was almost one of the first genera- 
 tion of (lallic saints, celebrated for his visit to Britain, where 
 he assisted in gaining the ?Iallelujah victory over the heathen 
 invaders. A church on this site is said to have been erected in 
 his honour as early as the days of Chilperic. Sacked by the 
 Normans, it was re-erected in something like its present form 
 in the 12th century, but received many subsequent additions. 
 
 The beautiful porch, which we first examine, is of much later 
 date, having been added in 1431 by Jean Gaussel, at a time 
 when the old chateau of the Loux're had becon^e one of the 
 principal residences of the French kings, in order to give 
 greater dignity, and to afford a covered approach for the royal 
 worshippers to what was practically their own chapel. It 
 therefore contains (restored) statues, in niches, relating especi- 
 ally to the royal and local Saints of Paris, whose names are 
 beneath them :— St. Cloud, the Princess Ste. Clotilde, Ste. Rade- 
 gonde of France, St. Denis, St. Marcel, St. Germain himself, 
 St. Landry, Ste. Isabclle, Ste. Bathilde, St. Jean de Valois, and 
 others. The saints of the royal house are distinguished by 
 crowns or coronels. Two of these statues are old : St. Francis, 
 at the south end, and St. Mary of Egypt, nude, with her long 
 hair, and the three loaves which sustained her in the desert, on 
 
 L 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 65 
 
 the second north pillar. The modern frescoes, destroyed, are 
 by Mottez. 
 
 Observe the congruity of all these saints to the church and 
 the chdteau. St. Landry or Landeric, an early Frankish bishop 
 of Paris, was buried within, and his shrine was a place of pil- 
 grimage. St. Marcel was also a bishop of Paris. St. Cloud 
 was a holy anchorite whose cell was in the wood which occupied 
 the site of the palace (now destroyed) that bears his name. 
 All these saints are therefore closely bound up with the town of 
 Paris and the royal family. You must never forget this near 
 alliance in France between the church and the crown : it colours 
 all the architecture of the early period. 
 
 Within the porch, we come to the main facade, of the 13th 
 century. R and L, two sainted bishops of Auxerre, successors 
 of St. Germain. Central portal, a queen, a king (probably 
 Childebert and Ultrogolhe, the original Frankish founders), St. 
 Vincent ; then vSt. Germain himself, and Ste. Genevieve, with 
 the usual devil and candle, and her attendant an;^'el, etc. On 
 the pier. Madonna and Child, under a canopy. The tympanum 
 had formerly the usual relief of the Last Supper, now destroyed, 
 and replaced by a fresco. Reminiscences of its subject still 
 remain in the quaint figures to R and L on the arch, at its base, 
 representing respectively, with childish realism, the Jaws of 
 Hell and Abraham's Bosom, to which the wicked and the just 
 were consigned in the centre. 
 
 In this church, and in that of St. Germain-des-Pres (see later), 
 St. Vincent ranks as a local Parisian saint, because his tunic 
 was preserved in the great abbey church of the other St. Ger- 
 main beyond the river. He bears a martyr's palm and is 
 habited as a deacon ; whence he is often hard to distinguish 
 from his brother deacon, St. Stephen : both are often put 
 together in Parisian churches. It is probable that St. Germain 
 of Paris consecrated this church to his older name-sake and St. 
 Vincent — for his connection with whom you had better wait till 
 you visit St. Germain-des-Pres. 
 
 The interior is low, but impressive. The R aisle is entirely 
 railed off as a separate church or Lady Chapel. It contains 
 an interesting 14th-century Root of Jesse, seldom accessible. 
 Pretty modern font, by Jouffroy, after Mme. de Lamartine, 
 
 E 
 
66 PARIS [ill. 
 
 in the South Transept. Walk round the Ambulatory (behind 
 the Choir), and observe the stained glass and other details, 
 which the reader may now be trusted to discover unaided. A 
 mass of the detail is well worthy of notice. The Gothic pillars 
 of the Choir were converted in the i8th century into fluted 
 columns. Over the Sacristy, in the South Ambulatory, is a 
 modern fresco of St. Germain and St. Vincent. Note many 
 other memorials of the latter. When you leave, walk to the 
 south side of the church to inspect the exterior and the square 
 tower, from which, as parish church of the Louvre, the bell 
 rang for the massacre of St. Bartholomew, to be answered by 
 that in the Palace on the island. 
 
 On emerging from the church, contrast its Gothic quaintness 
 and richness of detail with the cold, classical fa(;ade of that 
 part of the Louvre which fronts you. This fcK^ade^ known as 
 Perrault's Colonnade, with its classical pediment and Corinthian 
 columns, was erected by Claude Perrault for Louis XIV, 
 whose LL and crown appear on every part of it. Nothing 
 could better illustrate the profound difference between Gothic 
 and Classical architecture than this abrupt contrast. 
 
 The portion of the palace that faces you is the real front 
 door of the Louvre. Notice the snialler barred windows on 
 the ground floor, and the upper story converted into a loge^ia. 
 Now pass in through the gateway, under the Chariot of the 
 Sun — an Apotheosis of Louis — into the F'irst Court, known dis- 
 tinctively as the Courdu Louvre. For all that follows, consult 
 the excellent coloured map in Baedeker, page 86. I advise 
 you to cut it out, and carry it round in your hand during this 
 excursion. 
 
 Begin by understanding distinctly that this court (le vieux 
 Louvre) is the real and original Louvre : the rest is mere 
 excrescence, intended to unite the main building with the 
 Tuilerics, which lay some hundreds of yards to the west of it. 
 Notice, first, that the I'alace as a whole, seen from the point 
 where you now stand, is constructed on the old principle of 
 relatively blank external walls, like a castle, with an interior 
 courtyard, on which all the apartments open, and almost all 
 the decoration is lavished. Reminiscences of defence lurk 
 about the Louvre. It can best be understood by comparison 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 67 
 
 with such ornate, yet fortress-like, Italian palaces as the Strozzi 
 at Florence. Notice the four opposite portals, facing the car- 
 dinal points, which can be readily shut by means of great 
 doors ; while the actual doorways of the various suites of 
 apartments open only into the protected courtyard. This is 
 the origin of the familiar Y xer\ch. porte-cochi:re. 
 
 Again, the portion of the building that directly faces you as 
 you enter the court from St. Germain is the oldest part, and 
 represents the early Renaissance spirit. It is the most primi- 
 tive Louvre. Note in particular the central elevated portion, 
 known as a Pavilion^ and graced with elegant Caryatides. 
 These Pavilions are lingering reminiscences of the mediaeval 
 towers. You will find them in the corners and centres of other 
 blocks in the Louvre. They form a peculiarly French Renais- 
 sance characteristic. The Palace is here growing out of the 
 Castle. The other three sides of the square are, on the whole, 
 more classical and later. 
 
 Now cross the square directly to the Pavilion de THorloge, 
 as it is called, from the clock which adorns it. To your L, on 
 the floor of the court, are two circular white lines, enclosed in 
 a square. These mark the site of the original Cluiteau of the 
 Louvre, with its Keep, or donjon, Frangois I*^'', who began the 
 existing building, originally intended that his palace should 
 cover the same area. It was he who erected the L wing, which 
 now faces you, marked by the crowned H on its central round 
 gable, placed there by his successor, Henri II, under whom it 
 was completed. To the same king are also due the monograms 
 of H and U (for Diane de Poitiers, his mistress), between the 
 columns of the ground floor. The whole of the Pavilion de 
 I'Horloge, and of this west wing, should be carefully ex- 
 amined in detail as the finest remaining specimen of highly 
 decorated French Renaissance architecture. (But the upper 
 story of the Pavilion, with the Caryatides, is an age later.) Ob- 
 serve even the decoration lavished on the beautiful chimneys. 
 Pierre Lescot was the architect of this earliest wing ; the ex- 
 quisite sculpture is by Jean Goujon, a Frenchman, and the 
 Italian, Paolo Ponzio. Examine much of it. The crossed K's 
 of certain panels stand for Catherine de Meaicis. 
 
 The K wing, beyond the Pavilion^ was added, in the same 
 
68 PARIS [ill. 
 
 style, under Louis XIII, who decided to double the plan of 
 his predecessors, and form the existing Cour du Louvre. 
 
 The other three sides, in a more classic style, with pedi- 
 ments replacing the Pavilions, and square porticoes instead of 
 rounded gables, are for the most part later. The s. side, how- 
 ever, as far as the central door, is also by Pierre Lescot. It 
 forms one of the two fronts of the original square first contem- 
 plated. The attic story of these three sides was added under 
 Louis XIV, to whom in the main is due this Cour du Louvre. 
 A considerable part of Louis XIV's decorations bear reference 
 to his representation as le roi soldi. 
 
 Now, pass through the Pavilion de I'Horloge (called on its w. 
 side Pavilion Sully) into the second of the three courts of the 
 Louvre. To understand this portion of the building, again, 
 you must remember that shortly after the erection of the Old 
 Louvre, Catherine de Medicis began to build her palace of the 
 Tuileries, now destroyed, to the w. of it. She (and subsequent 
 rulers) designed to unite the Old Louvre with the Tuileries by a 
 gallery which should run along the bank of the river. Of that 
 gallery, Catherine de Medicis herself erected a considerable 
 portion, to be described later, and Henri IV almost completed 
 it. Later on. Napoleon I conceived the idea of extending a 
 similar gallery along his new Rue de Rivoli, on the N. side, so 
 as to enclose the whole space between the Louvre and the 
 Tuileries in one gigantic double courtyard. Napoleon III 
 carried out his idea. The second court in which you now 
 stand is entirely flanked by buildings of this epoch — the Second 
 Empire. Examine it cursorily as far as the modern statue of 
 Gambetta. 
 
 Stand or take a seat by the railing of the garden opposite the 
 Pavilion Sully. The part that now faces you forms a portion of 
 the building of Francois P'" and Louis XIII, redecorated in part 
 by Napoleon I. The portions to your R and L (consult Baede- 
 ker's map) are entirely of the age of Napoleon III, built so as to 
 conceal the want of parallelism of the outer portions. Observe 
 their characteristic Pavilions, each bearing its own name in- 
 scribed upon it. This recent square, though quite modern in 
 the character of its sculpture and decoration, is Renaissance 
 in its general architecture, and, when looked back upon from 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 69 
 
 the gardens of the Tuileries, affords a most excellent idea of 
 that stately style, as developed in France under Francois l*^*". 
 The whole of this splendid plan, however, has been rendered 
 futile by the destruction of the Tuileries, without which the 
 enclosure becomes wholly meaningless. 
 
 Now, continue westward, pass the Monument of Gambetta, 
 and take a seat on the steps at the base, near the fine nude 
 figure of Truth. In front of you opens the third square of 
 the Louvre, known as the Place du Carrousel, and formerly 
 enclosed on its w. side by the Palace of the Tuileries, which was 
 unfortunately burnt down in 1871, during the conflict between 
 the Municipal and National authorities. Its place is now occu- 
 pied by a garden terrace, the view from which in all directions 
 is magnificent. Fronting you, as you sic, is the Arc de 
 Triomphe du Carrousel, erected under Napoleon I, by 
 Percier and Fontaine, in imitation of the Arch of Septimius 
 Severus at Rome, and once crowned by the famous bronze 
 Roman horses from St. Mark's at Venice. The arch, designed 
 as an approach to the Tuileries during the period of the classi- 
 cal mania, is too small for its present surroundings, since the 
 removal of the Palace. The N. wing, visible to your R, is 
 purely modern, of the age of the First and Second Empire and 
 the Third Republic. The meretricious character of the reliefs 
 in its extreme w. portion, erected under the Emperor Napoleon 
 III, and restored after the Commune, is redolent of the spirit 
 of that gaudy period. The S. wing, to your L, forms part of 
 the connecting gallery erected by Henri IV, but its architec- 
 ture is largely obscured by considerable alterations under 
 Napoleon III. Its w. pavilion — known as the Pavilion de 
 Flore — is well worth notice. 
 
 Having thus gained a first idea of the courtyard fronts ot 
 the building, continue your walk, still westward, along the S. 
 wing as far as the Pavilion de Flore, a remaining portion of the 
 corner edifice which ran into one line with the Palace of the 
 Tuileries (again consult Baedeker's map). Turn round the 
 corner of the Pavilion to examine the s., or River Front of the 
 connecting gallery — one of the finest parts of the whole build- 
 ing, but far less known to ordinary visitors than the cold and 
 uninteresting Northern line along the Rue de Rivoli. The first 
 
70 PARIS [III. 
 
 portion, as far as the gateways, belongs originally to the age of 
 Henri IV ; but it was entirely reconstructed under Napoleon 
 III, whose obtrusive N appears in many places on the gateways 
 and elsewhere. Nevertheless, it still preserves, on the whole, 
 some reminiscence of its graceful Renaissance architecture. 
 Beyond the main gateway (with modern bronze Charioteer of 
 the Sun), flanked by the Pavilions de la Tremoille and de 
 Lesdigui^res, we come upon the long Southern Qallery 
 erected by Catherine de Medicis, which still preserves almost 
 intact its splendid early French Renaissance decoration. This 
 is one of the noblest portions of the entire building. The N 
 here gives place to H's, and the Renaissance scroll-work and 
 reliefs almost equal those in that portion of the old Louvre 
 which was erected under Francois 1*^^ Sit on a seat on the 
 Quay and examine the sculpture. Notice particularly the 
 splendid Porte Jean Goujon, conspicuous from afar by its gilded 
 balcony. Its crowned H's and coats-of-arms are specially 
 interesting examples of the decorative work of the period. 
 Note also the skill with which this almost flat range is relieved 
 by sculpture and decoration so as to make us oblivious of the 
 want of that variety usually given by jutting portions. The end 
 of this long gallery is formed by two handsome windows with 
 balconies. We there come to the connecting Qalerie d* 
 Apollon, of which these windows are the termination, and 
 finally reach once more a portion of Perrault's faqade, with its 
 double LL's, erected under Louis XIV, and closely resembling 
 the xniQUor fcK^ade of the Cour du Louvre. 
 
 (The N. side you can examine any day as you pass along the 
 Rue de Rivoli. You will now have no difficulty in distinguish- 
 ing its various factors — first, on the E., a part of Perrault's /<:^frt^/^ 
 of the Old Louvre ; then, where it begins to bend outward, a 
 portion of Napoleon the Third's connecting link ; finally, 
 beyond the main carriage way, westward, a part reconstructed 
 under the Third Republic.) 
 
 Sit awhile on the adjacent Pont des Arts to gain a general 
 conception of the relations of the Louvre, the tie de la Cite?, 
 the Hotel de Ville and other surrounding buildings. 
 
 This first rough idea of the Louvre should be filled in later 
 by detailed study. The Renaissance portions, in particular, 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 7 1 
 
 you should look at again and again, every time you enter, 
 piecing out your conceptions at a later stage by visiting the 
 Renaissance Sculpture Gallery in the Cour du Louvre, and 
 comparing the works inside it and outside it. Thus only can 
 you gain a connected idea of Renaissance Paris, to be further 
 supplemented by frequent visits to St. Etienne-du-Mont, St. 
 Eustache, and Fontainebleau. 
 
 B. THE COLLECTIONS 
 
 [The Collections in the Louvre have no such necessary or- 
 ganic connection with Paris itself as Notre-Dame and the 
 Sainte-Chapelle, or even those in the rooms at Cluny. They 
 may, therefore, be examined by the visitor at (wy period of his 
 visit that he chooses. I would advise him, however, whenever 
 he takes them up, to begin with the paintings, in the order here 
 etiuinerated, and then to go on to the Classical and Renais- 
 sance Sculpture. The last-named, at least, he should only 
 examine in connection with the rest of Renaissance Paris* 
 Also, while it is unimportant whether he takes first Painting or 
 Sculpture, it is very important that he should take each sepa- 
 rately in the chronological order here enumerated. He 
 should not skip from room to room, hap-hazard, but see what 
 he sees systematically. 
 
 At least six days— far more, if possible — should be devoted 
 to the Louvre Collections — by far the most important objects to 
 be seen in Paris. Of these, four should be assigned to the 
 Paintings, and one each to the Classical and Renaissance 
 Sculpture. If this is impossible, do not try to see all ; see a 
 little thoroughly. Confine yourself, for Painting, to the Salon 
 Carre and the Salle des Primitifs, and for Sculpture, to a hasty 
 walk through the Classical Gallery and to the three Western 
 rooms of the Renaissance collection. 
 
 The object of the hints which follow is not to describe the 
 Collections in the Louvre ; it is to put the reader on the right 
 track for understanding and enjoying them. It is impossible to 
 make people admire beautiful things; but if you begin by trying 
 to comprehend them, you will find admiration and sympathy 
 grow with comprehension. Religious symbolism is the 
 native language of early art, and you cannot expect to under- 
 
72 PARIS " [ill. 
 
 stand the art if you do not take the trouble to learn the lan- 
 guage in which it is written. Therefore, do not walk listlessly 
 through the galleries, with a glance, right or left, at what hap- 
 pens to catch your eye ; begin at the beginning, work sys- 
 tematically through what parts you choose, and endeavour to 
 grasp the sequence and evolution of each group separately. 
 Stand or sit long before every work, till you feel you know it ; 
 and return frequently. Remember, too, that I do not point out 
 always what is most worthy of notice, but rather suggest a mode 
 of arriving at facts which might otherwise escape you. Many 
 beautiful objects explain themselves, or fall so naturally into 
 their proper place in a series that you will readily discover their 
 meaning and importance without external aid. With others, 
 you may need a little help, to suggest a point of view, and that 
 is all that these brief notes aim at. Uo not be surprised if I 
 pass by many beautiful and interesting things ; if you find them 
 out for yourself, there is no need to enlarge upon them. 
 Should these hints succeed in interesting you in the succession 
 and development of art, get Mrs. Jameson and Kugler, and 
 read up at leisure in your rooms all questions suggested to you 
 by your visits to the galleries. My notes are intended to be 
 looked at before the objects themselves, and merely to open 
 a door to their right comprehension. 
 
 The galleries are open, free, daily, except Mondays. Paint- 
 ing from 9, Sculpture from ii. For details, see Baedeker.] 
 
 I. PAINTINGS. 
 
 Take Baedeker's Plan of the Galleries (ist Floor) with you. 
 Enter by the door in the Pavilion Denon. (Sticks and um- 
 brellas left here ; tip optional.) Turn to L and traverse long 
 hall with reproductions of famous antiques in bronze (Laocoon, 
 Medici Venus, Apollo Belvedere, etc.), which those who do 
 not intend to visit Rome and Florence will do well to examine. 
 Observe, in passing, in the centre of the hall, a fine antique 
 sarcophagus, with figures in high relief, representing the story 
 of Achilles. Begin on the furthest side of the sarcophagus : (i) 
 Achilles, disguised as a woman, among the daughters of Lyco- 
 medes, in order to avoid the Trojan war ; (2) is discovered by 
 Ulysses as a pedlar, through his choice of arms instead of trin- 
 
III.] REXAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 73 
 
 kets; (3) arming himself for the combat ; and (4, modern) Priam 
 redeeming th« body of Hector. (The work originally stood 
 against a wall, and had therefore three decorative sides only.) 
 Further on, fine sarcophagus from Salonica, Roman period, with 
 Combat of Amazons, representing on the lid husband and wife, 
 couched, somewhat after the Etruscan fashion. 
 
 Mount the staircase (Escalier Daru). Near the top is the 
 famous Nik^ of Samothrace, a much-mutilated winged figure 
 of Victory, standing like a figure-head on the prow of a trireme. 
 It was erected by Demetrius Poliorcetes, in commemoration of 
 a naval engagement in B.C. 305. Attitude and drapery stamp 
 the work as one of the finest products of Hellenic art. Victory 
 alights on the vessel of the conqueror. 
 
 Turn to your L just before reaching the last flight, and pass 
 several Etruscan sarcophagi and sarcophagus-shaped funereal 
 urns, many with the deceased and his wife on the lid, accom- 
 panied in some cases by protecting genii. The early Etruscans 
 buried ; the later often burned their dead, but continued to 
 enclose the ashes in miniature sarcophagi. At the top, on the 
 L, a fresco by Fra Aiigclico^ the Dominican painter, St. 
 Dominic embracing the Cross, with the Madonna and St. John 
 Evangelist : not a first-rate example of the master. End wall, R 
 of door, a fresco by Botticelli^ Giovanni Tornabuoni receiving 
 the Muses. Opposite it, L of door, another by the same, 
 Giovanna his wife receiving the Graces, and accompanied by 
 Cupid. These two frescoes stood in the hall of the owner's 
 villa, and gracefully typify the husband entertaining Literature, 
 Science, and Art, while the wife extends hospitality to Love, 
 Youth, and Beauty. Descend one flight of staircase again, 
 passing yet other Etruscan sarcophagi (which examine), and, 
 mounting opposite stairs, pass the Nike and turn to your R. 
 Traverse the photograph-room and the Salle Duchatel beyond 
 it, as well as the Salon Carre. Enter the Long Gallery, and, 
 taking the first door to your R, you arrive at once in Room I 
 (Baedeker's VII), the 
 
 Salle des Prlmitifs. 
 
 The pictures in this room consist for the most part of those 
 by early followers of Giotto, and by members of the schools 
 which sprang from him, till the moment of the Renaissance. 
 
74 PARIS [ill. 
 
 As these earliest pictures strike the key-note of types, continued 
 and developed later, it is absolutely necessary to examine them 
 all very closely. In most cases, subject and treatment were 
 rigorously prescribed by custom ; scenes recur again and 
 again, almost identically. Where saints are grouped round the 
 Madonna, they were ordered by the purchaser, and oftenest 
 represent his own patrons. In order to obtain a chronological 
 view, begin at the centre of the end wall. Most of these 
 pictures are altar-pieces. I follow the small numbers below, 
 the only ones for which a detailed catalogue is yet published. 
 
 ♦ 153, Cimabiie (the point of departure for Tuscan art) ; 
 Madonna and Child with six angels. Almost a replica of the 
 great picture in Santa Maria Novella at Florence ; gold 
 ground ; the Madonna's face still strongly Byzantine in type, 
 with almond-shaped eyes ; the Child, draped, after the earlier 
 fashion. Later, he is represented nude. Observe, however, 
 the greater artistic freedom in the treatment of the attendant 
 angels, where Cimabue was slightly less hampered by con- 
 ventional precedents. Do not despise this picture because of 
 its stiffness and its archaic style. It is an immense advance 
 upon the extremely wooden Byzantine models which preceded 
 it : and in the angels it really approaches correctness of 
 drawing, 
 
 225. (Skied) Don Lorenzo Mo?uico. A Tabernacle for an 
 altar of St. Lawrence ; centre, St. Lawrence, enthroned on his 
 gridiron ; L, St, Agnes with her lamb ; R, St. Margaret with her 
 dragon, all on gold grounds. A poor example. This Saint is 
 usually represented in deacon's robes. The other saints are 
 probably those who shared the chapel with him. See the much 
 later St. Margaret by Raphael as an example of Renaissance 
 treatment of the same figure. 
 
 *\()2. Giotto. St. Francis receiving the Stigmata. A genuine 
 picture, painted for the saint's own church of San Francesco at 
 Pisa ; one of the earliest representations of this subject, often 
 afterwards copied. Christ, as a six-winged seraph, red- 
 feathered, appears in heaven to the Saint : rays proceed from 
 his five wounds to the hands, feet, and side of St. Francis, 
 which they impress with similar marks. A mountain repre- 
 sents La Vernia ; two tiny buildings, the monastery. Compare 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 75 
 
 with this sul3Ject two smaller treatments in the same room, both 
 on the lo vest tier : one, to the L as you go towards the door, 
 431, of the school of Perugino, where an attendant Brother 
 (Leo) is seen astonished at the vision ; the second on the R, 
 287, attributed to Pesello, and closely similar in treatment. 
 Careful comparison of these pictures will serve to show the 
 close way in which early painters imitated, or almost copied 
 one another. The base (or predella) of the (iiotto also contains 
 three other subjects : Innocent III, asleep, is shown by St. 
 Peter the falling church sustained l)y St. Francis ; he confirms 
 the Franciscan order ; St. Francis preaches to the birds. All 
 very spirited. Notice these little pictures for comparison later 
 with others painted in the Dominican interest by Fra Angelico. 
 
 Continuing along L wall are some small pictures of the 
 Sienese school, which should be carefully examined. (Do not 
 suppose that because I do not call attention to a picture it is 
 necessarily unworthy of notice.) Most of these little works 
 breathe the pure piety and ecstatic feeling of the School of 
 Siena. 
 
 **426. Perugino. Tondo, or round picture ; the Madonna 
 Enthroned ; L, St. Rose with her roses ; r, St. Catherine with 
 her palm of martyrdom ; behind, adoring angels. An exquisite 
 example of the affected tenderness, delicate grace, and brilliant 
 colouring of the Umbrian master, from whose school Raphael 
 proceeded. An early specimen. Observe the dainty painting 
 of the feet and hands, which is highly characteristic. 
 
 Beneath it, 1701, Getitile da Fahriano. Presentation in the 
 Temple. Look closely into it. A delicate little example of the 
 Umbrian rival of Fra Angelico. The arrangement will explain 
 many later ones. Every one of the figures and their attitudes 
 are conventional. 
 
 427. Perugino. Madonna and Child, with St. John Baptist 
 and St. Catherine. The introduction of St. John shows the 
 picture to have been probably painted for a Florentine patron. 
 Not a pleasing example. 
 
 Beneath it, Vittore Pisano^ characteristic portrait of an Este 
 princess, in the hard, dry, accurate manner of this Veronese 
 medallist, who borrowed from his earlier art the habit of paint- 
 ing profiles in strong low relief, with a plastic effect. 
 
76 PARIS [III. 
 
 Perugino. St. Sebastian. One of the loveliest examples of 
 the Umbrian master's later manner. Contrasted with the 
 Madonna and St. Rose, it shows the distance covered by art 
 during the painter's lifetime. 01)serve its greater freedom and 
 knowledge of anatomy. St. Sebastian, bound as usual to a 
 pillar in a ruined temple, is pierced through with arrows. 
 Face, figure, and expression are unusually fine for Perugino. 
 Sebastian was the great saint for protection against the plague, 
 and pictures containing him are almost always votive offerings 
 under fear of that pestilence. Many in this gallery. The face 
 here is finer than in any other presentation I know, except 
 Sodoma's in the Uffizi at Florence. 
 
 258. Lombard or Piedmontcse School. Annunciation. An 
 unusual treatment ; the Madonna, as always, kneels at a prie- 
 dicUy and starts away, alarmed and timid, at the apparition ot 
 the angel Gabriel. The action, as usual, takes place in a 
 loggia., but the angel is represented as descending in flight 
 through the air, an extremely uncommon mode of depicting 
 him. He bears the white lily of the Annunciation. The other 
 details are conventional. Contrast with this subsequent An- 
 nunciations in this Gallery. L, are St. Augustin and St. Jerome ; 
 R, St. Stephen, bearing on his head, as often, the stones of 
 his martyrdom, accompanied by St. Peter Martyr the Do- 
 minican, with the knife in his head. Both saints carry palms 
 of martyrdom. A good picture in a hard, dry, local manner. 
 
 Now cross over to the opposite side of the room, beginning 
 at the bottom, in order to preserve the chronological sequence. 
 
 196. School of Giotto. Madonna in Glory, with angels. 
 Compare this treatment carefully with Cimabue's great picture 
 close by, in order to notice the advance in art made in the 
 interval. The subject and general arrangement are the same, 
 but observe the irregularity in the placing of the angels, and 
 the increased knowledge of anatomy and expression. 
 
 Close by are several other Qiottesque pictures, all of which 
 should be closely examined ; especially 425, Vanni, the same 
 subject, for comparison. The little Giottesque Death of St. 
 Bernard, in particular, is a characteristic example or type of a 
 group which deals in the same manner with saintly obsequies. 
 All of them will suggest explanations of later pictures. In all 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS [THE LOUVRE) 77 
 
 these cases, the saint lies on a bier in the fore},'round, sur- 
 rounded by mourning monks and ecclesiastics. The key-note 
 was struck by (iiotto's fresco of the Death of St. Francis at 
 Santa Croce in Florence. 
 
 187. Agnolo Gaiidi. Annunciation ; a characteristic ex- 
 ample. Note the loggia, and the angel with the lily ; the 
 introduction of a second angel, however, is a rare variation 
 from the type. In the corner is the Father despatching the 
 Holy Spirit. Attitude of the Madonna characteristic ; study 
 carefully. No subject sheds more light on the methods of 
 early art than the Annunciation. It always takes place in an 
 arcade : the Madonna is almost always to the right of the 
 picture : and prie-dieu^ book, and bed are frequent accessories. 
 
 666. Quaint little P'lorentine picture of St. Nicolas, throwing 
 three purses of gold as a dowry inside the house of a poor and 
 starving nobleman. 
 
 Next to it, unnumbered, Gregory the Great sees the Angel of 
 the Plague sheathing his sword on the Castle of St. Angelo, so 
 called from this vision. 
 
 494. St. Jerome in the Desert ; lion, skull, crucifix, rocks, 
 cardinal's hat, all characteristic of the subject. In the fore- 
 ground, a Florentine lily ; in the background, Christ and the 
 infant Baptist, patron of Florence ; background L, St. Augus- 
 tine and the angel who tries to empty the sea into a hole made 
 with a bucket — a well-known allegory of the attempt of the 
 finite to comprehend the Infinite. Look out elsewhere for such 
 minor episodes. 
 
 Fra Aftgelico. Martyrdom of Sts. Cosmo and Damian, the 
 holy physicians and (therefore) patron saints of the Medici 
 family ; a characteristic example of the saintly friar's colouring 
 in small subjects. These two Medici saints are naturally 
 frequent in Florentine art. 
 
 662. Fra Angelico. Story of the death of St. John Baptist. 
 Three successive episodes represented in the same picture. 
 The lithe figure of the daughter of Herodias, dancing, is very 
 characteristic. 
 
 166. Battle scene, by Paolo Uccello. Showing vigorous 
 efforts at mastery of perspective and foreshortening, as yet but 
 partially successful. The wooden character of the horses is 
 
78 PARIS [ill. 
 
 conspicuous. Paolo Uccello was one of the group of early 
 scientific artists, who endeavoured to improve their knowledge 
 of optics and of the sciences ancillary to painting. 
 
 199. Benozzo Gozzoli. Glory of St. Thomas Aquinas, the 
 great Dominican teacher. This is an apotheosis of scholasti- 
 cism, in the person of its chief representative. R and L stand 
 Aristotle and Plato, the heathen philosophers, in deferential 
 attitudes, recognising their master. Beneath his feet is Guil- 
 laume de St. Amour, a vanquished heretic. Below, the entire 
 Church — pope, cardinals, doctors — receiving instruction from 
 St. Thomas. Above, the Eternal Father signifying His ap- 
 proval in a Latin inscription, surrounded by the Evangelists 
 with their symbols — angel, winged lion, bull, eagle. The in- 
 scription imports, "Thomas has well spoken of Me." The 
 style is archaic : the council is supposed to be that of Agnani, 
 presided over by Pope Alexander IV. Among the celestial 
 personages, notice St. Paul, Moses, and others. Pictures of 
 this double sort, embracing scenes in heaven and on earth, are 
 common in Italy. 
 
 Beneath it (287), part 2. Pcscllo. St. Cosmo and St. Damian 
 affixing the leg of a dead Moor to a wounded Chrjstian, on 
 whom they have been compelled to practise amputation. The 
 costumes are the conventional ones for these saints. Remem- 
 ber them. This astounding miracle is often represented at 
 Florence : the dead man's leg grew on the living one. 
 
 ■**i82. Fra Angelica. A Coronation of the Virgin, painted for 
 a Dominican church at Fiesole. In the foreground, St. Louis 
 of France, with a crown of fleur-de-lis ; St. Zenobius, Bishop of 
 Florence, with the lamb of the Baptist on his crosier (indicating 
 his see) ; St. Mary Magdalen, in red, with long yellow hair (so 
 almost always), and (her symbol) the box of ointment ; St. 
 Catherine with her wheel ; St. Agnes with her lamb, and others. 
 Above St. Louis stands St. Dominic, founder of Fra Angelico's 
 order, recognisable by his robes, with his red star and white 
 lily (the usual attributes) ; beneath him, a little to the R, St. 
 Thomas Aquinas, with a book sending forth rays of light, to 
 signify his teaching function Near him, St. Francis. Other 
 Saints, such as St. Lawrenc^ vith his gridiron, and wSt. Peter 
 Martyr, the Dominican, with his wounded head, must be left to 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS THE {LOUVRE) 79 
 
 the spectator. In the background, choirs of angels. Beneath, 
 in the predella, the history of St. Dominic (marked by a red 
 star) ; Pope Innocent in a dream sees him sustaining the falling 
 Church (a Dominican variant of the story of St. Francis in the 
 Giotto, at the end) : he receives his commission from St. Peter 
 and St. Paul ; he restores to life the young man Napoleon, killed 
 by a fall from a horse (seen to left) ; he converts heretics and 
 burns their books ; he is fed with his brethren by angels in his 
 convent at Rome ; and his death and apotheosis. This picture 
 deserves most careful study — say two hours. It is one of Fra 
 Angelico's finest easel paintings (his best are frescoes), and it 
 is full of interest for its glorification of the Dominicans. Com- 
 pare the St. Thomas Aquinas with Benozzor Gozzoli's : and 
 remember in studying the predella that St. Dominic founded 
 the Inquisition. The tender painting of this lovely work needs 
 no commendation. 
 
 222. School of Fi/ippo Lippi. Madonna and angels, charac- 
 teristic of the type of this painter and his followers. 
 
 Above it, Neri di Bicci. Madonna, very wooden. He was a 
 belated Giottesque, who turned out such antiquated types by 
 hundreds in the 15th century. 
 
 School of Benozzo Gozzoli. Madonna and Child. L, St. 
 Cosmo and St. Damian, with pens and surgeons' boxes ; St. 
 Jerome, with stone, lion, and cardinal's hat ; his pen and book 
 denote him as translator of the Vulgate. R, St. John Baptist 
 (representing Florence) ; St. Francis with the Stij.mata ; St. 
 Lawrence. The combination of .':iaints shows the picture to 
 have been painted in compliment to Lorenzo de' Medici. Minor 
 subjects around it are worthy of study. 
 
 Now cross over the room again. You come at once upon 
 four pictures of nearly the same size, painted for the Court of 
 the Gonzaga family at Mantua. Allegorical subjects, intended for 
 the decoration of a hall or boudoir. Most of those pictures we 
 have hitherto examined have been sacred : we now get an 
 indication of the nascent Renaissance taste for myth and 
 allegory. 
 
 429. Peniglno. Combat of Love and Chastity. A frequent 
 subject for such situations, showing Perugino at his worst. 
 Compare it with the other three of the scries. 
 
80 PARIS [ill. 
 
 253. Mantegna. Wisdom conquering the Vices. A charac- 
 teristic but unpleasing example of this great Paduan painter. 
 Admirable in anatomy, drawing, and perspective: poor in effect. 
 Observe the festoons in the background, which are favourites 
 with the artist and his school. 
 
 *252. Mantcg?ta. The amours of Mars and Venus dis- 
 covered by (her husband) Vulcan. A beautiful composition. 
 The guilty pair, with a couch, stand on a mountain, represent- 
 ing Parnassus, accompanied by Cupid. Below, exquisite group 
 of the Nine Muses dancing (afterwards imitated by Guido). 
 To the L, Apollo with his lyre, as musician. R, Mercury and 
 Pegasus. In the background, the injured Vulcan discovering 
 the lovers. This splendid specimen of early Renaissance art 
 is one of Mantegna's finest. Study it in detail, and compare 
 with the other three which it accompanies. Observe the life 
 and movement in the dancing Muses : also, the growing 
 Renaissance love for the nude, exemplified in the Venus. 
 
 154. Cnsta. The Court of Isabella d'Este. The meaning of 
 the figures is now undecipherable, but the general character 
 indicates peace, and devotion to literature, science and art. A 
 fine example of the Ferrarese master. 
 
 Between these four, '^'^Mantegna ; (251), Madonna della Vit- 
 toria, a most characteristic picture, painted for Giovanni 
 Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, to commemorate his 
 victory over Charles VIII of France. The Madonna is en- 
 throned under a most characteristic canopy of fruit and flowers, 
 with pendents of coral and other decorative adjuncts. L, Gonza- 
 ga himself, kneeling in gratitude — a ruffianly face, well-painted. 
 R, St. Elizabeth, mother of the Baptist, with St. John Baptist 
 himself, representing the Marquis's wife. Behind, the patron 
 Saints of Mantua, who assisted in the victory : St. Michael the 
 Archangel (the warrior saint — a most noble figure), St. Andrew 
 (Mantegna's name-Saint), St. Longinus, who pierced the side of 
 Christ, and St. George. The whole is exquisitely beautiful. 
 The detail deserves long and attentive study. The reliefs on 
 the pedestal are characteristic. From the church of the same 
 name, erected in commemoration of the victory (of the Tare). 
 I will return hereafter at greater length to this lovely picture. 
 Above, to the I, (^418), Cosimo Tuni. Pieta, or body of Christ 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 8l 
 
 wep«: over by the Madonna and angels. In drawing and colour- 
 ing, a characteristic example of this harsh, but very original 
 and powerful, Ferrarese master. You will come hereafter on 
 many Piet^s. Compare them all, and note the attitude and 
 functions of the angels. 
 
 Cross over again to the opposite side. (183), Botticelli. 
 Round Madonna and angels, very characteristic as to the draw- 
 ing, but inferior in technique to most of his works. 
 
 221. Filippo Lippi. Madonna in Glory, with angels. The 
 roundness of the faces, especially in the child angels, is very 
 characteristic. At her feet, two Florentine patron saints. The 
 absence of symbols makes them difficult to identify, but I think 
 they represent St. Zenobius and St. Antonine. Very fine. 
 
 184. Botticelli. Madonna and Child, with St. John of 
 Florence. The wistful expressions strike the key-note of this 
 painter. Compare with nameless Florentine Madonna of the 
 same school above it. 
 
 220. Fra Filippo Lippi. Nativity. Worthy of careful study, 
 especially for the accessories : St. Joseph, the stall and bottle, 
 the saddle, ox and ass, and wattles, ruined temple, etc., which re- 
 appear in many similar pictures. Not a favourable example of 
 the master. Beneath it, little fragments with St. Peter Martyr, 
 Visitation, Christ and Magdalen, meeting of Francis and Domi- 
 nic, and St. Paul the Hermit. An odd conglomeration, whose 
 meaning cannot now be deciphered. The ruined temple, fre- 
 quently seen in Nativities and Adorations of the Magi, typifies 
 the downfall of Paganism before the advance of Christianity. 
 
 Beside it, Ghirlandajo. Portrait of bottle-nosed man and 
 child. Admirable and characteristic. 
 
 ** 202. Ghiylandajo. Visitation. Probably the master's finest 
 easel picture. Splendid colour. Attitudes of the Madonna 
 and St. Elizabeth characteristic of the type. The scene habitu- 
 ally takes place in front of a portal, as here, with the heads of 
 the main actors more or less silhouetted against the arch in the 
 background. At the sides, Mary Salome, and " the other 
 Mary." Such saints are introduced merely as spectators : they 
 need not even be contemporary : they are included in purely 
 ide.U groupings. At Florence, in a similar scene, the as yet 
 unborn St. John the Baptist stands by as an assessor. 
 
 P 
 
82 ^ PARIS [III. 
 
 185. Venus and Cupid, of the school of Botticelli. Very 
 pleasing. 
 
 347. Cosimo Rosselli. Madonna in an almond-shaped glory 
 (Mandorla) of red and blue cherubs. L, the Magdalen ; R, St. 
 Bernard, to whom she appeared, writing down his vision ; about, 
 adoring angels. A characteristic example of this harsh Floren- 
 tine painter. 
 
 156. We come at once upon the High Renaissance in Lorenzo 
 di CrecWs beautiful Virgin and Child, flanked by St. Julian and 
 St. Nicholas. Observe the three balls of gold in the corner by 
 the latter's feet, representative of the three purses thrown to 
 the nobleman's daughters. Notice also the Renaissance archi- 
 tecture and decorations. In pictures of this class, the saints to 
 accompany the Madonna were ordered by the person giving the 
 commission ; the artist could only exercise his discretion as to 
 the grouping. Notice how this varies with the advance of the 
 Renaissance : at first stiffly placed in pairs, the saints finally 
 form a group with characteristic action. The execution of this 
 lovely work shows Lorenzo as one of the finest artists of his 
 period. 
 
 70. Biancki^ a rare Ferrarese master. Madonna enthroned, 
 with Saints. The angel on the step is characteristically Fer- 
 rarese, as are also the reliefs and architecture. 
 
 467. Ascetic figure of San Giovanni di Capistrano. 
 
 435. School of Pcruirino. Little Madonna, in an almond- 
 shaped glory of cherubs. The shape belongs to Christ, or 
 saints, ascending into glory. 
 
 Next it, front of a chest, containing the story of Europa 
 and the Bull. Several episodes are combined in a single 
 picture. To the extreme L, the transformed lo\er, like the 
 prince in a fairy tale. Most gracefully treated. 
 
 61. Bellini. Madonna and Child, between St. Peter and St. 
 Sebastian ; a plague picture. These half-length Madonnas are 
 very characteristic of Venetian art of the period. The Ma- 
 donna's face and strong neck also very Venetian. Observe them 
 as the type on which Titian's are modelled. Look long at this 
 soft and melting picture. The gentle noble face, the dainty 
 dress, the beautiful painting of the nude in the St. Sebastian, 
 are all redolent of the finest age of Venetian painting. 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 83 
 
 Above it, a good Turn. Compare with previous one. 
 
 60. School of Gentile Bellini. Venetian ambassador re- 
 ceived at Cairo. Oriental \!\\vg& frequent at Venice. This gate 
 can still be recognised at Cairo. The figures are all portraits, 
 and the painter probably accompanied the ambassador, 
 Domenico Trevisano. 
 
 IJeneath it (59), two fine portraits by Gentile Bellini. 
 
 664. Characteristic little Montui^na ; angels at the base of a 
 Madonna now destroyed. Compare the Bianchi almost oppo- 
 site. Such angels are frequent in the school of Bellini. 
 
 152. Attributed to Cinia. Madonna Enthroned, with St. John 
 Baptist and the Magdalen. These lofty thrones and landscape 
 backgrounds of the Friuli country are frequent with Cima and 
 Venetian painters of his period. 
 
 113. Carpaccio. Preaching of St. Stephen. One of a series 
 of the Life of St. Stephen, now scattered. The saint is in 
 deacon's robes, as usual ; oriental costumes mark the inter- 
 course of Venice with the East. Observe the architecture, a 
 graceful compound of Venetian and oriental. 
 
 Over the doorway, Fresco of God the Father, in an almond- 
 shaped glory, from the Villa Magliana. Purchased as a 
 Raphael, probably by Lo Spajfna, 
 
 Return frequently to this room, and study it deeply. It will 
 give you the key to all the others. 
 
 Now traverse the Salon Carre and enter the 
 
 Salle Uuchatel. 
 
 On the R wall are two exquisite frescoes by Luini, removed 
 entire from walls in Milan. To the L, the Adoration of the 
 Magi, exquisitely tender and graceful ; study it closely as an 
 example both of painter and subject, noting the ages and atti- 
 tudes of the Three Kings, the youngest (as usual) a Moor, and 
 the exquisite face and form of the Madonna. To the R, a 
 Nativity, equally characteristic. Look long at them. Between, 
 Christ blessing, not quite so beautiful ; and (ienii with 
 grapes, an antique motive. Above are three other frescoes 
 of the school of Luini, not so fine. Centre, Annunciation, the 
 Madonna separated (as often) from the angel by a lily. The 
 Madonna never approaches the angel, and is usually divided by 
 a wall or barrier. 
 
84 PARIS [III. 
 
 On the screen by door, good portraits by A?ito7tio Mo?'fl. 
 
 Other side of door (680), Madonna and Child, with the 
 donors of the picture, by IJivis Memling. This beautifid 
 Flemish picture well represents the characteristics of Flemish 
 as opposed to Italian art. Notice the want of ideality in the 
 Virgin and Child, contrasted with the admirable portraiture of 
 the donors, the chief of whom is introduced by his namesake, 
 St. James, recognisable by his staff and scallop-shell. The 
 female donors, several of whom arc Dominican nuns, are 
 similarly introduced by their founder, St. Dominic, whose 
 black-and-white robes and star-like halo serve to identify him. 
 Observe the exquisite finish of the hair and all the details. 
 Study this work for the Flemish spirit. 
 
 At the far end of the room are two pictures by Ins^res^ 
 marking the interval covered by French art during the life- 
 time of that great painter. L, (l-^dipus and the Sphinx, pro- 
 duced in the classical period of the master's youth, while he 
 was still under the malign influence of David. R, La Source, 
 perhaps the most exquisitely virginal delineation of the nude 
 ever achieved in painting. 
 
 After having traversed these two rooms the spectator will 
 probably be able to attack the 
 
 Salon Carri-:, 
 
 which contains what are considered by the authorities as the 
 gems of the collection, irrespective of period or country (a very 
 regrettable jumble). Almost all of them, therefore, deserve 
 attention. I shall direct notice here chiefly to those which 
 require some explanation. Begin to the L of the door which 
 leads from the Salle Duchutel. 
 
 Close to the door, Apollo and Marsyas : a delicate little 
 Perugino^ attributed to Raphael, Good treatment of the 
 nude, and painted like a miniature. Renaissance feeling. 
 Compare it with the St. Sebastian in the Salle des Primitifs. 
 
 Above it, Jchan de Paris. Madonna and Child, with the 
 donors ; a characteristic and exceptionally beautiful example of 
 the early French school. Contrast its character with the 
 Italian and Flemish. Extremely regal and fond of tinsel 
 ornament. 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 85 
 
 20. Correggio. Jupiter and Antiope, a good example of his 
 Correggiosity and marvellous arrangement of light and shade. 
 Very late Renaissance. Perfection of art ; very little feeling. 
 
 *446. Titian. Entombment. A fine but faded example of 
 the colour and treatment of the prince of the Venetian Re- 
 naissance. 
 
 231. Luini. Virgin and Child. Not a pleasing example. 
 
 *4I9 and **4i7. Two admirable portraits by Rembrandt. 
 
 **25o. Mantcgna. Crucifixion, predella or base of the great 
 picture in San Zeno at Verona. Notice the admirable antique 
 character of the soldiers casting lots for Christ's raiment. The 
 rocks are very Alantegnesque in treatment. One of the artist's 
 finest pictures. Spend some time before it. We will return 
 again to this fine painting. 
 
 381. A7idn'a del Sarto. Holy Family. Showing well the 
 character of this master's tender and melting colour: also, the 
 altered Renaissance treatment of the subject. 
 
 Beyond the doorway, two dainty little Memlings. Marriage 
 of St. Catherine (the Alexandrian princess) to the Infant Christ ; 
 and, the Donor with St. John Baptist and his lamb. When a 
 saint places his hand on a votary's shoulder, it usually indicates 
 the patron whose name the votary bears. 
 
 Near it, graceful little St. Sebastian of the Umbrian school. 
 Compare with others. This plague-saint is one of the few to 
 whom mediccval piety permitted nudity. 
 
 ■'*"37o. Raphael. The great vSt. Michael, painted for Frangois 
 P'. Admirable in its instantaneous dramatic action. This pic- 
 ture may be taken, in its spirit and vigour, as marking the cul- 
 minating point of the Italian Renaissance as here represented. 
 
 Near it, Titia)i. The Man with the Glove : a fine portrait. 
 
 ^^19. Correggio. The Marriage of St. Catherine. This is a 
 characteristic treatment, by the great painter of Parma, of this 
 mystical subject. St. Catherine is treated as an Italian 
 princess of his own time, on whose finger the infant Christ 
 playfully places a ring. The action has absolutely no mystic 
 solemnity. Behind, stands St. Sebastian, with his arrows to 
 mark him (without them you would not know him from a 
 classical figure), looking on with amused attention. His smile 
 is lovely. In the background, episodes of the martyrdom of 
 
86 PARIS [ill. 
 
 St. Sebastian, proving this to be probably a plague picture. 
 But the whole work, though admirable as art, has in it nothing 
 of religion, and may be aptly compared as to tone with the 
 Elducation of Cupid by the same artist in the National Gallery. 
 Nothing could surpass the beauty of the light and shade, and 
 the exquisite colouring. Study it as a type of the last word of 
 the humanist Renaissance againsfmediicval spirituality. Com- 
 pare it with the Memling close by : and, if you have been at 
 Milan, with the exquisitely dainty Luini in the Poldi-Pezzoli 
 Museum. 
 
 Above it, a Holy Family by Murillo. Spanish and theatrical. 
 
 The greater part of this wall is taken up by an enormous 
 canvas (95), by Paolo Veronese^ representing the Marriage at 
 Cana of Galilee, from the refectory (or dining^-hall) of San 
 Giorgio Maggiorc at Venice. Pictures of this subject, or of 
 the Last Supper, or of the Feast in the House of Levi, were 
 constantly placed as appropriate decorations to fill the end 
 wall of monastic refectories (like the famous Lionardo at 
 Milan), and were often therefore gigantic in size. This mon- 
 strous and very effective composition (proudly pointed out by 
 the guides as "the largest oil-painting in the world") contains 
 nothing of sacred, and merely reflects with admirable skill the 
 lordly character of the Italian Renaissance. In the centre of 
 the table, one barely notices the figures of the Christ and the 
 Madonna. Attention is distracted both from them and from 
 the miracle of the wine by the splendid architecture of the 
 background, the loggias, the accessories, and the gorgeous 
 guests, many of them representing contemporary sovereigns 
 (among them Franc^ois P'"", Eleanor of Austria, Charles V, and 
 Sultan Soliman). The group of musicians in the centre fore- 
 ground is also composed of portraits — this time of contem- 
 porary painters (Titian, Tintoretto, etc.). As a whole, a most 
 characteristic picture both of the painter and his epoch, worth 
 some study, and full of good detail. 
 
 **39. Gior^ionc. Pastoral scene, with nude figures. One of 
 the few undoubted pictures by this master, whose genuineness 
 is admitted by Morelli, though much repainted. Should be 
 studied as an example of the full flush of the Venetian Renais- 
 sance, and of the great master who so deeply affected it. 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS (THE LOUVRE) 87 
 
 Notice the admirable painting of the nude, and the fine land- 
 scape in the background. Contrast with the Bellinis in the 
 Salle des Primitifs, in order to mark time and show the advance 
 in technique and spirit. Giorgione set a fashion, followed later 
 by Titian and others. Compare this work with Titian's Jupiter 
 and Antiope in the Long Gallery. 
 
 Above it ("'*'427) Rubeus. Adoration of the Magi. A splendid 
 picture. Interesting also as showing how far Rubens trans- 
 formed the conceptions of the earlier masters. Compare it with 
 the Luini in the Salle Duchatel, and other Adorations in this 
 gallery. Full of gorgeousness, dash, and certainty of execu- 
 tion. 
 
 37. Anto?iclh da Messina. Characteristic hard-faced portrait 
 by this excellent Sicilian artist. 
 
 **459. Lionardo. St. Anne and the Virgin. This great 
 artist can be better studied in the Louvre than anywhere else in 
 the world. This picture, not perhaps entirely by his own hand, 
 is noticeable for the beautiful and very Lionardescjue face of 
 St. Anne, the playful figure of the infant Christ, and the admir- 
 able blue-toned landscape in the background. The smiles are 
 also thoroughly Lionardesqvie. Notice the excellent drawing 
 of the feet. The curious composition— the Virgin sitting on 
 St. Anne's lap— is traditional. Two or three examples of it 
 occur in the National Gallery. Lionardo transformed it. He 
 is the great scientific artist of the Florentine Renaissance. 
 
 208. Hans Holbein^ the younger. Admirable portrait of 
 Erasmus. Full of character. Note carefully. The hands alone 
 are worth much study. How soft they are, and how absolutely 
 the hands of a scholar immersed in his reading and v/riting. 
 
 108. Clouct, Elizabeth of Austria. A fine example of the 
 early French school, marking well its hard manner and literal 
 accuracy. It shows the style in vogue in Paris before the 
 School of Fontainebleau (Italian artists introduced by Francois 
 I*^"") had brought in Renaissance methods. 
 
 ■'^■'*"i62. Van Eyck. Madonna and Child, with the Chancellor 
 Rollin in ado»-ation. Perhaps Van Eyck's masterpiece. Notice 
 the comparatively wooden Flemish Madonna and Child, con- 
 trasted with the indubitable vitality and character in the face of 
 the Chancellor. This picture is a splendid example of the 
 
88 ,1 PARIS [III. 
 
 highest evolution of that type in which a votary is exhibited 
 adoring the Madonna — the primitive form of portrait : " paint 
 me in the corner, as giving the picture." Every detail of this 
 finished work deserves long and close inspection. Notice the 
 elaboration of the ornaments, and the delicious glimpse of 
 landscape through the arcade in the background. Compare 
 with the Memlings ; also, with contemporary Italian work in 
 the Salle des Frimitifs. 
 
 ■**362. Raphael. Madonna and Child, with infant St. John, 
 known as La Belle Jardiniere. To the familiar group of the 
 Madonna and Child, Florentine painters and sculptors early 
 added the infant baptist, as patron of their city, thus forming a 
 graceful pyramidal composition. This exquisite picture, by far 
 the most beautiful Raphael in the Louvre, belongs to the great 
 painter's Florentine period. It should be compared with the 
 very similar Madonna del Cardcllino in the Uftki at Florence. 
 For simplicity of treatment and beauty of colouring this seems 
 to me the loveliest of Raphael's Madonnas, with the exception 
 of the Granduca. Look at it long, for colour, design, and 
 tender feeling. Then go back to the St. Michael, and see how, 
 as Raphael gains in dramatic vigour, he loses in charm. 
 
 407. Rembrandt. Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus. A 
 fine study in light and shade, and full of art, but not a sacred 
 picture. Compare with other pictures of the scene in this 
 gallery. The feeling is merely domestic. 
 
 433. Rubens. Tomyris, Queen of the Scythians, with the 
 head of Cyrus. A fine, vigorous painting, with the action 
 frankly transferred to the court of Henri IV. Dash and colour 
 and all the Rubens attributes. 
 
 365. Raphael. Small Holy Family. 
 
 364. Raphael. Holy Family, known as the " Sainte Famille 
 de Francois F' "' : Joseph, Madonna, infant Christ, St. Eliza- 
 beth and the Baptist, and adoring angels. Belongs to 
 Raphael's Roman period, and already vaguely heralds the de- 
 cadence. Admirable in composition and painting, but lacking 
 the simplicity and delicacy of colour of his earlier work. Com- 
 pare it with the Belle Jardiniere. It marks the distance 
 traversed in art during his lifetime. The knowledge is far 
 greater, the feeling less. 
 
III.] RENAISSAXCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 89 
 
 ■**I42. Van Dyck. Charles I. A famous and splendid por- 
 trait, with all the courtly grace of this stately painter. 
 
 **462. Lionardo. Portrait of Mona Lisa. Most undoubted 
 work of the master in existence. Has lost much of its flesh 
 tints by darkening, but is still subtly beautiful. Compare with 
 any of the portraits in the Salle des Primitifs, in order to 
 understand the increase in science which made Lionardo the 
 prince and leader of the Renaissance. The sweet and sphinx- 
 like smile is particularly characteristic. Observe the exquisite 
 modelling of the hands, and the dainty landscape background. 
 Do not hurry away from it. 
 
 363. RaphacL i\Ladonna with the infant St. John, known as 
 " La Vierge au Voile." A work of his early Roman period, 
 intermediate in style between the licUe Jardiniere and the 
 Frangois ^^ Compare them carefully. 
 
 Above it (379) /Uidrca del Sarfo. Charity. A fine example 
 of Andrea's soft and tender colouring. 
 
 ■^523. Portrait of a young man. Long attributed to Raphael. 
 More probably Franciabii^io. Pensive and dignified. 
 
 452. Titian. Alphonso of Ferrara and his Mistress. A fine 
 portrait, with its colour largely faded. 
 
 Above it, 154. Good portrait by Van Dyck. 
 
 539. Murillo. The Immaculate Conception. Luminous 
 and pretty, in an affected showy Spanish manner. Fore- 
 shadows the modern religious art of the people. An immense 
 favourite with the inartistic public. 
 
 *'**'i2r. Gerard Don. The Dropsical Woman. A triumph 
 of Dutch painting of light and shade and detail. Faces like 
 miniatures. The lamp and curtain like nature. Illuminated 
 on the darkest day. Examine it attentively. 
 
 293. Metsii. Officer and Lady. Another masterpiece of 
 Dutch minuteness, but far less fine in execution. 
 
 526. Ter Borch. Similar subject treated with coarse direct- 
 ness. 
 
 ■**55i. Velasquez. The Infanta Marguerite — a famous 
 portrait. 
 
 A little above it (229), Sebastiano del Piombo. Visitation. 
 Compare with the Ghirlandajo in the Salle des Pr'mitifs. A 
 very favourable example of this Venetian master, painted in 
 
90 PARIS [III. 
 
 rivalry with Raphael. It well exhibits the height often 
 attained, even by minor masters, at the culminating point of 
 the Renaissance. 
 
 Above, occupying a large part of the wall, *Paolo Veronese. 
 Christ and the Magdalen, at the supper in the house of Levi. 
 Another refectory picture, treated in Veronese's large and 
 brilliant manner, essentially as a scene of lordly Venetian life. 
 The Pharisee facing Christ is a fine figure. Notice the intru- 
 sion of animals and casual spectators, habitual with this artist. 
 The sense of air and space is fine. The whole picture is 
 instinct with Venetian feeling of the period ; scenic, not sacred. 
 A lordly treatment. Earlier painters set their scene in smaller 
 buildings : the Venetians of this gorgeous age chose rather 
 the Piazza of some mighty Renaissance Italian city. Here, 
 the architecture recalls the style of Sansovino. 
 
 This room also contams many good works of the 17th 
 century, justly skied. Examine them by contrast with the 
 paintings of the best ages of art beneath them. Return to them 
 later, after you have examined the works of the French artists 
 in later rooms of this Gallery. 
 
 Now proceed into the 
 
 Long Gallery 
 which contains in its First Compartment works of the High 
 Renaissance masters, transitional from the conventionality of 
 the 15th, to the freedom of the i6th, and the theatrical tendency 
 of the 17th centuries. Begin on the L, and follow that wall as 
 far as the first arcliway. 
 
 Francia. Crucifixion, with Madonna and St. John, and Job 
 extended at the feet of the cross, probably indicating a votive 
 plague offering. A tolerable example of the great Bolognese 
 painter, from the church of San Giobbe, patriarch and plague- 
 saint, at Bologna. 
 
 AnsuinoiJ) Adoration of the Magi. Note coincidences with 
 others. 
 
 308. Francia. Madonna. A fair example. 
 
 168. Dosso. St. Jerome in the Desert. Interesting as 
 showing a later treatment of this familiar subject. 
 
 230. Luini. Holy Family. A good specimen of Luini's 
 easel work. Compare with the frescoes in the Salle DuchAtel. 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 9I 
 
 The hair is characteristic, also the oval face and cast of 
 features. 
 
 Near it, two works by Marco da Oggiono^ a pupil of Lionardo. 
 His work and Luini's should be compared with that of the 
 founder of the school. The differences and agreements should 
 be observed. Notice also the survivals from earlier treatment. 
 
 354. Sacchi. The Four Doctors of the Church, attended by 
 the Symbols of the Four Evangelists. This is a composition 
 which frequently recurs in early art. L, St. Augustine, holding 
 his book "De Civitate Dei," with the Eagle of St. John. Next, 
 St. Gregory, inspired by the Holy Spirit as a dove, and accom- 
 panied by the Bull of St. Luke. Then, St. Jerome, in his 
 Cardinal's hat, with the Angel of St. Matthew. Lastly, St. 
 Ambrose with his scourge (alluding to his action in closing the 
 doors of the church at Milan on the Emperor Theodosius after 
 the mascacre of Thessalonica), accompanied by the winged 
 Lion of St. Mark. An interesting symbolical composition, 
 deserving close study. 
 
 232. Luini. The daughter of Herodias with the head of St. 
 John Baptist. A favourite subject with the artist, who often 
 repeated it. Compare it with his other works in this gallery, 
 till you feel you begin to understand Luini. 
 
 Above it, Borgo^none. Presentation in the Temple. In the 
 pallid colouring peculiar to this charming Lombard master. 
 Observe the positions of the High Priest and other personages. 
 
 85. Borgognone. St. Peter Martyr introducing or commend- 
 ing a Lady Donor to the Madonna. One panel of a triptych ; 
 the rest of it is wanting. Look out for similar figures of saints 
 introducing votaries. St. Peter Martyr has usually a wound or 
 a knife in his head, to indicate the mode of his martyrdom. 
 
 Beneath, a quaint little Lionardesque Annunciation. 
 
 Solario. Calvary, characteristic of the School of Lionardo. 
 
 Beneath it, 394, *Solario. Madonna with the Green Cushion. 
 His masterpiece, a graceful and tender work, exhibiting the 
 growing taste of the Renaissance. 
 
 458. Attributed to Lionardo. The young St. John Baptist. 
 Hair, smile and treatment characteristic ; but possibly a copy. 
 You will meet with many similar St. Johns in Florentine 
 sculpture below hereafter. 
 
92 PARIS [III. 
 
 465. School of Lionardo. Holy Family. St. Michael the 
 Archangel oddly introduced in order to permit the Child Christ 
 to play with the scales in which he weighs souls — a curious 
 Renaissance conception, wholly out of keeping with earlier 
 reverential feeling. 
 
 *46o. Lionardo, " La Vierge aux Rochers." A replica of 
 the picture in the National Gallery in London. Much faded, 
 but probably genuine. Examine closely the rocks, the 
 Madonna, and the Angel. 
 
 395. Solario. Good portrait of Charles d'Amboise, a member 
 of the great French family who will frequently crop up in con- 
 nection with the Renaissance. 
 
 461. Attributed to Lionardo^ more probably Bernardino 
 d(} Conti. Portrait of a Lady. Compare with the Mona Lisa, 
 as exhibiting well the real advance in portraiture made by 
 Lionardo. 
 
 463. Attributed to Lionardo^ but probably spurious ; Bacchus, 
 a fine youthful figure, begun as a vSt. John Baptist, and after- 
 wards altered. Compare with the other St. John Baptist near 
 it. 
 
 *Beltraffi,o. The Madonna of the Casio family. A character- 
 istic Lionardesque virgin, attended by St. John Baptist and the 
 bleeding St. Sebastian. (A votive picture.) By her side kneel 
 two members of the Casio family, one the poet of that name, 
 crowned with laurel. Intermediate Renaissance treatment of 
 the Madonna and donors. 
 
 78 and 79. Good Franciscan saints, by Moretto. 
 
 Between them, 298. Charming Girolamo dai Libri. 
 
 We now come upon a magnificent series of works by Titian, 
 in whom the Venetian School, ill-represented in its origin in 
 the Salle des Primitifs, finds its culminating point. 
 
 **44o. Titian. The Madonna with the Rabbit. This is one 
 of a group of Titian's Madonnas (several examples here) in 
 which he endeavours to transform Bellini's type (see the speci- 
 men in the Salle des Primitifs) into an ideal of the 16th century. 
 The Madonna is here attended by St. Catherine of Alexandria, 
 marked as a princess by her coronet and pearls. The child, 
 bursting from her arms, plays with the rabbit. Once more 
 a notion far-removed] from primitive piety. Notice the back- 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 93 
 
 ground of Titian's own country. Landscape is now beginning 
 to struggle for recognition. Earlier art was all figures, first 
 sacred, then also mythological. 
 
 445. Titian. The Crown of Thorns. A powerful but very 
 painful painting. The artist is chiefly occupied with anatomy 
 and the presentation of writhing emotion. The spiritual is lost 
 in muscular action. 
 
 ■**443. Titian. The Disciples at Emmaus. Treated in the 
 contemporary Venetian manner. This is again a subject whose 
 variations can be well traced in this gallery. 
 
 451. Titian. Allegory of a husband who leaves for a cam- 
 paign, commending his wife to Love and Chastity. Finely 
 painted. 
 
 450. Titian. Portrait of Franqois I^"". Famous as having 
 been painted without a sitting — the artist had never even seen 
 the king. He took the face from a medal. 
 
 448. Titian. Council of Trent. Very much to order. 
 
 Above it, ^Titian. Jupiter and Antiope. Charming Gior- 
 gionesque treatment of the pastoral nude. Compare with the 
 Giorgione in the Salon Carre, in order to understand how 
 deeply that great painter influenced his contemporaries. 
 
 453. Titian. Fine portrait. 
 
 439. Titian. Madonna with St. Stephen, St. Ambrose, and 
 St. Maurice the soldier. Observe the divergence from the 
 older method of painting the accompanying saints. Originally 
 grouped on either side the Madonna, they are here transformed 
 into the natural group called in Italian, a "santa conversazi- 
 one." Look at the stages of this process in the Salle des 
 Primitifs and this Long Gallery. 
 
 442. Titian. Another Holy Family, Interesting from the 
 free mode of its treatment, in contrast with Bellini and earlier 
 artists. 
 
 **455. Titian. Magnificent portrait. 
 
 Above these are several excellent Bassanos, worthy of study. 
 Compare together all these Venetian works (Bonifazio etc.), 
 lordly products of a great aristocratic mercantile community ; 
 and with them, the Veroneses of the Salon Carre, where the 
 type attains a characteristic development. 
 
94 PARIS [III. 
 
 Now return to the door by the Salon Carre and examine 
 the R Wall. 
 
 Poor Piniuricchio^ and two inferior Peruginos. 
 
 403. Lo Spagna. Nativity. Characteristic example of this 
 scholar of Perugino and fellow-pupil of Raphael. Notice its 
 Peruginesque treatment. Examine in detail and compare with 
 the two other painters. As a Nativity, it is full of the conven- 
 tional elements. 
 
 189. Raffaellino del Garbo. Coronation of the Virgin, be- 
 held from below by four attendant saints of, or connected with, 
 the Vallombrosan order — St. Benedict, Saint Salvi, San 
 Giovanni Gualberto, and San Bernarc' degli Uberti. These 
 were the patrons of Vallombrosa ; a-. : s.-e. picture comes from 
 the Church of St. Salvi, at Florence 
 
 246. Manni. Baptism in Jorc' t) * ». serve, as usual, the 
 attendant angels, though the simj^ ; early treatment has 
 wholly disappeared. The head-di -s are characteristic of 
 the School of Perugino. Compare with Lo Spagna's Na- 
 tivity. 
 
 Above it (496) Florentine Madonna, with St. Augustine, St. 
 John Baptist, St. Antony and St. Francis. Observe their sym- 
 bols. I do not always now call attention to these ; but the more 
 you observe them, the better you will understand each picture 
 as you come to it. 
 
 390. Li4Cii Signorelli. Adoration of the Magi. A fine ex- 
 ample of the mode of treatment of this excellent anatomical 
 painter, the forerunner of Michael Angelo. It needs long look- 
 ing into. 
 
 289. Piero di Cosi'mo. Coronation of the Virgin, with St. 
 Jerome, St. Francis, St. Louis of Toulouse and St. Bonaventura. 
 Compare with Raffaelino del Garbo, close by, for the double 
 scene, on earth and in heaven. Notice the crown which Louis 
 refused, in order to embrace the monastic profession. This is a 
 Franciscan picture : you will find it casts much light on assem- 
 blages of saints if you know for what order each picture was 
 painted. The grouping always means something. 
 
 16. Albertinelli. Madonna on a pedestal, with St. Jerome 
 and St. Zenobius. Scenes from their legends in the background. 
 A characteristic example of the Florentine Renaissance. The 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 95 
 
 grouping is in the style then fast becoming fashionable. Com- 
 pare with Lorenzo di Credi in the Salle des Primitifs. 
 
 144. Pontormo. Visitation. Showing the older Renaissance 
 tendencies. Compare with the Ghirlandajo, and note persist- 
 ence of the arch in the background. 
 
 *57. Fra Bartolomtneo. Marriage of St. Catherine of Siena. 
 This is a variant on the legend of the other St. Catherine — of 
 Alexandria. The infant Christ is placing a ring on the holy 
 nun's finger. Around are attendant saints — Peter, Vincent, 
 Stephen, etc. The composition is highly characteristic of the 
 painter and his school. 
 
 380. Andrea del Sarto. Holy Family. Exquisitely soft in 
 outline and colour. 
 
 372. Doubtful. Attributed to Raphael. Charming portrait 
 of a young man. 
 
 Beyond it,* two most delicate little pictures of St. George (a 
 man) and St. Michael (an angel, winged) oi RaphaePs very early 
 period. Note the princess in the St. George ; you will come 
 upon her again. Simple and charming. Trace Raphael's pro- 
 gress in this gallery, by means of Kugler. 
 
 Beyond them, again, two portraits by Raphael^ of which yjl 
 is of doubtful authenticity. 
 
 *366. Raphael. The Young St. John : a noble figure. 
 
 **367. Raphael. St. Margaret : issuing triumphant from the 
 drtigon which has swallowed her. A figure full of feeling and 
 movement, and instinct with his later science. It was painted 
 for Francois I^*", out of compliment to his sister. Queen Margaret 
 of Navarre. 
 
 All these Raphaels should be carefully studied. The great 
 painter began with a certain Peruginesque stiffness, through 
 which nevertheless his own native grace makes itself felt at 
 once ; he progressed rapidly in knowledge and skill at Florence 
 and Rome, but showed a tendency in his last works towards the 
 incipient faults of the later Renaissance. By following him 
 here, in conjunction with Florence and Rome, you can gain an 
 idea of the course of his development. 
 
 The Second Compartment of the Long Gallery, which we 
 now enter, though containing several works by Titian and other 
 masters of the best period, is mainly devoted to painters of the 
 
96 PARIS [III. 
 
 later i6th and 17th century, when the decline in taste was rapid 
 and progressive. Notice throughout the substitution of rhe- 
 torical gesture and affected composition for the simplicity of the 
 early masters, or the dignity and truth of the High Renaissance. 
 Begin again on the L wall, containing finer pictures than that 
 opposite. 
 
 441. Titian. Another Holy Family, with St. Catherine. 
 Both women here are Venetian ladies of high rank and of his 
 own period. Observe, however, the persistence of the 
 Madonna's white head-covering. Also, the playfulness intro- 
 duced in the treatment of St. Catherine's palm of martyrdom, 
 and the childish St. John with his lamb. These attributes 
 would have been treated by earlier painters with reverence and 
 solemnity. Titian transfers them into mere pretty accessories. 
 Characteristic landscape background. (The female saint in 
 this work is usually described as St. Agnes, because of the 
 lamb : I think erroneously. The lamb is St. John's, and the 
 St. Catherine merely plays with it.) 
 
 88. Calcar. Fine portrait (jf a young man. 
 
 38. Attributed (very doubtfully) to Giorgione. Holy Family, 
 with St. Sebastian, St. Catherine, and the donor, kneeling. A 
 good example of the intermediate treatment of saints in groups 
 of this character. 
 
 Above it (92) Paolo Veronese. Esther and Ahasuerus. Treated 
 in the lordly fashion of a Venetian pageant. Try now to under- 
 stand this Venetian ideal in style and colour. 
 
 91. Paolo Veronese. Similar treatment of Susanna and the 
 Elders, a traditional religious theme, here distorted into a mere 
 excuse for the nude, in which the Renaissance delighted. 
 
 **274. Palma Vecchio. Adorat on of the Shepherds. A 
 noble example of this great Venet.an painter. Observe how he 
 transforms the traditional accessories in the background, and 
 employs them in the thorough Venetian spirit. 
 
 Beyond it, several small Venetian pictures. Self-explanatory, 
 but worthy of close attention ; especially 94, a delicate Paolo 
 Veronese^ on a most unusual scale— a Venetian Dominican 
 nun presented by her patroness, St. Catherine, and St. Joseph 
 to the Madonna. Also, 93, by the same artist, St. George and 
 St. Catherine presenting a Venetian gentleman to the Madonna 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 97 
 
 and Child. These two saints were the male and female patrons 
 of the Venetian territory ; hence their frequency in Venetian 
 pictures. 
 
 99. The Disciples at Emmaus. Another characteristic 
 transformation by Veronese of a traditional scene. The pre- 
 tence of sacredness is very thin. 
 
 98. Paolo Veronese. Calvary. vSimilarly treated. 
 
 *335- Tintoretto. Susanna at the Bath. Admirable ex- 
 ample of this artist's bold and effective method. In him the 
 Venetian School attains its last possible point before the deca- 
 dence. 
 
 Beneath it, two good Venetian portraits. 
 
 336. Tintoretto. A characteristic Paradise (sketch for the 
 great picture in the Doge's Palace at Venice), whose various 
 circles of saints and angels should be carefully studied. 
 Gloomy glory. 
 
 Above it, 17. A Venetian gentleman introduced to the Ma- 
 donna by St. Francis and a sainted bishop, with St. Sebastian 
 in the background. Doubtless, a votive picture in gratitude for 
 the noble donor's escape from the plague. 
 
 Beyond these, we come chiefly upon Venetian pictures of the 
 Decadence, among which the most noticeable are the Venetian 
 views by Canaletto and Guardi, showing familiar aspects of the 
 Salute, the Doge's Palace, San Zaccaria, and other buildings. 
 
 Further on, this compartment contains Spanish pictures, 
 — an artificial arrangement not without some real justification, 
 since in the i6th and 17th centuries, Spain, enriched by her 
 American possessions, became, for a short period, the material 
 and artistic inheritor of Italy, and accepted in full the mature 
 fruits of the Italian Renaissance. At the same time, she im- 
 bued the developed arts she received from Italy with Spanish 
 showiness and love of mere display, to the exclusion of deeper 
 spiritual feeling. The most famous among the few Spanish 
 pictures of the Louvre are : — 
 
 552. ''^Velasquez. Philip IV of Spain. 
 
 Beneath it, '''Miirillo. One of his favourite Boy Beggars, 
 killing fleas. A curious subject, excellently rendered. 
 
 548. Ribera, Adoration of the Shepherds. 
 
 540. Miuillo. Birth of the Virgin, where the transformation 
 
 G 
 
98 PARIS [ill. 
 
 of the traditional element is even more marked than in the 
 Italian Renaissance. The colouring splendid. St. Anne is 
 always seen in bed ; other points you could notice in the 
 enamels at Cluny. With Murillo, they become mere excuses 
 for display of art-faculty. 
 
 Further on, Murillo. The occupants of a poor monastery in 
 Spain miraculously fed by angels, known as " La Cuisine des 
 Anges." 
 
 I do not recommend more than a cursory examination of 
 these fine Spanish works, which can only be properly under- 
 stood oy those who have visited Madrid and Seville. It will 
 suffice to note their general characteristics, and the way in 
 which they render traditional subjects. The best point of view 
 for the " Cuisine des Anges," is obtained from the seat nearly 
 opposite, beneath the archway, when the splendid luminous 
 qualities of this theatrical picture can be better appreciated. 
 From this point also, many of the other Spanish pictures are 
 well seen with an opera-glass. They are not intended for close 
 examination. 
 
 (The columns which separate these compartments have an 
 interesting history. They first belonged to a classical temple in 
 North Africa. They were brought thence by Louis XIV to 
 support a baldacchino at St. Germain-des-Pres. Finally, the 
 Revolution transferred them to the Louvre.) 
 
 Return a;^ain, now, to the last archway, and begin once more 
 on the R side, which contains for the most part tawdry works 
 of the Baroque period, which should, however, be studied to 
 some extent in illustration of the decadence of art in the later 
 i6th century, and also as examples of further transformation 
 of the traditional motives. 
 
 53. Barocci. Madonna in Glory, with St. Antony and St. 
 Lucy. A good example of the insipid style which took its 
 name from this master. 
 
 Below it, 309. Bagnacavallo. Circumcision, with twisted 
 pillars, showing the decline in architectural taste. The crowded 
 composition may be instructively compared with earlier and 
 simpler examples of this subject ; also, with Fra Bartolommeo, 
 whose fine but complex arrangements rapidly resulted in such 
 confused grouping. 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 99 
 
 52. Barocci. Same scene. The tradition now entirely 
 ignored, and an unpleasantly realistic, yet theatrical and 
 mannered treatment, introduced. 
 
 304. After Primaticcio. Mythological concert, exhibiting 
 the taste of the School of Fontainebleau (the Italian artists 
 of Raphael's group, scholars of Giulio Romano, introduced into 
 France by Francois I*""). 
 
 349. RosselH. Triumphant David, with the head of Goliath. 
 Marking the advance of the histrionic tendency. 
 
 A very cursory examination of the rest of the works on this 
 wall will probably be sufficient. Look them over in an hour. 
 The most celebrated are two by Salvator Rosa : 318, Guido 
 Rent's Ecce Homo, full of tawdry false sentiment ; and Dome- 
 nichino's St. Cecilia (often copied), with the angel reduced to 
 the futile decorative winged boy of the period. 324, Guuids 
 St. Sebastian, may be well compared with Perugino's, as mark- 
 ing the decline which art had suffered. It is on works like 
 these that the Spanish School largely based itself. 
 
 This completes the Italian collection of the Louvre, to 
 which the visitor should return again and again, until he feels 
 he has entered somewhat into the spirit and tone of its various 
 ages. 
 
 Between the next two archways, we come to a small collec- 
 tion of works of the Early French School, too few of which 
 unfortunately remain to us. 
 
 Left Wall. Two portraits of Francois V'^\ may be well com- 
 pared with the Titian of the same king, as indicating the gulf 
 which still separated France from the art- world of Italy. The 
 hard, dry, wooden manner of these French works is strongly 
 contrasted with the finished art of the Italian Renaissance. 
 Recollect that these seemingly archaic portraits are painted by 
 contemporaries of Raphael and Titian. 
 
 Between them, good miniatures, by Nicolas Froment, of 
 King Rene and his Queen. 
 
 Above, 650. Admirable Dead Christ, with the Madonna, 
 Magdalen, Joseph of Arimathea, etc. In the best style of 
 the French School of the 15th century. Observe the action of 
 the various personages : all are conventional. 
 
100 PARIS [ill. 
 
 Beyond it, several good small pictures of the early French 
 Renaissance which should be carefully examined. Fouquet's 
 portrait of Charles VII is a capital example of the older 
 method. 
 
 Above them, 875, characteristic 15th century Crucifixion, 
 with Last Communion and Martyrdom of St. Denis. The 
 executioner's face is French all over. (Scenes from the Pas- 
 sion have often in French art such side-scenes from lives of 
 saints. Several at Cluny.) This picture has been employed 
 as a basis for the restoration of the reliefs in the portals at St. 
 Denis. 
 
 Beyond again, portraits of the early Renaissance, exhibiting 
 considerable advance in many cases. 
 
 On the R wall are some works more distinctly characteristic 
 of the school of art which grew up round Primaticcio and his 
 scholars at Pontainebleau. Among them are a Diana hunt- 
 ing (D. de Poitiers again), and a Continence of Scipio. They 
 reflect the style of Giulio Romano. Beneath the first, two 
 good portraits, with patron saints (John and Peter). All the 
 works in this compartment should be examined carefully, as 
 showing the raw material upon which subsequent French art 
 was developed. 
 
 Beyond the next archway, we come to the pictures of the 
 Flemish School, which deserve almost equal attention with 
 the Italian, as individual works, but which, as of less interest 
 in the general history of art, I shall treat more briefly. Begin 
 here on the R side, for chronological order. 
 
 Among the most noticeable pictures are Adam and Eve, un- 
 numbered, good specimens of the frank, unidealised northern 
 nude. 
 
 595. An exquisite early Annunciation, the spirit of which 
 should be compared with the early Italians. Notice the general 
 similarity of accessories, combined with the divergence inspirit, 
 the dwelling on detail, the Flemish love for effects of light and 
 shade on brass-work, fabrics, glasses, etc. Notice that this 
 charming picture gives us the early stage in the evolution of 
 that type of art which culminates in the Gerard Dou in the 
 Salon Carrd. 
 
■f- 
 
 III.] RENAISSANCE PARTS {THE LOUVRE) 10 1 
 
 Beside it, an exquisitely tender Dead Christ. Remarkable 
 for the finish in the background. 
 
 The (2iicntin Matsys is not a worthy representative of the 
 master. 
 
 Beside it, a quaint and striking group of Votaries, listening to 
 a sermon. Probably a mere excuse for portrait-painting. The 
 character in the faces is essentially Flemish. 
 
 Fine portrait of a young man with a pink, in a red cap. 
 
 Triptych, with the Madonna and Child (who may be well 
 compared with those of the Memling in the Salle Duchatel). 
 On the flaps, the donor and his wife, introduced by their 
 patrons, St. John and St. Christopher. 
 
 Now cross over to the L side. 
 
 *698. Rfli(ier Van dcr Weydeii. Excellent Deposition, with a 
 touching St. John, and a very emaciated Dead Christ. These 
 scenes of death are extremely common in Flemish and German 
 art, and resulted in a great effort to express poignant emotion, 
 as contrasted with the calmer ecstatic character of Italian 
 art. 
 
 **279. Qnentin Matsys. Banker and his wife. An admir- 
 able and celebrated picture, with marvellous detail, of which 
 there are variants elsewhere. Notice the crystal vase, mirror, 
 leaves of book, and objects on shelves in background. The fur 
 is exquisitely painted. 
 
 *28b and 289. Two beautiful little Monlifii^s. 
 
 588. Most characteristic and finished Holy Family. 
 
 699. Memling. St. Sebastian, Resurrection, Ascension. 
 Compare the first with Italian examples. Notice the extra- 
 ordinarily minute work in the armour and accessories, contrasted 
 with the blank and meaningless face of the Risen Saviour. 
 Flemish art, perfect in execution, seldom attains high ideals. 
 
 277 and 278. Mabiise. Virgin and donor. Excellent. 
 
 **596. Gerard David. Marriage at Cana. A splendid 
 specimen of this great and insufficiently recognised painter. 
 Background of buildings at Bruges. Every face and every 
 portion of the decorative work, including the jars in the fore- 
 ground, should be closely noticed. The kneeling donor is an 
 admirable portrait. As a whole, what a contrast to the Paolo 
 Veronese ! The pretty, innocent face of the bride, with her air 
 
102 PARIS [III. 
 
 of mute wonder, is excellently rendered. I believe the donor in 
 this work is a younger portrait of the Canon who appears in the 
 glorious Gerard David in the National Gallery. 
 
 Skied above all these pictures on either side are several 
 works by Van Veeti^ Jan Matsys^ Snyders and others, mostly 
 worthy of notice. Among them, 136, Van Dyck, good Madonna 
 with the Magdalen and other saints. 
 
 We now come to the ** great series by Rubens narrating 
 the History of Marie de Medicis, in the inflated allegorical 
 style of the period. To understand them, the spectator should 
 first read an account of her life in any good French history. 
 These great decorative canvasses were painted hurriedly, with 
 even more than Rubens's usual dash and freedom, to Marie's 
 order, after her return from exile, for the decoration of her rooms 
 at the Luxembourg (see Part V) which she had just erected. 
 Though designed by Rubens, they were largely executed by 
 the hands of pupils ; and while possessing all the master's exu- 
 berant artistic qualities in composition, they are not favourable 
 specimens of his art, as regards execution and technique. It 
 is to be regretted that most Englishmen and Frenchmen form 
 their impressions of the painter from these vigorous but rapid 
 pictures, rather than from his far nobler works at Antwerp, 
 Munich, and Vienna. I give briefly the meaning of the series. 
 
 1. The Three Fates spin Marie's destiny. A small panel for 
 the side of a door. 
 
 2. Birth of Marie at Florence. Lucina, goddess of birth, 
 with her torch, attends the mother. Genii scatter flowers ; others 
 hold her future crown. In the foreground, the River God of 
 the Arno, with his stream issuing from an urn, and accompanied 
 by the Florentine lion, as well as by boys holding the Floren- 
 tine lily. This curious mixture of allegorical personages and 
 realities is continued throughout the se- ies. 
 
 3. Her Education, presided over by Minerva, with the aid of 
 Mercury (to indicate her rapidity in learning), and Apollo, as 
 teacher of the arts. Close ])y are the Graces, admirable nude 
 figures. Among the accessories, bust of Socrates, painting 
 materials, etc. 
 
 4. The Genius of France in attendance upon Henri IV, 
 while Love shows him Marie's portrait. The attitude of the 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) T03 
 
 king expresses delight and astonishment. In the clouds, 
 Jupiter and Juno smile compliance. Below, little Loves steal 
 the king's shield and helmet. 
 
 5. Marriage of Marie by proxy. The Grand Duke Fer- 
 dinand represents the king. Hymen holds the torch. 
 
 6. Marie lands at Marseilles, and is received by France, 
 while Tritons and Nereids give easy passage to her vessel. 
 Above, her Fame. On the vessel, the balls or pa/li of the 
 Medici family. 
 
 7. Consummation of the Marriage at Lyons. The town itself 
 is seen in the background. In the foreground, the (personified) 
 city, crowned with a mural coronet, and designated by her lions. 
 Above, the King, as Jupiter, with his eagle, and the Queen, as 
 Juno, with her peacocks. 
 
 8. Birth of her son, afterwards Louis XIII, at Fontaine- 
 bleau. Health receives the infant. Fortune attends the Queen. 
 
 9. The King, setting out to his war against Germany, makes 
 Marie Regent -allegorically represented by passing her the ball 
 of empire — and confides to her their son. 
 
 Larger pictures : No. 10, the Coronation of the Queen, and 
 No. II, the Apotheosis of Henri, the painful scene of his death 
 being avoided. He is represented as raised to the sky by 
 Jupiter on one side, and Death with his sickle on the other. 
 Beneath, the assassin, as a serpent, wounded with an arrow. 
 Victory and Bellona mourning. Beyond, the allegorical figure 
 of France presenting the regency to Marie, with the acclama- 
 tion of the nobility and people. 
 
 12. The Queen's government approved of by Jupiter, Juno, 
 and the heavenly powers. In the foreground Apollo, Mars, 
 and MinervM (the first copied from the antique statue known as 
 the Belvedere), representing courage, art, and literature, dispel 
 calumny and the powers of darkness. 
 
 Continue on the opposite side, crossing over directly. 
 
 13. Civil discord arises. Marie starts for Anjou, attended 
 by Victory. Military preparations in the background. 
 
 14. The exchange of Princesses between allegorical figures 
 of France and Austria — each intended to marry the heir of the 
 other empire. 
 
 15. The Happiness of the Regency. The Queen bears the 
 
104 PARIS [ill. 
 
 scales of justice. Plenty prevails. Literature, science, art, and 
 beauty predominate over evil, slander, and baseness. 
 
 i6. Louis XIII attains his Majority (at 14) and mans the 
 ship of State in person, still attended by the counsels of his 
 mother. The Virtues row it. 
 
 17. Calumny overcomes the Queen. By the advice of her 
 counsellors, she takes refuge at Blois, escorted by Wisdom. 
 
 18. Mercury, as messenger, brings an olive branch to Marie, 
 as a token of reconciliation from her son, through the interme- 
 diation of Richelieu and the Church party. 
 
 19. Marie enters the Temple of Peace, escorted by Mercury 
 and Truth with her torch, while blind Rage and the evil powers 
 stand baffled behind her. 
 
 20. Apotheosis of Marie and Louis : their reconciliation and 
 happiness. Final overthrow of the demons of discord. 
 
 21. Time brings Truth to light. Louis recognises the good 
 influence of his mother. 
 
 The history, as given in these pictures, is of course envisaged 
 from the point of view of a courtier, who desires to flatter and 
 please his patroness. 
 
 Beneath this great series of Rubens are a number of Dutch 
 and Flemish Pictures, mostly admirable and well worthy ot 
 attention, but, so to speak, self-explanatory. They belong en- 
 tirely to modern feeling. Dutch and Flemish art, in its later 
 form, is the domestic development of that intense love of minute 
 detail and accessories already conspicuous in Van Eyck, 
 Memling, and Gerard David. Sacred subjects almost dis- 
 appear ; the wealthy burghers ask for portraits of themselves, 
 their wives and fLimilies, or landscapes for their households. I 
 would call special notice to the following among many which 
 should be closely examined to show the progress of art : — 
 512, Tenters \ 691, Rubens; 518, Tenters \ 238 and 239, Van 
 Huysum ; *425, a charming Rubens^ in his smaller and more 
 delicate style; 147, admirable portrait by Van Dyck \ 513, an 
 excellent Tenters ; '"'461, a good portrait by Rubens ; 125, ex- 
 quisite, luminous Gerard Dou ; next it **Van der Helsfs Four 
 Judges of the Guild of Cross-bow-men deciding on the prizes, 
 one of the most perfect specimens of this great portrait painter. 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I05 
 
 Notice the wonderful life-like expressions. Then 123, another 
 exquisite luminous Dou ', 542, Vafi de Velde \ 41, splendid 
 portrait by Bol \ 130, Gerard Don by himself; **404, Rem- 
 brandt^ Raphael leaving the house of Tobias, a master-piece of 
 the artist's weird and murky luminosity — strangely contrasted 
 with Italian examples ; 205, a good Hobbema ; 133, fine portrait 
 by Dtichdtel ; 369, excellent family group by Van Ostade ; next 
 it, 126, a delicious little Dou. liut, indeed, every one of these 
 Dutch paintings should be examined separately, in order to 
 understand the characterist'c Dutch virtues of delicate handling, 
 exquisite detail, and domestic portraiture. They are the artis- 
 tic outcome of a nation of housewives. 
 
 On the opposite side the series is continued with admirable 
 flower-pieces, landscapes by V^an der Veldt and Karel du 
 Jardin, and several noteworthy portraits, among which notice 
 the famous *Van Dyck (143) of the children of Charles I., most 
 daintily treated. Beyond the Rubenses, again, on this side, 
 144, two noble portraits by Van Dycl\ and several excellent 
 examples of Philippe de Champaigne, a Flemish artist who 
 deeply influenced painting in France, where he settled. **i5i, 
 Van Dyck^s Duke of Richmond, perhaps his most splendid 
 achievement in portraiture, deserves careful study. I do not 
 further enlarge upon these subjects because the names and 
 dates of the painters, with the descriptions given on the frames, 
 will sufficiently enable the judicious spectator to form his own 
 conceptions. Devote at least a day to Dutch and Flemish art 
 here, and then go back to the Salon Carre, to see how the 
 Rembrandts, Dous, and Metsus, there unfortunately separated 
 from their compeers, fall into the general scheme of Dutch 
 development. 
 
 Good view out of either window as you pass the next arch- 
 way. Look out for these views in all parts of the Louvre. They 
 often give you glimpses of the minor courtyards, to which the 
 general public are not admitted. 
 
 The next two compartments contain further Dutch and 
 Flemish pictures of high merit — portraits, still-life, landscape, 
 and other subjects. The scenes of village life are highly 
 characteristic. Notice in this connection the growing taste 
 for landscape, at first with a pretence of figures and animals, 
 
I06 PARIS [ill. 
 
 but gradually asserting its right to be heard on its own account. 
 In Italy, under somewhat similar commercial conditions, we 
 saw this taste arise in the Venetian School, with Cima, Gior- 
 gione, and Titian ; in Holland, after the Reformation put sacred 
 art at a discount, it became almost supreme. And note at the 
 same time how the Reformation in commercial countries has 
 wholly altered the type of northern art, focussing it on trivial 
 domestic incidents. 
 
 Among the many beautiful pictures in these compartments 
 the spectator should at least not miss, on the L, the very 
 charming ■**■* Portrait by Rubens (not quite finished) of his 
 second wife and two children, scarcely inferior to the lovely 
 specimen at Munich. Near it, an admirable Crucifixion 
 with the Madonna, St. John, and Magdalen, more remini- 
 scent than is usual with Rubens of earlier compositions. On 
 the R side, notice a portrait of Elizabeth of France (459), by 
 Rubens^ in his other, stiffer, and more courtly manner. We 
 may well put down this peculiarity to the wishes of the sitter. 
 His *Kermesse, near it, is an essay in the style afterwards 
 popularized by Teniers, in which the great artist permits his 
 Flemish blood to overcome him, and produces a clever but most 
 unpleasant picture. The numerous admirable fruit and flower 
 pieces, works in still life, etc., which these compartments contain, 
 must be studied for himself by the attentive visitor. In Rubens' 
 great canvas of the Triumph of Religion, painted for a Spanish 
 commission, observe his curious external imitation of Spanish 
 tendencies. 
 
 After having completed his examination of the Long Gallery, 
 the visitor may next proceed to the five small rooms — IX, x, XI, 
 XII, and XIII on Baedeker's map— devoted to 
 
 The Gp:rman, English and Early French Schools. 
 
 Among the early Qerman works in the 2nd of these rooms, 
 the visitor may particularly notice (■*'"22), Hans Holbeifi's portrait 
 of Southwell, full of character. Above it, a quaint Venus by 
 Cranach^ instinct with the northern conception of the crude nude. 
 Next, two good portraits by Holbein. In the centre of this wall, 
 * a Descent from the Cross, of the School of Cologne, which 
 should be compared with similar pictures of the Italian and 
 
HI] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I07 
 
 Flemish Schools. The somewhat exaggerated expression of grief 
 on all the faces is strongly characteristic of German tendencies. 
 The figure of the Magdalen, to the R, strikes the German keynote ; 
 so does Joseph of Arimathea receiving the Crown of Thorns. 
 Study this well, for coincidences with and differences from Italian 
 treatment. Beyond it, two fine Ilolbeins^ of the astronomer 
 Kratzer, and "^Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, the latter a 
 marvellous piece of painting. The opposite wall also contains 
 good portraits and sacred pieces, among which an altarpiece by 
 the " Master of the Death of the Virgin," deserves careful study. 
 (Most early German masters are unknown to us by name, and 
 are thus identified by their most famous pictures.) The Last 
 Supper in this work, below, is largely borrowed from Lionardo. 
 Compare with the copy of Lionardo's fresco at Milan in the 
 Long Gallery, probably by Marco da Oggionno, which hangs 
 near the Viergeaux Rochers. The Adoration of the ^Lagi (597), 
 should also be compared with the Italian examples ; notice in 
 particular the burgher character of the Three Kings, which is 
 essentially German. The other works in this room can be 
 sufficiently studied (for casual observers) by the aid of the 
 labels. 
 
 The English Room contains a few examples of English 
 masters of the last and present century, none of them first-rate. 
 The most famous is the frequently reproduced Little Girl with 
 Cherries by the pastellist John Russel. It is a pleasing work, 
 but not good in colour. 
 
 The next room, with an admirable view from the window, 
 begins the Modern French School (in the wide sense), and 
 contains Le Sueur's History of the Life of St. Bruno, painted 
 for a Carthusian monastery near the Luxembourg— of which 
 order the saint was the founder. They are characteristic ex- 
 amples of the French work of the early 17th century, and they 
 exhibit the beginnings of the national tendencies in art. The 
 legends are partially explained on the frames, and more fully 
 in Mrs. Jameson's " Monastic Orders." On a cursory inspec- 
 tion, the observer will notice the marked French tendency in 
 the 9th, 7th, 2ist, and 22nd of the series. Cold and lifeless in 
 design and colour, these feeble works have now little more 
 than a historical interest. 
 
I08 PARIS [ill. 
 
 Before proceeding to the succeeding rooms of the 
 
 French School, 
 
 you had better form some conception of the circumstances 
 and conditions under which that school arose. The artists 
 whom Franc^ois 1*^'' invited to Fontainebleau had Httle influ- 
 ence on French art, except in sculpture (where we shall see 
 their spirit abundantly at work when we come to examine the 
 Renaissance sculpture in this collection). Frimaticcio and his 
 followers, however, left behind them in France, as regards 
 painting, scarcely more than the sense of a need for improve- 
 ment. Succeeding French artists took up the Italian Renais- 
 sance in the stage represented by the later decadents and the 
 eclectic Caracci. Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) is the first 
 Frenchman to attain distinction in this line ; he throws some- 
 thing of French sentimentality into the affected mythological 
 scenes of contemporary Italy. Claude of Lorraine, again, is 
 almost an Italian by training and style ; his artificial landscapes, 
 not copied direct from nature, but built up by arbitrary and often 
 impossible conjunctions, represent the prevailing tendencies of 
 Italian art in the 17th century. On the other hand, the influ- 
 ence of Rubens, many of whose greatest works were painted 
 for French kings, or came early to France, and still more of 
 Philippe d^ Champaigne, a Brussels master who settled in Paris 
 and painted much for Richelieu and Marie de Medicis, intro- 
 duced into France a strain of Flemish influence. On these two 
 schools — decadent Italian and later Flemish — then, modern 
 French art at first based itself ; the final outcome is a resultant 
 of the two, transmuted and moulded in spirit and form by the 
 innate, though at first unrealised, French tendencies. 
 
 Also, before you proceed to examine the subsequent speci- 
 mens of the development of French art, you had better return 
 to the Salon Carre to inspect the portraits by Philippe de 
 Champaigne, as well as the Jouvenet, the Rigaud, and other 
 French works there, which I purposely passed by on our 
 previous visit, as out of harmony with the Italian masterpieces. 
 On your way back, glance at the later Italian pictures in the 
 First Compartment of the Long Gallery (particularly at Bron- 
 zino's odiously vulgar Christ and Mary Magdalen, and Rossi's 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) IO9 
 
 Doubting Thomas, both skied, on your r) as conspicuous 
 examples of the sort of thing admired at the time when the 
 French School took its first flights and made its earliest 
 experiences. Then observe once more the works of the 
 School of Fontainebieau ; and, finally, inspect the pictures in 
 Baedeker's Room IX ; after which, you will be in a position 
 to start fair in Room XIII, with the French School in the 17th 
 century. 
 
 This Small Room beyond the St. Brunos contains more 
 favourable specimens of Le S if cars faculty (such as 559, 556, 
 and 551), in which a distinctive French tendency still more 
 markedly announces itself. The (ianymede, in 563, in par- 
 ticular, faintly foreshadows at a distance the classic painters of 
 the Empire. We see in this room, in a very vague way, an 
 early stage in the evolution of a David. 
 
 Passing through the Landing, at the head of the staircase 
 (with interesting terra-cotta Etruscan sarcophagi) we arrive at 
 the Great Gallery of French paintings of the 17th century. 
 These may be examined somewhat in the mass, exhibiting, as 
 they do, rather the courtly tendencies of the age of Louis XIV 
 than any great individual artistic faculty. We must understand 
 them in the spirit which built Versailles and conducted the 
 wars on the north-eastern frontier. They are painted for the 
 most part by the command of His Majesty. Only here and 
 there does a faintly individual work, like Le Sueur's Christ and 
 the Magdalen, and Bearing of the Cross, or Lebrufi's Crucifixion, 
 arrest for a moment one's passing attention. The crudeness of 
 the colour, and the insufficiency of the composition, will be the 
 chief points, in a general survey, to strike the spectator. (On 
 a screen in the centre, out of proper place among its con- 
 temporaries, hangs at present Paul Ddaroche's famous Christian 
 Martyr.) 
 
 The student who has courage to attack this mass of un- 
 interesting art in detail, should observe particularly the works of 
 N. Poiissin^ as forming the point of departure for the School in 
 general. His Bacchanal and other mythological works set the 
 fashion of those dreary allegorical scenes which cover so many 
 yards of ceilings in the Louvre. Observe the mixture of 
 religious themes, like Lebrun's Martyrdom of Stephen, and 
 
no PARIS [III. 
 
 N. PoussirCs Holy Family, with classical pictures like the 
 Rescue of Pyrrhus, and the Alexander and Porus, as well as the 
 close similarity of treatment in both cases. Among the best of 
 the lot 2iXt.JouvejieVs Raising of Lazarus, and Lesiieur's Paul 
 Preaching at Ephesus (partly after Raphael). *Poussin's " Et 
 in Arcadia ego," a rustic morality, is also famous, and is 
 regarded as the greatest achievement of this artificial School. 
 Claude's landscapes, often with a small inserted mythological 
 story by another painter, deserve attention. (Note that land- 
 scape has hardly yet vindicated its claim to independent exist- 
 ence.) On the whole, it may be said that this room represents 
 the two prevailing influences in French art of the purely mon- 
 archical period of Louis XIV, — either the pictures are quasi- 
 royal and official, or else they are religious, for church or 
 monastery. The mythological scenes, indeed, have often a 
 royal reference — are supposed parallels of contemporary events ; 
 and even the religious scenes, wholly destitute of spiritual feel- 
 ing, are painted in a courtly, grandiose manner. They are 
 saints as conceived by flunkeys. Not till the Revolution swept 
 away the royal patron did the French spirit truly realise itself. 
 This room reveals the Court, not the nation. 
 
 The next room, in the Pavilion Denon, a connecting pas- 
 sage, contains Portraits of Painters, chiefly by themselves, 
 a few of which are worthy of attention. Among them is the 
 famous and touching "^^ portrait by Mme. Lebrun of herself 
 and her daughter, which, in spite of some theatrical sentiment 
 here and there obtruded, is a charming realisation of maternal 
 feeling amply reciprocated. 
 
 Beyond it we come to the French Gallery of the i8th 
 century, reflecting for the most part the spirit of the Regency 
 and the Louis XV period. Much of it is meretricious ; much 
 of it breathes the atmosphere of the boudoir. The flavour of 
 Du Barry pervades it almost all. It scents of musk and 
 powder. The reader will pick out for himself such works as 
 he admires in this curious yet not wholly unpleasing mass of 
 affectation and mediocrity. Indeed, as opposed to the purely 
 official work in the preceding French room, the growth of the 
 rococo spirit, to be traced in this gallery, is by no means with- 
 out interest. The one set of works sets forth the ideal of 
 
III.] REX.ilSSANCE PARIS (THE LOUVRE) III 
 
 monarchy as a formal institution ; the other displays its actual 
 outcome in royal mistresses and frivolous amusements. Here 
 too the ornate French taste — the Dresden china and Sevres 
 taste — finds its first faint embodiment. Greiize's famous 
 *Cruche Cassee (263), is the chief favourite with visitors to this 
 room. It has about it a certain false simplicity, a pretended 
 virginal innocence, which is perhaps the highest point of art 
 this school could attain. Drouais^s child portraits (187), are 
 more entirely characteristic, in their red-and-white chubbiness, 
 of the ideas of the epoch. The pastoral scenes by IVatteau 
 and Vanloo^ represent nature and country life, as they en- 
 visaged themselves to the painted and powdered great ladies 
 of the Trianon. Coypefs Esther before Ahasuerus is a not 
 unfavourable specimen of the inflated quasi-sacred style of the 
 period. Some good portraits redeem the general high level of 
 mediocrity in this room, but do not equal those of the daintily 
 aristocratic English School of the end of the i8th century. 
 Two Greuzes (267 and, still more, 266), reveal the essentially 
 artificial methods of this superficially taking painter. Most 
 observers begin by admiring him and end by disliking his 
 ceaseless posing. Boucher's artificial pink-and-white nudities 
 (as in 24 and 26), have the air of a man who painted, as he did, 
 in a room hung round with rose-colouied satin. He is perhaps 
 the most typical of these rococo artists : he imitates on canvas 
 the coquettish ideals of the contemporary china-painters. Fni- 
 ^onard^ again, throws into this school the love of display and 
 bravado of a southern temperament. At the far end of the 
 room we find in Greiize's later moralising pictures faint indica- 
 tions of the altered and somewhat more earnest feeling which 
 produced the revolutionary epoch, still closely mixed up with 
 the ineradicable affectation and unreality of the painter and his 
 period. Two little stories of a Prodigal Son and his too late 
 return, on either side of the doorway, with their violent theatri- 
 cal passion and their excessive expression of impossible emo- 
 tion, illustrate well this nascent tendency. They are attempts 
 to feel where feeling was not really present. DavicVs Paris 
 and Helen introduces us, on the other hand, to the beginnings 
 of the cold classicism which prevailed under the Empire. 
 
 In order to continue the chronological examination of the 
 
112 PARIS [III. 
 
 French School the visitor must now return to the Salon Carre 
 and traverse the vulgarly ornate Galcrie cl'Apollon by its side 
 (which contains o1)jects of more or less artistic interest in the 
 precious metals and precious stones, many of which, especially 
 those in the two last cases, deserve careful inspection. A 
 morning should, if possible, be devoted later to this collection). 
 A short connecting room beyond (with gold f^truscan jewel- 
 lery) gives access next to the Salle des Sept Cheminees, which 
 contains many stiff but excellent works of the period of the 
 Empire. The most noticeal^le of these are by David^ whose 
 formal classicism (a result of the revolutionary revolt from 
 Christianity, with its reliance upon Greek, and still more Roman, 
 morality and history') is excellently exemplified in his large 
 picture of the * Sabine Women Intervening between their 
 Husbands and their Fathers. This is considered his master- 
 piece. Its frigid style, not very distantly resembling that of 
 a bas-relief, and its declamatory feeling do not blind us to the 
 excellence of its <;eneral technique and its real advance on the 
 art of the i8th century. Dai'id imitated the antique, but 
 was always sculpturesque rather than pictorial in treatment. 
 Among other fine examples of this classic period — the tran- 
 sitional stage between the i8th century and the distinctively 
 modern spirit — attention may be called to Gctard^s Cupid 
 and Psyche, and to his fine portrait of the Marquis Visconti. 
 *Mjne. Lebnuis charmingly animated portrait of Mme. Mole- 
 Raymond, the comedian, is full of real vigour. Two good 
 portraits by David^ of himself and Pius VII, deserve close 
 inspection. Gross Bonaparte at Areola, is also interesting. 
 Mme. Lcbruiis earlier portrait of herself and her daughter 
 is less beautiful than the one we have already examined. 
 Several military portraits, such as Gros's Fournier-Sarlov^ze, 
 reflect the predominant militarism of the epoch. Davids 
 huge canvas of the Coronation of Napoleon I in Notre-Dame 
 is typical of another side of the great artist's development. 
 Gradually, the frigidity of the early revolutionary period gave 
 way to the growing romanticism of 1830. Gericaulfs Raft of 
 the Medusa (sighting a sail after twelve days out), strikes 
 the first keynote of the modern romantic movement. !t 
 created a great sensation in its own day, and gave rise to 
 
in] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) II3 
 
 endless discussion and animadversion. It marks the advent 
 of the emotional in modern art. Groses Bonaparte Visiting 
 the Plague-stricken at Jaffa, also indicates in another way a 
 marked modernising tendency, The school of blood and 
 wounds, of the morbid and the ghastly, has here its forerunner. 
 All the works in this room (which modernity forbids me to treat 
 at adequate length) should be carefully studied in detail and 
 comparison by those who wish to understand the various sters 
 which led to the evolution of modern French painting. G^^t^• 
 rin^s Return of Marcus Sextus, antl Girodcfs Ikuial of Atala, 
 in particular, mark special phases of transition from the coldly 
 classical to the romantic tendency. This room, in one word, 
 begins with the severe; it ends with the melodramatic. 
 
 The room beyond, known as the Salle Henri 11, is so nearly 
 modern in tone that the reader may be safely trusted to inspect 
 it on his own knowledge. Giraiui's Slave-dealer and Chasseriau's 
 Tepidarium are its most popular pictures. It lies outside the 
 scope of the present handbook. 
 
 The Salle LaCaze, however, still beyond, contains a collec- 
 tion kept separately apart by the express desire of the donor, 
 and includes many works both of earlier schools and of the 
 French 17th and i8th century, worthy of the greatest attention. 
 It is especially rich in works of the rococo painters, better ex- 
 emplified here than in the main collection. Beginning on the 
 L, I will merely enumerate a few of the most important works. 
 An excellent Hondekoetcr^ skied. A noble portrait by Tinto- 
 retto of a Venetian magnate. A most characteristic Fragonani^ 
 full of the morganatic sentiment of the i8th century. Portraits 
 by Nattier^ affording more pleasing examples of the early i8th 
 century style than those we have hitherto examined. Above it, 
 a mediocre I'inioretto of Susanna at the Bath, not good in 
 colour. Centre of the hall, '''Watt can's Gilles, an excellent 
 embodiment of the innocent fool of traditional French comedy. 
 *Ffa?is //ats's sly figure of a Gipsy Woman is a fine piece of 
 vulgar character-painting. A good Gretize^ etc. Examine more 
 particularly the works by IVattcau, Fragonard^ and other 
 boudoir painters, whose pictures on this wall give a more 
 pleasing and fuller idea of the temperament of their school than 
 that which we obtained in other parts of the collection. R wall 
 
 H 
 
114 PARIS [III. 
 
 returning — several good Waiteaus^ Bouchers^ Greuzes^ etc. 
 Excellent small Dutch pictures. Fine portrait by Rembrandt. 
 Rembrandt's Woman at the Bath is a characteristic example 
 of his strikinf;[ly original conception of the nude. Ribera^s Club- 
 footed Boy is a Spanish pendant to Frans Hals's Gipsy. This 
 room, containing as it does very mixed examples of all the 
 schools, should only be visited after the spectator has obtained 
 some idea of each in other parts of the collection. Its Dutch 
 works, in particular, are admirable. I do not enumerate them, 
 as enumeration is useless, but leave it to the reader to pick out 
 for himself Gcvcial fine examples. 
 
 Now traverse the Galerie d'Apollon, Salon Carre, and Long 
 Gallery till you arrive at the 
 
 Hall of Paintkrs of the 19TH Clnturv, 
 
 (Room VIII in Baedeker's plan). This hall contains for the 
 most part the works of artists of the period of Louis Philippe and 
 the early Second Fmpire — almost our own contemporaries. I 
 will therefore only briefly call attention here to the pictures of 
 the romantic historical school, then so prevalent in France, 
 of which Delaroc/ie's Death of Queen Elizabeth and Princes in 
 the Tower and Delacroix's Capture of Constantinople by the 
 Crusaders are conspicuous examples. De7>Ma^s popular Birth 
 of Henri IV belongs to the same category. These " pic- 
 turesque " treatments of history answer in painting to the 
 malign influence of Walter Scott and Victor Hugo in litera- 
 ture. Contrasted with them are such semi-classical works of 
 the school of David, softened and modernised, as hvj^res's Apo- 
 theosis of Homer — the great poet crowned by Fame, with the 
 Iliad and Odyssey at the base of his pedestal, and surrounded 
 by a concourse of ancient and modern singers. It is cold but 
 dignified. Lcthilre's Death of Virginia, and Coiitui'c's Romans 
 of the Decadence, represent to a certain extent a blending of 
 these two main influences. I will not, however, particularise, 
 as almost every picture in this room deserves some study from 
 the point of view of the evolution of contemporary art. I will 
 merely ask the reader not to overlook Flandritis famous nude 
 figure, the typical landscapes by Rousseau and Millet^ and 
 David's exquisite portrait of Mme. Recamier — sufficient in it- 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) Ilj 
 
 self to immortalise both artist and sitter. The electric influence 
 of a beautiful and purc-souled woman has here {galvanised 
 David for once into full perception and reproduction of truth 
 and nature. Even the severe Empire furniture and background 
 exactly accord with the character of the picture. Ary Scheffer's 
 religious works, in his peculiar twilight style, on a solid blue 
 background, will strike every observer. MillcCs (ileaners and 
 Troyon's group of oxen strike each a new note in art at the 
 period when they were painted. As a whole this Gallery re- 
 presents all the various strands of feeling which have gone to 
 the production of modern painting. It attains to the threshold 
 of cosmopolitanism in its Arabs, its negroes, and its Algerian 
 women : it is bloodthirsty anil sensuous ; it is calm and medi- 
 tative ; it dashes with Courbet ; it refines with Millet ; it oscil- 
 lates between the world, the flesh, and the devil ; it is pious 
 and meretricious ; it sums up in itself the endless contradictory 
 and interlacing tendencies of the Nineteenth Century. As re- 
 gards chronological sequence, one may say pretty fairly that it 
 begins with classicism, passes through romanticism, and ends 
 for the moment in religious reaction. 
 
 Come back often to the pictures in the Louvre, especially the 
 Salle des Frimitifs, the Salon Carre, and the first two bays of 
 the Long Gallery. 
 
 Further Hints on the Paintings in the Louvre. 
 
 The reader must not suppose that these brief notes give any- 
 thing like an adequate idea of the way in which pictures in such 
 a gallery as the Louvre ought to be studied. My object in these 
 Guides being mainly to open a door, that the tourist himself 
 may enter and look about him carefully, I have given first this 
 connected account of «// the rooms, in chronological order, for 
 the use of those whose time is very limited, and who desire to 
 go through the collection seriatim. But for the benefit of others 
 who can afford to pay many successive visits, I will now take 
 one or two particular pictures in detail, suggesting what seem 
 to me the best and most fruitful ways in which to study them^ 
 Try for yourself afterwards to fill in a similar scheme, as far as 
 you can, for most of the finest works in this Gallery. 
 
 I will begin with No. 251, in the Salle des Primitifs — Man- 
 
Il6 PARIS [ill. 
 
 ■'■,'" ■■, ■■ y - ■ 
 
 tegna's beautiful and glowing Madonna della Vittoria. And 
 
 I take Mantegna first, because (among other reasons) he is a 
 painter who can be fairly well studied by means of the pictures 
 in this Gallery alone, without any large reference to his remain- 
 ing works in Italy or elsewhere. 
 
 Now, first, who and what was Mantegna, and what place 
 does he fill in the history of art in Italy ? Well, he was a 
 Paduan painter, born in 1431, died in 1506 — about the time 
 when Raphael was painting the Belle Jardiniere, in this collec- 
 tion. He was a contemporary and brother-in-law of Giovanni 
 and Gentile Bellini : and if you compare his work with that of 
 the two Bcllinis, even as very inadequately represented here, 
 you will see that their art has much in common — that they 
 stood at about the same level of historical evolution, and painted 
 in the same careful, precise, and accurate manner of the second 
 half of the fifteenth century. Contrast them, on the one hand, 
 with their immediate predecessors, such as Filippo Lippi and 
 Benozzo (jozzoH (juniors by roughly about 20 years), in order 
 to mark the advance they made on the art of those who 
 went just before them ; and compare them, on the other hand, 
 with their immediate successors, such as Raphael, and even 
 their more advanced contemporaries, like Lionardo, in order to 
 see what place they fill in the development of painting. 
 
 Again, Mantegna was a pupil of Squarcione of Padua, 
 who practically founded the Paduan school. Now wSquarcione 
 had travelled in Greece and formed a collection of antiques, 
 from which his pupils made drawings and studies. Also 
 Donatello (the great Florentine sculptor of the early Renais- 
 sance, of whose work you can find some beautiful examples in 
 the Renaissance Sculpture rooms of this museum) had erecuted | 
 several bronzes in the church of Sant' Antonio, the great local 
 saint of Padua ; and these likewise Mantegna studied ; so that 
 much of his work bears traces of the influence of sculpture and J 
 especially of bas-relief. He is particularly fond of introducing 
 reliefs, festoons of fruit or flowers, and classical detail into the 
 accessories of his pictures : and these peculiarities are well 
 marked in the Mars and Venus, the Crucifixion, and the Ma- 
 donna della Vittoria in this collection. Compare all these 
 closely with one another till you think you have formed a fair 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) llj 
 
 idea of Mantegna's powerful drawing, strong realism, love of 
 the antique, solemnity and dignity, clear-cut style, and perfect 
 mastery of anatomy and technique. Notice his delicate, careful, 
 conscientious workmanship ; the precision and perfection of his 
 hands and feet ; the joy with which he lingers over classical 
 costume and the painting of armour. Everything is sharp and 
 defined as in the air of Italy, yet never hard, or crude, or 
 angular. Observe, also, the sculpture-like folds of his carefully 
 arranged draperies, and his love for shot colours and melting 
 tints on metal or marble. The St. Michael in this picture, and 
 the Roman soldiers in the Crucifixion, are admirable examples 
 of this tone in his colouring. If you wished to characterise 
 Mantegna in a single phrase, however, you mij^ht fairly say he 
 was the most sculpturesque of painters. 
 
 As to date, the Crucifixion (in the Salon Carre) which 
 formed one piece only of the predella, or series of small 
 pictures at the base of the great Madonna in the Church of 
 San Zeno at Verona, is the earliest example of Mantegna's work 
 here. It displays the delicate and exquisite finish of his youthful 
 period : but it is much more mediiuval in tone— has far less 
 freedom and conscious artistic power— than the Madonna della 
 Vittoria, which belongs to the latest epoch of the great painter's 
 development. Observe the early severity of the figures in the 
 Crucifixion, and the firmness of the drawing : each personage 
 stands out with statuesque distinctness. But note, too, that at 
 this early stage, Mantegna's expression of emotion was still 
 inadequate : in his striving to be powerful, he overdid the 
 passions, sometimes almost to the verge of grotesqucness. On 
 the other hand, do not overlook the dramatic force of the 
 picture, as shewn, for example, in the vivid contrast between 
 the anguish of the Madonna, with her attendant St. John, (Sic, 
 and the callous carelessness of the soldiers casting lots for the 
 Redeemer's raiment. The Mars and Venus, once more, of his 
 middle period, represents an intermediate stage between the 
 two styles. What is meant by a predella, a^-'^in, you can see 
 by looking at Fra Angelico's Coronation of the Virgin, and other 
 similar pictures in this room — the little figures of St. Dominic 
 and his miracles beneath the main altar-piece being examples 
 of this adjunct. The Crucifixion formed the central picture of 
 
ii8 PARIS [m. 
 
 three such minor episodes : the Agony in the Garden and the 
 Ascension, to right and left of it, are now in the Museum 
 at Tours. Napoleon I had carried off the entire work from 
 Verona : at the Restoration, the Madonna was returned to San 
 Zeno, but the three pieces of the predella were retained in 
 France and thus distributed. If you go to Tours or Verona, 
 recollect the connection of the various fragments. 
 
 Next, what was the occasion for painting this Madonna della 
 Vittoria? You will remember that in 1494, Charles VIII of 
 France, invited by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, invaded 
 North Italy, and conquered a large part of it, including Florence, 
 Pisa, and Rome itself. Marching then on Naples, the boy king 
 achieved a further success, which turned his own head and that 
 of his army. (Read up all this episode in any good French 
 history.) But Venice, trembling for her supremacy, formed a 
 league against him ; and soon after, all Italy, alarmed at his 
 success, coalesced to repel the invader. The little Republics 
 united their forces under Giovanni Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis 
 of Mantua, and met CI les, on the 6th of July, 1495, ^^ the 
 pass of Fornova, on the Taro. The French king, it is true, 
 forced his way through the hostile army, and made good his 
 retreat : but the allies, though bafilcd, claimed the victory, and, 
 as a matter of fact, Charles immediately concluded a treaty ot 
 peace and returned to Lyons. In commemoration of this event, 
 the Marquis Gonzaga in gratitude erected a church at Mantua 
 as a votive offering to the Madonna, and dedicated it under the 
 name of 5anta Maria della Vittoria. 
 
 At that time and for some years previously Mantegna had 
 been in the service of the Gonzaga family at Mantua, where 
 he lived for the greater part of his artistic life. In the Castello 
 of that town, he executed several frescoes, illustrating domestic 
 events in the history of the Gonzagas, which are still among 
 the most interesting objects to be visited in Mantua. It was 
 natural, therefore, that he should be invited by Giovanni Fran- 
 cesco Gonzaga to paint the altar-piece for the high altar of the 
 church to commemorate this victory. The picture must have 
 been finished about the year 1498 or 1500. It stood in the 
 building for which it was painted till Napoleon I brought it 
 from Italy to Paris, where it has ever since remained. 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) II9 
 
 These circumstances sufficiently explain the collection of 
 saints who figure in the picture. In the centre is the Madonna 
 of Victory herself, to whom Gonzaga vowed the church in case 
 he should be successful. She is enthroned, as usual. The 
 garlands of flowers and fruit, and the coral over her head, are 
 favourite accessories with Mantegna : they occur again in the 
 (much earlier) Madonna at San Zeno, Verona, of which the 
 Crucifixion here formed part of the predella. The figures of 
 Adam and Eve, in imitation of relief, on the pedestal, are 
 thoroughly characteristic of Mantegna's style, and recall the 
 Paduan school of Squarcione, and the master's dependence on 
 the work of Donatello. The overloading of the picture with 
 flowers, festoons and architectural decoration is also a Paduan 
 feature of the same school : it comes out equally in the works 
 of Carlo Crivelli— not well seen in this collection. On his 
 knees in the foreground is Gonzaga himself, with his villainous 
 Italian Renaissance face, as of a man who would try to bribe 
 Our Lady with presents. And indeed Our Lady stretches out 
 her friendly hand towards him, as if to assure him of favour 
 and victory. Notice that the Marquis wears his armour : he is 
 giving thanks, as it were, on the field of battle. 
 
 As often with Mantegna, the minor characters and saints 
 are fuller of life than the two central divine personages : his 
 Madonnas have frequently a tendency to be insipid. On the 
 left of the picture, flanking the Virgin, stands St. Michael the 
 Archangel, the " warrior of God," as representing the idea that 
 the Lord of Hosts fought on the side of the Italian confederacy. 
 This beautiful figure, clad in refulgent heavenly armour, is one 
 of the noblest and loveliest that Mantegna ever painted. Com- 
 pare it with the two St. Michaels by Raphael, the early one in 
 the Long Gallery : the later in the Salon Carre : note the 
 general similarity of type, svith the divergence in treatment. A 
 little behind, again, half seen, stands St. Andrew, who was 
 both Andrea Mantegna's own name-sake, and also one of the 
 patrons of Mantua. He has an important church dedicated 
 in his honour in that to\vn~a Renaissance church, by Leon 
 Battista Alberti : and in this church of his patron, Mantegna 
 himself is buried. For the altar-piece of this same church, 
 which he had doubtless selected beforehand for his own last 
 
120 PARIS [ill. 
 
 resting-place, the great artist also painted a representation of 
 the risen Saviour, with St. Andrew holding the cross of his 
 martyrdom on one side, and St. Longinus (of whom more 
 shortly) with his spear on the other. Thus there was every 
 reason both why St. Andrew should be represented in a picture 
 painted for the Marquis of Mantua, and why he should more 
 particularly appear in a work by Andrea Mantegna. As one 
 of the patron saints of town and painter, he naturally had his 
 share in the thanksgiving for the victory. His features in this 
 picture and in the one at Mantua are closely similar. Mantegna, 
 indeed, imitated an older type, which he made his own, and re- 
 produced like a portrait. Note that St. Andrew bears a cross 
 as his symbol. 
 
 On the other side of the Madonna, St. Elizabeth kneels in 
 the foreground, representing, I think, the patron saint of the 
 Marchesa, Gonzaga's wife, who was Isabella d'Este, sister of 
 Duke Alfonso of Ferrara. (Isabella and Elisabeth are always 
 regarded as variants of the same name.) Now in the chapel of 
 St. Longinus in the church of St. Andrea at Mantua, aforesaid, 
 where Mantegna is buried, he also painted a Madonna, with 
 this same St. Elizabeth, holding the infant St. John Baptist, 
 while the child Christ blesses him : no doubt a votive offering 
 from Isabella. Here again we have a type of St. Elizabeth 
 repeated in this picture. Behind St. Elizabeth stands the ex- 
 quisitely wistful St. Qeorge, the patron saint of the Venetian 
 territory, representing the part borne by Venice and her depen- 
 dencies in the war of expulsion : the patron receives the thanks 
 of his faithful votaries. (Mrs. Jameson thinks this figure is St. 
 Maurice, another military saint, and patron of Mantua : com- 
 parison with various St. Georges and St. Maurices elsewhere 
 makes me disagree with her. Besides, St. George's lance is 
 often broken, as here : you can note it so in the Raphael of the 
 Long Gallery.) In the background stands St. Longinus, a 
 Roman soldier, distinguishable by his lance and antique helmet. 
 According to tradition, Longinus was the centurion who pierced 
 the side of Christ : you see him so in the famous Rubens 
 (called the Coup de Lance) at Antwerp, and in almost every 
 mediaeval Crucifixion or Calvary. (Look out for him in future.) 
 When he saw the wonders which accompanied the Passion, we 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 121 
 
 are told in scripture that he exclaimed, " Truly this man was 
 the Son of God." Later legend made him be converted, after 
 being afflicted with sudden blindness, and undergo a singular 
 voluntary martyrdom. His relics were brought to Mantua in 
 the nth century, and he has ever since been the chief patron 
 saint of that city. Mantegna painted him often, and sometimes 
 made a type of him. In the picture already described in the 
 chapel of St. Longinus, he answers, as here, to St. Andrew, and 
 wears a classical costume, on which the painter has lavished his 
 usual care and minute accuracy of drawing. Notice him also 
 in the foreground of Mantcgna's Crucifixion in the Salon Carre, 
 bearing his spear— where, however, the type is not followed as 
 usual. Thus not one of the characters grouped around the 
 Madonna in this exquisite picture is without its full relevancy 
 and meaning. 
 
 Do not overlook in this military votive offering the pre- 
 ponderance of soldier saints, and their appearance under arms, 
 to commemorate the victory. 
 
 Observe also the way in which St. George and St. Michael 
 hold the Madonna's mantle, so as to enclose or embrace Gon- 
 zaga and his wife's patroness, St. Elizabeth. This is a symbol 
 of the Madonna's protection : in what is called a Madonna della 
 Misericordia Our Lady's robe thus shelters numerous votaries. 
 So, at Cluny, you will find a sculptured St. Ursula (in Room VI) 
 sheltering under her mantle as many of the ii,ooo Virgins as 
 the sculptor could manage — as she also does in the Memling at 
 Bruges. 
 
 On the aesthetic side, note once more the marked distinc- 
 tion which Mantegna draws between the historical portrait of 
 the kneeling Gonzaga — a most ruthless ruffian — and the ideal 
 figures of saints by whom he is surrounded. Remark, again, 
 the angelic sweetness of the round-faced St. Michael, contrasted 
 with the purely human look of longing and strife, and the 
 guarded purity in the countenance of the St. George — who 
 almost foreshadows Burne-Jones and Rossetti. Observe, too, 
 how this romantic saint serves as a foil to the practical Roman 
 Longinus, with his honest and sober face, and his soldierly 
 sense of duty. Study the melting tones of colour throughout, 
 and contrast the simple devotional calm of this religious work 
 
122 PARIS [ill. 
 
 with the rapidity and movement of the mundane Mars and 
 Venus beside it. Do not overlook a single detail ; every hand 
 and foot, every surface of metal, every fruit and flower is worthy 
 of attention. 
 
 As always, I have only tried here to explain this picture, not 
 to make you admire it. But the longer you look at it the more 
 you will be charmed by its wonderful colour, its poetic grace, 
 and the exquisite beauty of its drawing and composition. 
 
 Now, still in the same connection, go on into the Long Gallery, 
 and look, near Andrea del Sarto's Holy Family, at a mannered 
 and theatrical picture of the Nativity by Giulio Romano. 
 This is not a Nativity simple, but one with selected saints look- 
 ing on : it was painted for the altar-piece of the altar of the 
 Chapel of St. Longinus in Sant' Andrea at Mantua — the same in 
 which Mantegna had earlier painted the Longinus pictures noted 
 above. The central portion of this altar-piece consists of a 
 tolerably conventional Nativity, with the adoring shepherds, 
 Raphaelized by Giulio Romano (who was Raphael's favourite 
 pupil) in accordance with the ideas of the early i6th cent. 
 (It is interesting to note, by the way, the nature of these modifi- 
 cations.) In the background is the herald angel appearinj^; to 
 the shepherds : this scene, prior in time to the other, was often 
 so represented in the same picture or carving : look out for it 
 elsewhere, and also for such non-contemporaneous episodes in 
 general. But the attendant saints, to right and left, looking on 
 at the sacred scene, are St. John the Evangelist (known by his 
 chalice and serpent) and St. Longinus. The last-named holds 
 in his hands a crystal vase — a pyx or reliquary, containing the 
 sacred blood of Christ, which Longinus caught as it fell, and 
 which was brought with the rest of the relics to Mantua, and 
 preserved in the very chapel for which this picture was in- 
 tended. Compare this dull Longinus with the two by Mantegna 
 in this collection : and when you visit Mantua, remember that 
 these pictures came from these two churches. By thus inter- 
 weaving your facts, you will get a far clearer conception in the 
 end of the connection of art than you can possibly do if you 
 regard the various works in pure isolation. 
 
 But what was Qiulio Romano doing at Mantua ? After 
 Raphael's death, his pupils were dispersed ; and this his favourite 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 1 23 
 
 follower settled down in the service of Duke Federigo Gonzaga 
 (the first Duke — the earlier lords were Marquises), for whom 
 he decorated the Palazzo del T6, with its grotesque Titans. 
 Primaticcio and Niccolo dell' Abbate, pupils again of Giulio's, 
 were educated at Mantua, and afterwards summoned by Fran- 
 cois I" to France, where they became the founders of the 
 School of Pontainebleau. They thus passed on the Raphael- 
 esque traditions into the French capital. It is partly for this 
 reason that I have selected for my first examples this particular 
 Mantuan group of paintings, in order that you may realise the 
 close interaction of French and Italian politics, and the con- 
 tinuity of the Italian with the French Renaissance. 
 
 It is worth while, too, to enquire how the ditferent pictures 
 came Into this collection. The Madonna della Vittoria, we 
 saw, was brought as a trophy of war from Italy by Napoleon. 
 The Giulio Romano, after hanging for some time in the chapel 
 at Mantua, for which it was painted, was shortly annexed by the 
 Duke of Mantua, who sold it to Charles I of England. That king 
 formed a noble collection of Italian and Flemish works, which, 
 after his execution, was sold by the Commonwealth for a very 
 small price to a dealer named Jabach, who in his turn disposed 
 of most of the pictures to Louis XIV ; they formed the nucleus 
 of the Louvre collection. Look out for these works of which 
 Puritan England thus deprived herself, and see how considerable 
 a portion they form of the earlier treasures of this (}allery. 
 
 Lastly, return once more to the Mantegnas in the Salle des 
 Primitifs, and notice that the so-called Parnassus — that is to say, 
 the Mars and Venus discovered by Vulcan — as well as the Vices 
 conquered by Wisdom, and the companion pieces by Perugino 
 and Costa, were all painted for Isabella d'Este-Oonzaga, to 
 decorate her boudoir at Mantua. Of these works, I think Man- 
 tegna's are the oldest, and struck the keynote for figures and 
 treatment. For after Mantegna's death, the Ferrarese painter, 
 Costa, was invited from Isabella's home to become court-painter 
 at Mantua : and the Perugino is one in that master's latest 
 manner, most tinged with the Renaissance. Giulio Romano, 
 again, succeeded Costa. If you will now compare Mantegna's 
 two works in this series with his others in this Gallery, you will 
 be able to form a clearer conception of his admirable fancy, his 
 
124 PARIS [ill. 
 
 unvarying grace, and his perfect mastery of execution : while if 
 you contrast them with those by the two contemporary artists — 
 the Umbrian Perugino and the Ferrarese Costa — you will be 
 enabled to observe what was the common note of these early 
 Renaissance masters, and what their distinctive individual char- 
 acteristics. In particular, you may notice in these works, when 
 looked at side by side with those of earlier painters, the enormous 
 advance Mantegna had made in anatomy and in perspective. 
 He is the scientific painter of Upper Italy, as Lionardo is the 
 scientific painter of Florence. 
 
 These four pictures again made their way to the Louvre by a 
 different route. They were captured at the sack of Mantua in 
 1630, and originally came to P^ ranee to decorate the chateau of 
 Cardinal Richelieu. 
 
 Once more, Dulce Alfonso d'Este, Isabella's brother, is the 
 person whom you see in the portrait by Titian in the Salon Carre, 
 together with his mistress Laura Dianti, painted about 1520. 
 Familiarity with such facts alone can give you any adequate 
 idea of the extraordinary rapidity in the development of art and 
 the modernization of Italy in the i6th century. 
 
 For my next example I will take a quite obscure and unnoticed 
 picture, also in the Salle des Primitifs, Giovanni Massone's 
 altar=>plece in three compartments, number 261. 
 
 Savona is an unimportant little town between Nice and Genoa, 
 chiefly noteworthy at the present day as the junction for a branch 
 line to Turin. But in the 15th and i6th centuries it was a flour- 
 ishing place, which gave employment to many distinguished 
 Piedmontese and Lombard artists, the most famous of whom 
 were Foppa and Brea. It also gave birth to two famous popes, 
 Sixtus IV and Julius II, the latter of whom is familiar to most 
 of us from the magnificent portrait by Raphael, three replicas 
 of which exist, in the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace in Florence, 
 and in the National Gallery in London. Sixtus IV erected for 
 himself a superb sepulchral chapel in his native town of Savona : 
 go and see it, if you pass by there, as well as the modern statue 
 of the pope erected by his fellow-citizens. From that chapel 
 this picture, by an otherwise unknown artist, has been abstracted 
 and brought here. We know its author merely by the signature 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 1 25 
 
 he has placed on a cartellino or strip of paper in the picture 
 itself : Joh[ann]es Mazonus do Alex[andri]a pinxit — shewing 
 that he was born in the Piedniontese town of Alessandria. 
 For the rest, he is a mere name to us. 
 
 The picture itself, by no means a masterpiece, has in its 
 centre the Nativity, designed in the usual conventional fashion, 
 and in a somewhat antiquated Lombard style. The Madonna 
 and St. Joseph have very solid haloes : the action takes place 
 in a ruined temple, as often, syml^olising the triumph of Chris- 
 tianity over heathendom. In the background are a landscape, 
 and some pleasing accessories. IJut the lateral subjects give 
 it greater interest. In the compartment to the L stands St. 
 Francis of Assisi, in his usual brown Franciscan robe, as pro- 
 tector of Sixtus IV, who kneels beside him. Notice this way 
 of marking the name of a donor, for the pope was Cardinal 
 Francesco della Rovere. Observe too the stigmata, as far 
 as visible, and compare this much later tlyure of St. Francis 
 with those in the picture by Giotto and its two imitators. 
 On the R stands a second Franciscan saint, also in the coarse 
 brown garb of his order — the same in whose church Andrea 
 Mantegna studied Donatcllo, and whom we have seen more 
 than once during our Parisian excursions holding in his arms 
 the infant Christ — St. Antony of Padua. He lays his hand 
 on the shoulder of a second votary — the Cardinal della Rovere, 
 afterwards the stern and formidable pope, Julius II. If you 
 know the National Gallery and the Vatican, see whether you 
 can recognise an earlier stage of the same features which occur 
 in the famous portrait, and also in the figure of the pope, 
 borne on the shoulders of his stalwart attendants into the 
 temple at Jerusalem, in a corner of the famous fresco of the 
 Expulsion of Heliodorus. 
 
 Recollect, again, that it was for the tomb of this same Pope 
 Julius II that Michael Angelo produced the two so-called 
 Fettered Slaves, which you have seen or will see in the 
 Renaissance Sculpture Room of this collection. Weave your 
 knowledge together in this way, till it forms a connected whole, 
 which enables you far better to understand and appreciate. 
 
 I call your special attention to this picture, among other 
 things, for its historical rather than its artistic value. But 1 
 
126 PARIS [ill 
 
 want you also to realise that the man who was painted in this 
 rude and antiquated style in his middle age was painted again 
 in his declining years by Raphael at the summit of his powers, 
 and was a patron of the mighty Michael Angelo at the zenith 
 of his development. This will help to impress upon you better 
 than anything else the necessity for carefully noting chro- 
 nology, and will also supply a needed caution that you must 
 not regard any work as necessarily early on no better ground 
 than because it is comparatively archaic in style and treatment. 
 
 Next inspect the two little companion pictures of St. Qeorge 
 and St. Michael by Raphael, on the r wall of the First 
 Compartment in the Long Gallery. These two small works are 
 rare examples of Raphael's very earliest pre-Perugincsque 
 manner. Morelli has shewn that the great painter was first of 
 all a pupil of Timoteo Viti at Urbino, his native town. If you 
 have not visited liologna and Milan, however, this will tell you 
 little ; for nowhere else can you see Timoteo to any great 
 advantage ; and I may observe here that the best time to visit 
 the Louvre is afk'r you have been in Italy, where you ought to 
 have formed a clear conception of the various masters and 
 their relations to one another. But you can see at least, on the 
 face of them, that these two simple and graceful little works 
 are quite different in style and manner even from the Belle 
 Tardinih'e^ and certainly very unlike the much later St. Mar- 
 garet which hangs close by them. They are still comparatively 
 mediaeval in tone : they have a definiteness and clearness of 
 outline which contrasts strongly with the softer melting tones 
 of Raphael's later work : they show as yet no tinge of the 
 affected prettinesses which he learned from Perugino — still less 
 of his later Florentine and Roman manners. They are painted 
 on the back of a chess or draught board, and were produced 
 for Duke Guidobaldo of Urbino about the year 1500. 
 
 Look first at the St. Qeorge. The subject- here is the 
 Combat with the Dragon ; and Raphael, in representing it, 
 has strictly followed the conventional arrangement of earlier 
 painters. No earlier picture for comparison with his treatment 
 exists in this Gallery, though there are plenty elsewhere : but 
 if you will look downstairs at the majolica relief of the same 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 12/ 
 
 subject in the Delia Robbia Room of the Renaissance Sculpture 
 Gallery, you will see how closely Raphael's work corresponds 
 with earlier representations of the same pretty myth. As you 
 will now have learned, there is always a regular way to en- 
 visage every stock subject : whoever produced a Combat of St. 
 George with the Dragon was compelled by custom and the 
 expectations of his patron to include these various elements — 
 a St. George in armour, on horseback, the horse usually white, 
 as here : a wounded dragon, most often to the right : the Prin- 
 cess running away in terror in the distance, or at least crouch- 
 ing abjectly. There is a Tintoretto of this subject, indeed, in 
 the National Gallery, where some critics have blamed the great 
 Venetian painter for making the Princess look away in terror, 
 instead of turning with gratitude to thank her brave preserver. 
 But the conventional representation demanded that the Princess 
 should flee or cower : people were accustomed to that treat- 
 ment of the theme, and expected always to see it repeated. 
 It was their notion of a St. George. We must set down a 
 great deal in early art to this sense of expectation on the part 
 of patrons. Tintoretto, who came much later than Raphael, 
 after the mighty Renaissance painters had accustomed the 
 world to put up with, or even to look for, novelty of composi- 
 tion, often ventured very largely to depart from traditional 
 motives. In his picture, therefore, the Princess occupies the 
 foreground— a most revolutionary proceeding — while the action 
 itself is relegated somewhat to the middle distance. But if 
 you compare the three representations of this scene to be found 
 in the Louvre — this picture and the two reliefs by Delia Robbia 
 and Michel Colombe respectively — you will see that the Prin- 
 cess in earlier times is always represented quite small in the 
 distance, and is usually running away, or at best kneeling with 
 clasped hands in abject terror. 
 
 In the Raphael, the dragon is already wounded : but he has 
 broken the saint's lance, with part of which he is transfixed, 
 while the remainder lies in fragments on the ground behind 
 him. St. George on his prancing steed is drawing his sword 
 to finish off the monster. In the Michel Colombe, on the other 
 hand (downstairs in the French Renaissance Sculpture), the 
 dragon is biting at the lance, which explains why it is broken 
 
128 PAieiS [III. 
 
 here, and also why the St. George in Mantegna's Madonna 
 holds a broken slxift as his emblem or symbol. Observe, how- 
 ever, that while the French sculptor, with questionable taste, 
 makes the dragon occupy the larger part of the field, so as 
 somewhat to dwarf St. George and his steed, the Italian 
 sculptor, and still more the Italian painter, have shewn greater 
 tact in treating the dragon as a comparative accessory, and 
 concentrating attention upon the militant saint, combating with 
 spiritual arms the evil demon. In this picture, as Mrs. Jame- 
 son well observes, the conception is on the whole serenely 
 allegorical and religious in spirit. Hut Raphael himself painted 
 a second St. George, at a later date, for the Duke of Urbino 
 to present to Henry VII of England. In this other picture, 
 which is now in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg, St. Cjeorge is 
 treated rather as the patron saint of England than as the 
 Champion of Right — to mark which fact he wears the Order ot 
 the Garter round his knee, with its familiar motto. As Cham- 
 pion of England, he is rushing on the monster with fiery 
 energy : the picture is in this case more military than spiritual. 
 The moment chosen is the one where he is just transfixing the 
 dragon with his lance : the rescued Princess is here again in 
 the background. 
 
 Note once more that these various works are pictures of the 
 combat of St. George with the Dragon. In devotional 
 pictures of the Madonna, St. George frequently stands by 
 Our Lady's side, in accordance with the wishes of the parti- 
 cular donor, as patron saint of that person himself, or of his 
 town or family. In Venetian pictures, as we have seen, he is 
 very frequent, being one of the patron saints of Venice, and 
 more particularly of the Venetian army and the conquered 
 territory. You will find it interesting, after you have finished 
 the examination of the two Raphaels, to go round the devo- 
 tional Italian pictures in the Salle des Primitifs, the Long 
 Gallery, and the Salon Carre, in order to note his various 
 appearances. He is usually marked by his lance and his 
 armour : the absence of wings (a point not always noticed by 
 beginners) will enable you at once to discriminate him from 
 St. Michael — as man from angel. The more you learn to look 
 out for such recurrences of saints, and to account for the 
 
Ill] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 129 
 
 reasons for their appearance, the more will you understand and 
 enjoy picture galleries, and the more will you throw yourself 
 into the devotional mediicval atmosphere which produced such 
 pictures. 
 
 Now turn to the second little Raphael. This represents the 
 closely cognate subject of St. Michael and the Dragon -the 
 angelic as opposed to the human counterpart. The two ideas 
 are at bottom identical — the power of good overcoming evil ; 
 the true faith combating heathendom. It is a world-wide myth, 
 occurring in many forms — as Horus and Typhon, as Perseus, 
 as Bellerophon. Hence Michael and (ieorge, the superhuman 
 and the human soldier of right, often balance one another, as 
 in these two pictures : you have seen them doing so already in 
 the Madonna della Vittoria : look out for them elsewhere in this 
 conjunction, lioth are knights; both are in armour; but one is 
 a man and the other an angel. In tliis second little picture, St. 
 Michael is seen, clad in his usual gorgeous mail, treading on 
 the neck of the dragon and menacing it with his sword. The 
 dark and lurid landscape in the background contains many 
 fearful forms of uncertain monsters : condemned souls are 
 plagued in it by demons, while a flaming town flares murkily 
 towards heaven in the far distance, the details being taken, as 
 in many such works, from Dante's Inferno. Or rather, they and 
 the Inferno represent the same old traditional view of Hades. 
 (The figures weighed down with leaden cowls are the hypo- 
 crites, while the thieves are tormented by a plague of serpents.) 
 Close comparison of these two little works will give you a 
 good idea of Raphael's earliest Urbino manner. This fantastic 
 picture, however, though full of imagination, is by no means so 
 pleasing as the dainty St. (ieorge beside it. 
 
 Go straight from this combat to the (ireat St. Michael, also 
 by Raphael, in the Salon Carre. It bears date 1518. Pope 
 Leo X commissioned Raphael to paint this picture as a 
 present for Fran(;^ois I'"" : the painter — to whom he left the choice 
 of subject — chose St. Michael, the military patron of France, 
 and of the Order of which the king was Grand Master. (You 
 will find a bronze bust of Franc^ois, wearing the collar and 
 pendant of St. Michael, in the Renaissance Sculpture.) He 
 chose it also, no doubt, because it enabled him to show his 
 
130 PARIS [ill. 
 
 increased mastery over life and ciction. This great and noble 
 picture, one of the finest as regards dramatic rapidity ever 
 painted by Raphael, is celebrated for the instantaneous effect 
 of its movement. (Compare the demoniac boy in the Trans- 
 figuration at the Vatican.) The warrior archangel has just 
 swooped down through the air, and, hovering on poised wings, 
 is caught in the very act of setting one foot lightly on the 
 demon's shoulder. The dragon, writhing, tries in vain to lift 
 his head and turn on his conqueror. The noble serenity of the 
 archangel's face, the perfect grace of his form and attitude, the 
 brilliant panoply of his celestial armour, the sheen of his 
 wings, the light tresses of his hair floating outward behind him 
 (as of one who has traversed space on wings of lightning) cannot 
 fail to be remarked by every spectator. This is Raphael in 
 the fulness of his knowledge and power, yet far less interesting 
 to the lover of sacred art than the boy Raphael of Urbino, the 
 dreamy Raphael of the Sposalizio at Milan, the tender Raphael 
 of the Gran Uuca at Florence, or of the Belle Jardiniere in this 
 same apartment. Notice that with the progress of Renaissance 
 feeling the demon is now no longer a dragon but a half-human 
 figure, with horns and serpent tail, and swarthy red in colour. 
 He is so foreshortened as not to take up any large space in the 
 composition, which is mainly filled by the victorious figure of 
 the triumphant archangel. The more classical armour be- 
 speaks the High Renaissance. The longer you compare these 
 two extreme phases of Raphael's art, the more will you note 
 points of advance between them — technical advance, counter- 
 balanced by moral and spiritual retrogression. 
 
 End by comparing this St. Michael with Mantegna's, and 
 with the playful Lionardcsque archangel in the Vicrge aux 
 balances^ the last point in the degeneracy of a celestial concep- 
 tion. 
 
 Raphael is one of the painters who can best be studied at the 
 Louvre, with comparatively little need for aid from elsewhere. 
 
 Pay a special visit to the Louvre one day in order to make a 
 detailed study of Madonnas. Before doing so, however, read 
 and digest the following general statement of principles on the 
 subject 
 
i 
 
 III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I3I 
 
 [People who have not thrown themselves, or thought them- 
 selves, or read themselves into the mental attitude of early art, 
 often complain that Italian picture galleries, and museums like 
 Cluny, are too full of merely sacred subjects. But when once 
 you have learnt to understand and appreciate them, to know 
 the meaning which lurks in every part, you will no longer make 
 this causeless complaint. As well object to Greek art that it 
 represents little save the personages of Greek mythology. As a 
 matter of fact, though the Louvre contains a fair number of 
 Madonnas, it does not embrace a sufficient number to give a 
 perfectly clear conception of the varieties of type and the 
 development of the subject — not so good a series in many 
 respects as the National Gallery, though it is particularly well 
 adapted for the study of certain special groups, particularly the 
 Lionardesque-Lombard development. 
 
 The simplest type of Madonna is that where Our Lady 
 appears alone with the Divine Infant. This modification of 
 the subject most often occurs as a half length, though sometimes 
 the Blessed Virgin is so represented in full length, enthroned, or 
 under a canopy. Several such simple Madonnas occur in the 
 Gallery. In the earliest examples here, however, such as 
 Cimabue's, and the cognate altar-piece of the School of Giotto, 
 the Madonna is seen surrounded by angelic supporters. This 
 forms a second group — Our Lady with Angels. Very early 
 examples of this treatment show the angels in complete isola- 
 tion, as a sort of framework. (See several parallels in sculpture 
 in Room VI, ground floor, at Cluny.) Grouping as yet is non- 
 existent. No specimen of this very original type is to be found 
 in the Louvre ; but in the Cimabue of this Gallery the angels 
 are superimposed, so to speak, while in the Giottesque example 
 close by an elementary attempt is made at grouping them. In 
 later works, the angels are more and more naturally represented, 
 from age to age, singly or in pairs, or else grouped irregularly 
 on either side of Our Lady. You will note for yourself that as 
 the Renaissance developes, the nature of the grouping, both of 
 angels and saints, deviates more and more from the early strict 
 architectural symmetry. 
 
 A slight variant on the simple pictures of the Madonna and 
 Child are those, of Florentine origin, in which the infant St. 
 
132 PARIS [III. 
 
 John Baptist, the patron Saint of the City of Florence, is 
 introduced at play with the childish Saviour. This class — 
 the Madonna and Child, with St. John — is well represented 
 in the Belle Jardiniere, and several other pictures in the 
 Louvre. 
 
 Most often, however, the Madonna is seen enthroned, in the 
 centre of the altar-piece or composition, and surrounded by one, 
 two, or three pairs of saintly personages. The Madonna with 
 Saints thus forms a separate group of subjects. These saints, 
 you will by this time have gathered, are never arbitrarily intro- 
 duced. They were selected and commissioned, as a rule, by the 
 purchaser, and they are there for a good and sufficient reason. 
 Often the donor desired to pay his devotion in this fashion to 
 his own personal patron ; often to the patron of his town or 
 village, of the church in which the picture was to be deposited, 
 or of his family or relations. Frequently, again, the picture 
 was a votive offering, as against plague or other dreaded 
 calamity : in which case it is apt to contain figures of the great 
 plague saints, Roch and Sebastian. Ignorant people often 
 object that such sets of saints are not contemporary. They 
 forget that this is the Enthroned Madonna, and that the action 
 takes place in the Celestial City, where the saint? surround 
 the throne of Our Lady. 
 
 As regards grouping, in the earlier altar-pieces the selected 
 saints were treated in complete isolation. Most often the 
 Madonna and Child occupy in such cases a central panel, 
 under its own canopy ; while the saints are each enclosed in a 
 separate little alcove or gilded tabernacle. Reminiscences of 
 this usage linger long in Italy. Later on, as art progressed, 
 painters began to feel the stiffness of such an arrangement : 
 they placed the attendant saints at first in regularly disposed 
 pairs on either side the throne, and afterwards in something 
 approaching a set composition. With the High Renaissance, 
 the various figures, instead of occupying mere posts round the 
 seat of Our Lady, and gazing at her in adoration, began to in- 
 dulge in conversation with one another, or to take part in some 
 more or less animated and natural action. This method of 
 arrangement, which culminates for the Florentine school in Fra 
 Bartolommeo, degenerates with the Decadence into confused 
 
Ill] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 1 33 
 
 and muddled groups, with scarcely a trace of symbols — groups 
 of well-draped models, in which it is impossible to see any sacred 
 significance. The Florentine painters preferred, as a rule, 
 such rather complex grouping : the Venetians, influenced in 
 great part by the severer taste of Giorgione and of Titian, 
 usually show a more simple arrangement. 
 
 Any one of these various types of Madonna may also be 
 modified by the introduction of a kneeling donor. Thus, 
 Van Eyck's glowing picture of the Chancellor Rollin adoring 
 Our Lady is an example of the simple Madonna and Child, 
 enthroned, accompanied by the donor ; though in this case, 
 the composition is further slightly enriched by the dainty little 
 floating angel in the background, who places an exquisitely 
 jewelled crown of the finest Flemish workmanship on the head 
 of the Virgin. The Madonna deila Vittoria, again, which we 
 have so fully considered, is essentially a Madonna and Saints, 
 with the kneeling donor. In very early pictures, you will 
 observe that the donors are often painted grotesquely small, 
 while Our Lady and the Saints are of relatively superhuman 
 stature, to mark their superiority as heavenly personages. In 
 later works, this absurdity dies out, and the figure and face of 
 the donor become one of the recognised excuses for early 
 portrait painting. Indeed, portraiture took its rise for the 
 modern world from such kneeling figures. 
 
 Another point of view from which it is interesting to compare 
 these various Madonnas is that of the Nationality or School 
 of Art to which they belong. The early Italian representa- 
 tions of Our Lady are usually more or less girlish in appear- 
 ance, refined in features, and comparatively simple in dress 
 and decoration. The P^lemish type is peculiarly insipid, one 
 might often say, even with great artists, inane and meaningless ; 
 in the hands of minor painters, it becomes positively wooden. 
 The face here is long and rather thin ; the features peaky. 
 The Madonna of Flemish art, indeed, like the Christ of all 
 art, is a sacred type which is seldom varied. Early French 
 Madonnas, once more, are regal and ladylike, sometimes even 
 courtly. They wear crowns as queens, and are better observed 
 in the Louvre in sculpture than in painting. This Gallery hardly 
 suffices to note in full the peculiarities of the sub-types in 
 
134 PARIS [III. 
 
 various Italian schools; but they may still be recognised. Of 
 these, the Florentine are spiritual, delicate, and strongly ideal ; 
 the Lombard, intellectual, like well-read ladies ; the Venetian, 
 stately and matronly oligarchical mothers, degenerating later 
 into the mere aristocratic nobility, soulless and materialised, of 
 Titian and his followers. The Umbrians and Sienese are 
 distinguished for the most part by their pure and saintly air 
 of fervent piety. 
 
 Do not confound with any of these devotional Madonnas, 
 with or without select groups of saints, various other classes 
 of picture which somewhat resemble them. Each of these has 
 in early art its own proper convention and treatment : it was a 
 recognised species. A Holy Family, for example, consists, as 
 a rule, of a Madonna, the Infant Christ, St. Joseph, St. Eliza- 
 beth, and the child Baptist. Like the other subjects, it is 
 sometimes complicated by the addition of selected Saints as 
 spectators or assessors. A Coronation of the Virgin, again, 
 is an entirely celestial scene, taking place in the calm of the 
 heavenly regions. The Madonna is usually crowned by her 
 Son, but sometimes by angels or by the Eternal Father. 
 (Several interesting examples of this, for comparison, occur in 
 Room VI, ground floor, at Cluny.) Nativities, of course, 
 belong rather to the group of pictorial histories, such as the 
 Life of Christ, or the Seven Joys of Mary. The sculptures in 
 the ambulatory at Notre-Dame give one a good idea of such 
 continuous histories. 
 
 One interesting set of Madonnas, largely exemplified here, 
 to take a particular example, is the later Lombard type of the 
 School of Lionardo. This type, well distinguished by its 
 regular oval features, its gentle smile of inner happiness, and 
 its peculiar waving hair with wisps over the shoulders, is 
 usually regarded as essentially belonging to Lionardo himself 
 and his immediate followers. It is foreshadowed, however, by 
 Foppa, Borgognone, and other early Lombard painters, speci- 
 mens of whom are not numerous in the Louvre. Lionardo, 
 when he came to Milan to Ludovico Sforza, adopted this local 
 type, which he transfused wiih Florentine grace and with his 
 own peculiar subdued suiile, as one sees it already in the Mona 
 Lisa. From Lionardo, again, it was taken, with more or less 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I35 
 
 success, by his immediate pupils, Beltraftio, Solario, Cesare di 
 Sesto, and others, as well as by Luini, who was not a pupil of 
 Lionardo himself, but who was deeply influenced by the mas- 
 ter's methods and his works in Milan. The number of these 
 Lionardesque Madonnas in the Louvre is exceptionally great, 
 while Lionardo himself can here be better estimated than in 
 Italy. Nowhere else perhaps, save possibly at Milan, can 
 this type as a whole be compared by the student to so great 
 advantage. 
 
 While the Madonna herself usually occupies the central 
 panel of votive pictures, it sometimes happens that some 
 other saint is, on his own altar-piece, similarly enthroned ; 
 and in that case he is flanked by brother saints, often more 
 important in themselves, but then and there subordinated to 
 him. This special honour under special circumstances is well 
 seen in the case of the St. Lawrence at the far end of the Salle 
 des Primitifs. Particular local saints often thus receive what 
 might otherwise appear undue recognition. For the same 
 reason, minor saints in the group surrounding a Madonna often 
 obtain local brevet-rank (if I may be allowed the simile) over 
 others of far greater general dignity, which they could not lay 
 claim to in any other connection. Thus, in the Nativity by 
 Giulio Romano, to which I called attention in connection with 
 ALintegna's Madonna, St. Longinus (with his crystal vase) stood 
 on Our Lady's R, while St. John was relegated to her L — a 
 subordination of the greater to the lesser saint which would 
 only be possible in a chapel actually dedicated to St. Longinus, 
 and where he receives peculiar honour. I now propose to 
 escort you round a few rooms of the Louvre, again calling 
 attention very briefly, from this point of view, to certain special 
 Madonna features only.] 
 
 Now, go to the Louvre and test these remarks. Begin at 
 the far end of the Salle des Primitifs. The Cimabue and the 
 Giottesque of the Madonna and Angels we have already con- 
 sidered. Compare them again from our present standpoint. 
 Close to them on the R, beneath the large Giotto of St. 
 Francis, are two pretty little Madonnas, 1620 (I now give the 
 large upper numbers alone) and 1667. The first of these 
 
136 PARIS [ill. 
 
 exhibits below two tiny votaries — the small-sized donors — a 
 Franciscan monk and a Dominican nun, with the robes of 
 their orders ; the centre consists of St. Paul and St. Catherine, 
 as the attendant saints on the large Enthroned Virgin. The 
 second has the choir of angels, both surrounding and beneath 
 the throne, with St. Peter (keys), St. Paul (sword), St. John 
 Baptist (camel-hair) and St. Stephen or St. Vincent (robed as 
 deacon). St. Peter and St. Paul in 1625 are similar figures, 
 once surrounding a central panel, with the Madonna now 
 missing. Compare with this 1666, with its Enthroned Madonna 
 of the early almond-eyed type, its group of angels round the 
 throne, and its two saints at the base, John Baptist and Peter. 
 Observe that the types of these also can be recognised. Each 
 saint has regular features of his own, which you can learn to 
 know quite as well as the symbols. 
 
 Higher up, 1664, another Madonna and Child, Enthroned, 
 with similar angels, but with the addition of the figure of St. 
 Catherine of Alexandria, on whose finger the Christ is placing 
 a ring. This is an early intermediate type of the Marriage 
 of St. Catherine, hardly yet characterized. Most of these 
 Madonnas have the characteristic softness and peculiar cast of 
 countenance of the early School of Siena. 
 
 1279, Gentile da Fabriano, is almost a simple Madonna and 
 Child, but for the addition of the smaller donor, Pandolfo 
 Malatesta, Lord of Rimini. This picture shows the bland and 
 round-faced Umbrian type which is closely allied to that of 
 Siena. Both Schools are remarkable for the fervent pietism 
 which blossomed out in full in St. Francis of Assisi and St. 
 Catherine of Siena. 
 
 In the beautiful Perugino above, 1564, note the complete 
 transformation in the later Umbrian school of the adoring 
 angels into a graceful pair, and the beginning of an attempt to 
 group in comparatively natural attitudes the accompanying 
 saints, Rose and Catherine. 
 
 This feature is still more marked in 1565, also Perugino, 
 (but later) where the Baptist and St. Catherine, well com- 
 posed, are thrown into the background behind tlie Madonna. 
 Observe that while earlier piety drapes the Child, in Gentile 
 and still more in Perugino, the growing love for the nude 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I37 
 
 begins to exhibit itself. A study of haloes is also interest- 
 ing. 
 
 On the opposite or R side, 131 5 is a good example of the 
 simple Enthroned Madonna of the School of Giotto. Com- 
 pare it with that next it, 13 16, where the angels are grouped 
 with some attempt at composition. 
 
 I397> by Neri di Bicci, is also a characteristic half-length 
 simple Madonna, with the Child still draped after the earlier 
 fashion affected by this belated follower of Giottesque models. 
 
 1345, beneath it, by Filippo Lippi or his school, shows a 
 characteristic type of features which this painter introduced, — 
 a modification of the older Florentine ideal : the face is said 
 to be that of his model Lucrezia Buti, the nun with whom he 
 eloped and whom he was finally permitted to marry. The 
 angels in the background show well the rapid adViince in the 
 treatment of these accessories. Observe, as you pass, their 
 Florentine lilies. Their features are like those of the Medici 
 children, as seen in numerous works at Florence. 
 
 In 1295, by Botticelli, we get that individual painter's pecu- 
 liar mystical and somewhat languid type, while the angels are 
 again like Medici portraits. Study these Botticellis for his 
 artistic personality. 
 
 1344, by Filippo Lippi, next to it, exhibits Filippo's very 
 rounded faces, both in Madonna and angels. The type is more 
 human. Here, again, we have the Florentine lily borne by 
 the adoring choir, whose position should be compared as a 
 faint lingering reminiscence of that in the Giottesques and 
 the great Cimabue. Observe, at the same time, the division 
 of the painting as a whole into three false compartments, a 
 suggestion from the earlier type of altar-piece. At the Ma- 
 donna's feet are two adoring saints, difficult to identify — Flor- 
 entine and local, probably. Do not fail to gaze close at the 
 characteristic baby cherubs, perhaps Lucrezia's. This picture 
 should be compared in all its details with earlier pictures of 
 angel choirs. It is a lovely work. Its delicate painting is 
 strongly characteristic. The relief of the faces should be 
 specially noted. 
 
 The Botticelli next it, 1296, introduces us to the infant St. 
 John of Florence whom we meet again in the Belle Jardiniere 
 
13^ PARIS [III. 
 
 of Raphael's Florentine period. Another young St. John close 
 by is full of suggestions of Donatello in the Sculpture Gallery. 
 
 493, above the last but one, is a very characteristic Ma- 
 donna of the Florentine school, closely resembling the type of 
 Botticelli. This once more is a simple Madonna and Child, 
 without accessories. 
 
 In 1662, the sanctity has almost disappeared and we get 
 scarcely more than a purely human mother and baby. 
 
 On the opposite side, 4573, is a half-length by Perugino, the 
 affected pose of whose neck and the character of whose face 
 you will now recognise ; the Madonna floats in an almond- 
 shaped glory of cherubs, which indicates her ascent to heaven. 
 Several similar subjects exist in sculpture at Cluny. 
 
 1540, Lo Spagna, is again a simple half-length Madonna, 
 whose purely Umbrian type recalls both Perugino and the 
 earlier examples. Compare the Peruginos, Raphaels, and Lo 
 Spagnas here, and form from them some conception of the 
 Umbrian ideal. 
 
 Of the Bellini beside it I have already spoken sufficiently. 
 Observe, here, the absolute nudity of the Child, and the reduc- 
 tion of the angels to sweet little cherub heads among clouds in 
 the background. The graceful arrangement of the attendant 
 saints strikes a BeUini keynote : it was followed in later 
 developments of this subject by Venetian painters. Such half- 
 lengths are common among the School of Bellini. 
 
 The treatment by Cima, 1259, introducing landscape, and 
 the peculiarly high Venetian throne, is one of a sort also very 
 frequent for full-length Madonnas at Venice and in the 
 Venetian territory. The grouping of the saints, also, is here 
 transitional. Compare it with the exquisite Lorenzo di Credi 
 opposite. 
 
 On the opposite wall, 1367, by Mainardi, shows us a Flor- 
 entine face, the St. John of Florence, and the typical sweet- 
 faced Florentine angels, holding lilies ; in the background, a 
 view of the city. 
 
 Cosimo Rosseli's, 1482, has again the almond-shaped glory 
 of cherubs, the nude Child, the typical Florentine face (which 
 you may now recognise) and also characteristic Florentine 
 angels ; but its St. Bernard and the Magdalen are introduced 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 1 39 
 
 on clouds after a somewhat novel fashion. The St. Bernard 
 is writing down his vision of the Madonna. 
 
 I have already called attention to the beautiful grouping in 
 1263 by Lorenzo di Credi ; but observe now that the exquisite 
 attendant saints, almost statuesque in their clear-cut isolation, 
 still show a reminiscence of the earlier arrangement in taber- 
 nacles by the Renaissance archways at their back, combined 
 with the niche in which the Madonna is enthroned. Only by 
 the light of Giottesque examples can we understand the 
 composition of this glorious picture. We do not know the 
 circumstances under which it was produced : but St. Julian 
 was the patron saint of Rimini, as St. Nicolas was of Bari. 
 Both these towns were great Adriatic ports : and I believe it 
 was painted for a merchant of the neighbourhood. 
 
 Do not be content in any of these cases with observing 
 merely the points to which I call defmite attention ; try to 
 compare each work throughout in all its details with others like 
 it. The evolution of the grouping, in fact, will give you endless 
 hints as to the history and development of the art of composi- 
 tion. This picture of Lorenzo's may be regarded as exemplify- 
 ing the finest stage in such works : those of later date are less 
 pure and severe — show a tendency to confusion. 
 
 This will be quite enough to occupy you for one day. Another 
 morning, proceed into the Long Gallery, where you can 
 similarly compare the High Renaissance types and the Lion- 
 ardesque Madonnas of the later School of Lombardy. 
 
 In the little Madonna of the School of Fiancia, 1437, observe 
 the position of the attendant saint, the new type of face proper 
 to the art of Bologna, and the way in which, as often, the 
 infant Christ is poised on a parapet. 
 
 1553, by Garofalo, shows a later and softer development of a 
 somewhat similar (Ferrarese) type ; but the Child, instead of 
 blessing with his two fingers as in most early cases, here 
 displays the growing Renaissance love of variety and novelty : 
 he is asleep in his cradle. Observe his attitude in this and 
 other instances. With all these changes, however, you cannot 
 fiiil to be struck by the fairly constant persistence of the red 
 tunic and the blue mantle of the Madonna, as well as by the 
 nature of her head-dress in each great School. Never fail to 
 
140 PARIS [ill. 
 
 observe the characteristic head-dresses in the various Schools 
 of Itahan art. They will help you, like the faces, to form types 
 for comparison. 
 
 I353» by Luini, introduces us at once to the Lombard- 
 Lionardesque class of face and hair. Compare it closely with 
 the Madonnas in the frescoes in the Salle Duchatel. The 
 introduction of Joseph makes this in essence a Holy Family. 
 Note Luini's development of the halo of Christ, cruciform in 
 early cases, or composed of a cross inscribed in a circle, into a 
 cross-like arrangement of rays of light. 
 
 The two works by Marco da Oggiono, close by, betray similar 
 types, far inferior to Luini's, with further loss of primitive 
 reverence. 
 
 In 1 181, Borgognone's Presentation, an earlier Lombard 
 work, the Madonna faintly foreshadows this Lionardesque type, 
 though the Lionardesque features are far less markedly present 
 than in many other examples by this silvery painter. 
 
 1530, by Solario, the famous Madonna of the Green Cushion, 
 may be compared with those by Marco da Oggiono, which it 
 resembles in motive. 
 
 In 1599, La Vierge aux Rochers, we get Lionardo's own 
 personal type, which is also seen in the Madonna and St. Anne 
 of the Salon Carrd. Compare all tnese with the Mona Lisa, 
 for touch and spirit. Then continue your examination through 
 the rest of this room with the Lionardesque types : after which, 
 turn to the School of Venice, beyond them, and note the 
 evolution of the Titianesque types from the primitive Venetians. 
 
 On the opposite side of the same room, observe, once more, 
 how Fra Bartolommeo and his School arranged their extremely 
 complex groups of saints into a composition resembling a state 
 ceremonial. From this point on in the evolution of the Santa 
 Conversazione you will see that the arrangement of the saints 
 entirely loses all sense of sacred meaning. Artificial ecstasies 
 replace natural piety. An attempt to be artistic, and a desire 
 to introduce a mode of treatment titter for the theatre than for 
 the church, at last entirely obscure the original meaning of 
 these groups, which are so full of ardour in Fra Angelico, so 
 full of stateliness in Lorenzo di Credi. 
 
 Another day may well be devoted to the quaintly girlish 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I4I 
 
 Madonnas of the Flemish School. Begin by observing care- 
 fully the Van Eyck of the Salon Carre, which is a Madonna 
 with donor, and the Memling of the Salle Duchatel, which is a 
 Madonna with donors, not one with saints ; the patrons here 
 being merely brought in to introduce the votaries to Our Lady's 
 notice. From these, proceed to the Early Flemish section of 
 the Long Gallery, and note in detail the evolution of the type in 
 later pictures. I need hardly call attention to the Flemish love 
 for crowns, jewellery, and costly adjuncts. These reflect the 
 wealthy burgher life of Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp. The 
 translucent colour of the Flemish painters, too, lends itself well 
 to these decorative elements. 
 
 The best example of an Early French Madonna is the 
 beautiful one which hangs by the R hand side of the door in 
 the Salon Carre, leading into the Salle Duchatel. This 
 exquisite figure, a true masterpiece of its School, should be 
 compared with later French developments in painting, as well 
 as with the admirable collection of plastic works of this School 
 in the Renaissance Sculpture Gallery down stairs. With these 
 may also be mentioned, as a typical French example, the famous 
 miracle-working Notre-Dame-de-Paris, a statue of the thirteenth 
 or fourteenth century, which stands under a canopy against the 
 pillar by the entrance to the choir in the south transept of 
 Notre- Dame, and is popularly regarded as the statue of Our 
 Lady to which the church is dedicated. The close connection 
 between royalty and religion in France, well exemplified in the 
 number of saints of the royal house at St. Germain I'Auxerrois, 
 St. Germain-des-Pres, St. Denis, and elsewhere, is markedly 
 exhibited in the extremely regal and high-bred character always 
 given to French Madonnas. The Florentine, which form in 
 this respect the greatest contrast, are often envisaged as 
 idealised peasant girls, full of soul and fervour, but by no means 
 exalted. 
 
 Finally, note as far as is possible with the few materials in 
 this collection, the round-faced, placid type of the Qerman 
 Madonna — placid when at rest, though contorted (as the Mater 
 Dolorosa) with exaggerated anguish. The fine wooden statue in 
 the room of the Limoges enamels at Cluny will help to strike the 
 key-note for this somewhat domestic national ideal. The early 
 
142 PARIS [ill. 
 
 German Madonna is as often as not just a glorified house- 
 wife. 
 
 Many other subjects for similar comparative treatment may 
 be found in the Louvre. Pick out for yourself a special theme, 
 such as, for example, the Adoration of the Magi, the Nativity, 
 the Presentation in the Temple, or the Agony in the Garden, 
 and try to follow it out through various examples. Choose also 
 a saint or two, and pursue them steadily through their evolution. 
 Do not think that to examine paintings in this way is to be 
 absorbed by the subject rather than by the art of the painter. 
 Only superficial observers fall into this error. You will find on 
 the contrary that the characteristics of each School and of each 
 artist can best be discovered and observed by watching how 
 each modifies or alters pre-existing and conventional con- 
 ceptions. In order to thoroughly understand any early picture, 
 you must look at it first as a representation of such-and-such a 
 given subject, for which a relatively fixed and conventional set 
 of figures or accessories was prescribed by tradition. The num- 
 ber and minuteness of the prescribed accessories will grow upon 
 you as you watch them. You have then to observe how each 
 School as a whole treats such works; what feeling it introduces, 
 towards what sort of modification in style or tone it usually tends. 
 Next, you must consider it relatively to its age, as exemplify- 
 ing a particular stage in the progress of the science and art of 
 painting. Last of all you must carefully estimate what pecu- 
 liarities are due to the taste, the temperament, the hand, and 
 the technique of the individual artist. For example, Gerard 
 David's Marriage at Cana is thoroughly Flemish in all its 
 details ; while Paolo Veronese's is thoroughly Venetian. You 
 may notice the Flemish and Venetian hand, not merely in 
 the figures and the composition as a whole, but even in the 
 extraordinarily divergent treatment of such details as the jars 
 in the foreground, which for David are painted with Flemish 
 daintiness of detail, though coarse and rough in themselves ; 
 while Veronese approaches them with Venetian wealth of 
 Renaissance fancy, both in decoration and handling. But the 
 David, again, is not merely Flemish : it has the distinctive 
 marks of that particular Fleming, and should be compared with 
 his lovely portrait of a kneeling donor with his three patron 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 1 43 
 
 saints in the National Gallery : while the Veronese is noticeable 
 for the voluptuousness, the over-richness, the dash and spirit, 
 of that large free master of the full Renaissance, the Rubens 
 by comparison among the Venetians of his time. So too, if 
 you study attentively the Botticellis in the Salle des Primitifs, 
 you can notice a close similarity of type in many of his faces 
 with the types in certain pictures by Filippo Lippi and still 
 more in those by other Florentines of the same period ; while 
 you are yet even more distinctly struck by the intense individu- 
 ality and refined spiritual feeling of this very original and soul- 
 ful master. 
 
 In order to study the Louvre aright, in short, you must be 
 continually comparing. In a word, regard each work, first, 
 as a representation of such-and-such a subjeci, falling into its 
 proper place in the evolution of its series : second, as belong- 
 ing to such-and-such a school or nationality : third, as repre- 
 senting such-and-such an age in the historical evolution ot 
 the art of painting : fourth, as exhibiting the individuality, the 
 style, the characteristics, the technique, and the peculiar touch 
 of such-and-such an individual painter. Only thus can you 
 study art aright in this or any other gallery. 
 
 Try this method on Van Eyck's Madonna, on Titian's En- 
 tombment, on Sebastiano del Piombo's Visitation, and on 
 Memling's little John Baptist, which is one attendant saint 
 from a triptych whose Madonna is missing. 
 
 
 Some other time, consider in detail the two delicately 
 luminous frescoes by Luini, in the Salle Duchatel. Before 
 doing so, however, read on the spot the following remarks. 
 
 I have spoken here for the most part from the point of 
 view of those visitors who have not travelled much in Italy 
 or the Low Countries. And, as a matter of fact, the Louvre 
 is the first great picture gallery on the Continent visited 
 by nine out of ten English or Americans. In reality, how- 
 ever, since this collection contains several isolated master- 
 pieces of all the great schools, together with several 
 unconnected pictures of minor artists, it requires, almost 
 more than any other great gallery, to be seen by the light 
 of information acquired elsewhere. It ought, therefore, to be 
 
144 PARIS [ill. 
 
 examined after as well as, and even more than, before visits 
 to other countries. This collection, for example, includes 
 works by Van Eyck, by Memling, by Giotto, by Fra Angelico. 
 But Van Eyck can only be fully understood by those who 
 have visited Ghent ; Memling can only be fully understood 
 by those who have visited Bruges : it is impossible really 
 to comprehend Giotto unless you have seen his great series 
 of frescoes in the Madonna dell' Arena at Padua : it is 
 impossible really to comprehend Fra Angelico unless you 
 have examined the saintly and ecstatic works at San Marco 
 in Florence. Thus you have to bear in mind that the 
 works in the Louvre are only stray examples of masters 
 and schools with whom an adequate acquaintance must be 
 obtained elsewhere. It was for this reason that I began 
 these notes with special examples of Mantegna, because he 
 is one of the very few artists, other than French, of whom 
 you can form some tolerably fair conception in Paris alone, 
 to be pieced out afterwards by observation in Italy. 
 
 Furthermore, it must be recollected that many artists can 
 only be seen to advantage under the conditions amid which 
 their works were produced. This is especially the case 
 with the Italian painters of the 14th and 15th centuries. 
 They were a school of fresco=painters. Their altar-pieces 
 and other separate panels give but a very inadequate idea 
 of their powers, and especially of their composition. Giotto 
 and Fra Angelico, in particular, cannot possibly be estimated 
 aright by any of their works to be seen north of the Alps. 
 The altar-pieces, being more especially sacred in character, 
 were relatively very fixed in type : they allowed of less 
 variation, less incident, less action, than the histories of 
 saints which frequently form the subjects of frescoes. You 
 can judge of this to a slight extent in the Louvre itself, by 
 comparing the Madonnas at the far end of the vSalle des 
 Primitifs with Giotto's St. Francis which hangs by : for the 
 Madonna was the most sacred and therefore the most 
 bound by custom of any type. You will at once observe 
 how much freer and more naturalistic is the treatment in 
 the episode of the Stigmata than in the comparatively wooden 
 figures of Our Lady by which it is surrounded. Still more 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I45 
 
 is this the case when we come to compare any of these 
 altar-pieces with frescoes such as those of the Arena at 
 Padua, or Santa Croce at Florence. Similarly with Fra 
 Angelico : the little crowded works which he produced as 
 altar-pieces give a totally different conception'of his character 
 and powers than that which we derive from the large and 
 relatively spacious frescoes at San Marco, or in Pope 
 Nicolas's Chapel at the Vatican. In such works, we see him 
 expand into a totally different manner. Now frescoes, by 
 their very nature, cannot easily be removed from the walls 
 of churches without great danger. Therefore, the school of 
 fresco-painters — that is to say, the Early Italian school — 
 is ill represented outside Italy. 
 
 Now Luini, though he belongs to the i6th century, and 
 though he produced some of his most beautiful works as 
 cabinet or panel pictures, was yet almost as essentially a 
 painter in fresco as F>a Angelico or Ghirlandajo. He can 
 best be appreciated in Milan and its neighbourhood. And 
 I will add a few notes here for the benefit of those who 
 know Italy, and who can recall the works they have seen 
 in that country. At the Brera in Milan, an immense number 
 of his frescoes, cut out from churches, can be seen and 
 compared to great advantage. Everybody who has visited 
 that noble gallery must recall at least the exquisite figure of 
 St. Catherine placed in her sarcophagus by angels, as well 
 as the lovely Madonna with St. Antony and St. Barbara, 
 where the face and beard of the aged anchorite somewhat 
 recall the treatment of the old bearded king in the Adoration 
 of the Magi in this gallery. Still better can Luini's work be 
 understood by those who know the Sanctuary at Saronno, 
 where a splendid series of his frescoes still exists on the 
 wall of the great church in which they were painted. The 
 two frescoes here in the Salle Duchatel are not quite so fine 
 either as those at Saronno or as the very best examples 
 among the collection at the Brera. Nevertheless, they are 
 beautiful and delicately-toned specimens of Luini's work, and, 
 if studied in conjunction with other pictures by the same 
 artist in the adjoining rooms, they will serve to give a 
 tolerably just conception of his style and genius. 
 
 % 
 
146 PARIS [III. 
 
 Luini is essentially a Lionardesque painter. He was not 
 actually a pupil of Lionardo ; but like all other Lombard artists 
 of his time, he was deeply influenced by the temperament and 
 example of the Florentine master. If you wish to see the kind 
 of work produced by the Lombard school before it had under- 
 gone this quickening influence of Lionardo,— been Tuscanised 
 and Lionardised— look at the Borgognones in the Long Gallery. 
 These, again, are not at all satisfactory specimens of that 
 tender, delicate, and silvery colourist. To appreciate Borgo- 
 gnone as he ought to be appreciated, however, you must have 
 seen him at home in the Certosa di Pavia : though even those 
 who know only his exquisitely spiritual altar-piece of the 
 Madonna with the two St. Catherines (of Alexandria and Siena) 
 in the National Gallery will recognise how inadequately his 
 work is represented by the specimens in the Louvre. Never- 
 theless, these examples, inferior though they be in style and 
 feeling, will serve fairly well to indicate the point to which art 
 had attained in Lombardy before the advent of Lionardo. I 
 need not point out their comparatively archaic character, and 
 their close following of earlier methods and motives. Again, if 
 you compare with Borgognone the subsequent group of Lion- 
 ardesque painters, — Solario and his contemporaries, —whose 
 works hang close by on the left-hand wall of the Long Gallery, 
 you will see how immense was the change which Lionardo 
 introduced into Lombard art. From his time forward, the 
 Lionardesque face, the peculiar smile, the crimped wisps of 
 hair, the subtle tones of colour, and as far as possible the touch 
 and technique of the master, are reproduced over and over 
 again by the next generation of Milanese painters. Among 
 them all, Luini stands preeminently forward as the only one 
 endowed with profound original genius, capable of transfusing 
 the Lionardesque types with new vitality and beauty of his own 
 conceiving. The others are imitators : Luini is a disciple. 
 
 These attributes are well seen in the two beautiful frescoes of 
 the Salle Duchatel. They came to Paris from the Palazzo Litta, 
 that handsome rococo palace in Milan which stands nearly 
 opposite the church of San Maurizio, itself a museum of Luini's 
 lovehest frescoes, including the incomparable Execution of St. 
 Catherine. The Adoration of the Magi is the most satisfactory 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 1 47 
 
 of the two. In it the kings, — Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar, — 
 representing, as ever, the three ages of man and the three old 
 continents, — are treated with a grace and soul and delicacy 
 which Luini has hardly surpassed even at Saronno. The eldest 
 king, as most often, kneels next to the Madonna, who occupies 
 the conventional R hand of the picture. He has removed his 
 crown, also an habitual feature, and is presenting his gift, while 
 the others are caught just before the act of offering theirs. The 
 exquisite face of this eldest king is highly typical ; so is the 
 gently-smiling Lionardesque Madonna. The youngest king is 
 represented as a Moor, as always in German, Flemish, and 
 North Italian art, though this trait is rarer, if it occurs at all, in 
 the Florentine and Central Italian painters. I take it that the 
 notion of the Moor was derived from Venice ; for the Three 
 Kings were great objects of devotion in Lombardy and the 
 Rhine country. Their relics, which now repose at Cologne, 
 made a long stay on their way from the East at Milan ; and it 
 is to this fact, I fancy, that we must attribute the exceptional 
 frequency of this subject in the art of Northern Italy, as of the 
 Rhenish region. In the background, the usual caravans are 
 seen descending the mountain. Such long trains of servants 
 and attendants are commonly seen in Adorations of the Magi. 
 Camels and even elephants frequently form part of them. 
 Recollect the charming procession in the exquisite Benozzo 
 Gozzoli in the Riccardi Palace. A study of this subject, from 
 the simple beginnings in Giotto's fresco in the Arena at 
 Padua (where a single servant and a very grotesque camel, 
 entirely evolved out of the painter's imagination, form the sole 
 elements of the cortege beyond the Three Kmgs), down to the 
 highly complex Ghirlandajo in the Ufifizi at Florence, (a good 
 copy of which may be seen at the Ecole des Beaux Arts,) and 
 thence to Luini, Bonifazio and the later Italians, forms a most 
 interesting subject for the comprehension of the historical 
 evolution of art in Italy. Go straight from this picture to the 
 Rubens in the Salon Carre in order to observe the way in which 
 the theme has been treated, with considerable attention to 
 traditional detail, yet with highly transformed feeling, by the 
 great and princely Flemish painter. 
 The Nativity, in Luini's second fresco, is also full of tradi- 
 
148 PARIS [ill. 
 
 tional features,— a beautiful work in the peculiar spirit of this 
 gentle artist. Note every one of the accessories and details, 
 observing how they have come from earlier pictures, and also 
 how completely Luini has subordinated them to his own art 
 and his delicate handling. Comparison of these two with the 
 other Luinis in other rooms will give you some idea of his 
 varying manners in fresco and oil-painting Note that the 
 frescoes represent him best, and are fullest of Luini. 
 
 Another picture, which in a wholly different direction exem- 
 plifies the need for knowledge of works of art elsewhere, and 
 especially under the conditions in which they were originally 
 painted, is to be found in Carpaccio's Preaching of St. 
 Stephen, on the r hand wall, shortly after you enter the Salle 
 des Primitifs. This is one of a series of the Life of St. 
 Stephen, — a form of composition of which the only good 
 example in the Louvre is Lesueur's insipid and colourless set, 
 recounting the l)iography and miracles of St. Bruno. In Italy, 
 such histories of saints are everywhere common, as frescoes 
 or otherwise. Those who know Venice, for example, will 
 well remember Carpaccio's own charming scries of the Life 
 of St. Ursula, now well arranged round the walls of a single 
 room in the Venice Academy. Still better will they under- 
 stand the nature of these works if they have seen Carpaccio's 
 other delicious series of the Life of St. George, in San Giorgio 
 dei Schiavoni, where the pictures still remain, at their original 
 height from the ground, and in their original position, on the 
 walls of the church for which they were painted. Only in 
 such situations can works of this kind be properly estimated. 
 That they can less easily be understood in isolation, you can 
 gather if you look at the four cabinet pictures from the boudoir 
 of Isabella d'Lste, by Mantegna, Perugino, and Costa, which 
 hang not far from this very St. Stephen in the same room of 
 the Louvre. The size of the tigures, in particular, is largely 
 dictated by the shape of the room, the distance from the 
 eye, and the character of the space which the painter has to 
 cover. 
 
 This St. Stephen scries, again, once existed entire as five 
 pictures, all by Carpaccio, in the Scuola (or Guild) of St. 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I49 
 
 Stephen at Venice. Similar sets of other saints still exist in 
 the Scuola di San Rocco and other Guilds in the city. The 
 first of the group, which represents the saint being consecrated 
 as deacon by St. Peter, is now in the Berlin Gallery. The 
 second, the Preaching of St. Stephen, is the one before 
 which you are now standing. The third, St. Stephen disputing 
 with the Doctors, is at the Brera in Milan. The fourth, the 
 Martyrdom of St. Stephen, is at Stuttgardt. The fifth and last, 
 St. Stephen Enthroned, between St. Nicolas and St. Thomas 
 Aquinas, has disappeared from sight, or at least its present 
 whereabouts is unknown to me. It is interesting to look out 
 for such companion works in widely separated galleries. 
 
 Rightly to understand this picture, once more, one should 
 know Carpaccio. And fully to know him one must have spent 
 some time in Venice. But even without that knowledge, it 
 is pleasant here to remark the familiar acquaintance with 
 oriental life, which is equally visible in the neighbouring 
 picture of the School of Bellini representing the reception 
 of a Venetian Ambassador at Cairo. The mixed character 
 of the architecture and the quaint accessories are all redolent 
 of Carpaccio's semi-medicXval and picturesque sentiment. The 
 pellucid atmosphere, the apparent realism, the underlying 
 idealism, the naivete of the innocent saint in his deacon's 
 robes, counting \\\s Jirsfly, secondly, and thirdly on his fingers, 
 irrespective of persecution, and the glow and brilliancy of 
 the Venetian colouring, here approaching its zenith, all 
 combine to make this daintily simple picture one of the most 
 attractive in this part of the Louvre. Recollect it when you 
 go to Milan and Venice, and let it fall into its proper place, 
 in time, in your mature conception of the painter and the 
 epoch in which he lived. 
 
 Nor is this all. It must be borne in mind that while the 
 Louvre is one of the noblest collections of pictures in Europe, 
 it differs from most other fine collections in the fact that 
 its most important and valuable works are not of native 
 origin, nor of one race, school, or period. The pictures at 
 Florence are almost all Florentine : the pictures at Venice 
 are almost all Venetian. At Bruges and Antwerp we have 
 few but Flemish works : at the Hague and Amsterdam) few 
 
150 PARIS [HI. 
 
 but Dutch. In the Louvre, on the contrary (as at Dresden 
 and Munich), we get several masterpieces of all the great 
 schools, witii relatively few minor works of the groups to 
 which they belong, by whose light to understand them. In 
 short, this is a gallery of purple patches. The gems of the 
 collection are the Raphaels, the Titians, the Lionardos, an 
 exquisite Van Eyck, a splendid Memling, a few fine Murillos, 
 a number of great Rubenses. To understand all these, we 
 must know something of Florentine art, Umbrian art, Venetian 
 art, Flemish art, Spanish art, and so forth. The finest pictures 
 of any in the collection are not P'rench at all, and cannot 
 wholly be comprehended by the light of works in this gallery 
 alone. Therefore it is best, if possible, to return to the 
 Louvre after visiting every other great school of art in Europe. 
 On the other hand, a few great artists are here very amply 
 represented ; among them I may particularise Raphael, Titian, 
 Mantegna, Lionardo and the Lionardesque school, Gerard 
 Dou, and Rembrandt. 
 
 As a further example of the light cast by pictures elsewhere 
 on those in this Gallery, however, I prefer to take a single little 
 subject from the predella of Fra Angelico's glorious Corona- 
 tion of the Virgin : 1 mean the compartment which repre- 
 sents St. Dominic and his brethren being fed by angels in the 
 monastery of St. Sabina at Rome. Anybody who looks at 
 Fra Angelico's painting, even in these smaller works, can 
 recognise at once his tender, saintly, and devout manner. He 
 is permeated by a spirit of adoring reverence, which comes 
 out in every one of his angels and martyrs. Fewer people, 
 however, note that the angelic friar was also a loyal and de- 
 voted Dominican. Whatever he paints is to the glory of 
 God : but it is also to the glory of St. Dominic and of the 
 order that he founded This beautiful altar-piece, for instance, 
 was produced by the Dominican painter of Fiesole for the 
 Dominican church of St, Dominic at Fiesole. The saint him- 
 self, with his little red star, is everywhere apparent : and those 
 who have visited Fra Angelico's own Dominican monastery 
 of San Marco at Florence will recollect that the founder and 
 his red star similarly occur in almost every fresco in that beau- 
 tiful building. They will also recollect that this very subject || 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 151 
 
 of the brethren fed by angels forms the theme for a beautiful 
 but much later fresco by Sogliani in the Great Refectory of the 
 same monastery. Such an episode is admirably adapted for 
 one of those large pictures representing a repast of some 
 sacred character which it was usual to place on the end wall 
 of conventual dining halls. Compare it also with a Spanish 
 treatment of a similar miracle by Murillo, in the Cuisine des 
 Anges. Note the simplicity and sobriety of the Early Italian 
 work, as contrasted with the strained feeling and insistence 
 upon mere effects of luminosity and glory in the showy Spanish 
 painting. The moral of all such half-allogorical miracles is 
 clearly this : — Our order is sustained by God's divine provi- 
 dence. 
 
 I have said already that a German Last Supper in this 
 collection (German Room) betrays the influence of Lionardo's 
 great fresco on the wall of the monastery of Santa Maria 
 delle Grazie at Milan, of which an early copy by a pupil of 
 Lionardo's exists in the Louvre (L wall of the Long Gallery). 
 But in order thoroughly to understand Lionardo's Last Supper, 
 again, we must similarly compare it with many previous repre- 
 sentations of the same sacred scene. The type, in fact, was 
 begun among nameless Byzantine and early Christian artists, 
 whose work can best be studied in Italy. It found its first 
 notable artistic expression in Giotto's fresco at Santa Croce at 
 Florence, where the traditional type is considerably trans- 
 formed : and this Giottesque Last Supper was repeated over 
 and over again by many copyists, who each introduced various 
 modifications. Ghirlandajo once more transformed the type 
 at San Marco and the Ognissanti ; and from Cihirlandajo, 
 Lionardo borrowed part of his arrangement, while transfusing 
 it with an entirely new element of life and action, at a dramatic 
 moment, which marks this great painter's style, and is a distinct 
 move forward in the art of composition. Each work of art 
 down to the end of the i6th century can thus only be fully 
 understood by considering it in its proper place, as one of a 
 continuous evolutionary series. Every painter took much 
 from those who went before : his individuality can best be 
 gauged by observing how he transformed and modified what 
 he borrowed. 
 
152 PARIS [in. 
 
 Now take Ghirlandajo's Visitation in the Salle des 
 Primitifs as an example of a work which in quite a different 
 way, requires to be understood by light from elsewhere. Note 
 how admirably the figures here are balanced against the sky 
 and the archway in the background. In itself, this is a beau- 
 tiful and striking picture ; but it is also a good illustration of 
 those subjects which cannot adequately be understood by con- 
 sideration of works in this Gallery alone. The attitudes and 
 costumes of the two principal personages are strictly conven- 
 tional : nay, if you compare the St. Elizabeth in this Visitation 
 with the same saint in the Mantegna almost opposite, you will 
 see that her dress and features remain fairly typical, even in 
 two such very distinct schools as the Paduan and the Floren- 
 tine. The relative positions of the Madonna and her elder 
 cousin have come down to Ghirlandnjo from a very remote 
 antiquity : they were adopted, with modification, by Giotto, in 
 his fresco of this subject in the Madonna dell' Arena at Padua. 
 But Giotto also introduced an arch in the background, which 
 persists in almost all later representations. His arch, however, 
 is blind — you do not see the sky through it. So is Taddeo 
 Gaddi's, in his closely similar Visitation at Santa Croce in 
 Florence : but the figures here still more nearly approach the 
 positions of the Ghirlandajo, and they stand more directly 
 framed, as it were, by the arch behind them. Skipping many 
 mtermediate examples, each of which leads up to this picture, 
 we come to this beautiful embodiment of Ghirlandajo's, which, 
 while retaining the simplicity of composition in the earlier 
 examples, shows a fine artistic instinct in the way in which the 
 chief characters are silhouetted in the gap of the archway. 
 Ghirlandajo accepted the older tradition, while transforming it 
 with the skill and taste of the early Renaissance after his own 
 fashion. Those who have visited Florence will remember how 
 Pacchiarotto, in his admirable presentation of the same subject, 
 now in the Belle Arti in that town — which, like this one, is a 
 Visitation with selected saints as spectators — has closely fol- 
 lowed Ghirlandajo's treatment with still further modifications : 
 while the noble embodiment of the same scene by Mariotto 
 Albertinelli, in the Uffizi, consists of the two central figures in 
 the Ghirlandajo or the Pacchiarotto, cut out, as it were, and 
 
in.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I53 
 
 presented separately with noble effect against a background of 
 sky seen through the archway. In such a case we see dis- 
 tinctly how the individual work can only fairly be judged as a 
 development of motives borrowed from others which have 
 preceded it, and how in turn it gives rise later to still further 
 modifications of its own conception. If you have not yet 
 visited Florence, bear in mind this work when you see the 
 Pacchiorotto and the Albertinelli. It is a good plan for the 
 purposes of such comparison to carry about photographs of 
 other pictures in the same series. You may go straight from 
 the Ghirlandajo here to the Sebastiano del Piombo in the 
 Salon Carre ; and thence again to a copy of Pontormo's Visita- 
 tion in the Long Gallery (r side, near the Fra Bartolommeo), 
 which is interesting as showing a survival of the arch, treated 
 with far less effect, and thrown away as an element in the 
 composition. Here the attendant saints have become a con- 
 fused crowd, and the degradation of Fra Bartolommeo's ba- 
 lanced grouping is very conspicuous. Make one picture thus 
 cast light upon another. 
 
 II. SCULPTURE 
 
 [The Sculpture at the Louvre falls into three main divisions, 
 each of which is housed in a separate part of the building. 
 The Classical Sculpture is approached by the same door 
 as the Paintings, and occupies the basement floor of Jean 
 Goujon's part of the Old Louvre, with the wing beneath the 
 Galerie d'Apollon. The Renaissance Sculpture is ap- 
 proached by a separate door in the eastern half of the same 
 side, and occupies the correi'ponding suite opposite the Classi- 
 cal series. The Modern Sculpture is also approached by a 
 special door in the north wing of the w side in the old Cour 
 du Louvre, and occupies the suite beyond the Pavilion de 
 I'Horloge. 
 
 The importance of these three divisions is very different. 
 Without doubt, the most valuable collection, intrinsically and 
 artistically speaking, is that of the Classical or Antique 
 Sculpture : and this should be visited in close detail by all 
 those who do not contemplate a trip to Rome, Naples, and 
 Florence. Nobody can afford to miss the " Venus of Milo, 
 
154 PARIS .[III. 
 
 the " Diana of Gabii," or the Samothracian Nike. On the 
 other hand, these exquisite Greek and Roman works, models 
 of plastic art for all time, including^ two or three of the greatest 
 masterpieces which have come down to us from antiquity, have 
 yet no organic connection with French history, or even, save 
 quite indirectly, with the development of French art. At the 
 same time, thoroughly to understand them is a work for the 
 specialist : those who have little or no classical knowledge, and 
 who desire to comprehend them, must be content to buy the 
 new official catalogue (not yet issued), to follow closely the 
 excellent labeh, and also to study the subject in detail in the 
 various excellent handbooks of antique sculpture, such as 
 Liibke's or Gardner's. 
 
 The discrimination of the different schools, and the evidence 
 (usually very inferential) as to the affiliation of the various 
 works on the great masters or their followers, are so much 
 matters of expert opinion that I do not propose to enter into 
 them here. I shall merely give, for the general reader, a brief 
 account of the succession and evolution of antique plastic art, 
 as exemplified in the various halls of this gallery, referring him 
 for further and fuller details to specialist works on the subject. 
 
 The Renaissance Sculpture, on the other hand, is largely 
 French ; and, whether French or Italian, it bears directly on 
 the evolution of Parisian art, and has the closest relations with 
 the life of the people. Every visitor to Paris should therefore 
 pay great attention to this important collection, which forms 
 the best transitional link in Western Europe between Gothic 
 Media?valism and the modern spirit. 
 
 The collection of Modern Sculpture, again, is both artisti- 
 cally and historically far less important. It may be visited in 
 an hour or two, and it is chiefly interesting as bridging the 
 lamentable gap between the fine Renaissance work of the age 
 of the later Valois, and the productions of contemporary 
 French sculptors.] 
 
 I. ANTIQUE SCULPTURE 
 
 [Few or none of the most famous masterpieces of the great 
 classical artists have come down to us with absolute certainty. 
 The plastic works which we actually possess are for the most 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 1 55 
 
 part those which have been casually preserved by accidental 
 circumstances. Almost all the greatest productions of the 
 greatest sculptors have either been destroyed or else defaced 
 beyond recognition. We therefore depend for our knowledge 
 of ancient sculpture either upon those works which were situ- 
 ated on comparatively inaccessible portions of huge buildings 
 like the Parthenon and other temples, and which have conse- 
 quently survived more or less completely the ravages of time, 
 the mischief of the barbarian, and the blind fury of early Chris- 
 tian and Mahommedan fanatics ; or else upon those which have 
 been preserved for us in the earth, under the debris of burnt 
 and ruined villas and gardens, or in the ashes of buried cities 
 like Pompeii. Under these circumstances, the wonder is that 
 so much of beautiful and noble should still remain to us. This 
 is mainly owing to the fact that in antiquity a fine model, 
 once produced, was repeated and varied ad infinitum, — much as 
 we have seen at Cluny and in the paintings upstairs each prin- 
 cipal scene from the Gospels or the legends of the saints, once 
 crystallized by custom, was reproduced over and over again 
 with slight alterations by many subsequent artists. The conse- 
 quence is that most of the statues in this department fall into 
 well-marked groups with other examples here or elsewhere. 
 We have not the originals, in most cases, but we have many 
 copies ; and few of these copies are servile reproductions : 
 more often, they show some touch of the individual sculptor. 
 The best antiques are therefore generally those which happen 
 most nearly to approach in spirit and execution a great and 
 famous original. (See later, for example, the Apollo Sauro- 
 ctonos.) You m.ust compare these works one with another, in 
 this collection and elsewhere, in this spirit, recollecting that 
 often even an inferior variant represents in certain parts the feel- 
 ing of the original far better than another and generally finer 
 example may happen to do. Nay, such splendid works as the 
 so-called Venus of Milo itself must thus be regarded rather as 
 fortunate copies or modifications of an accepted type by some 
 gifted originator than as necessarily originals by the best masters. 
 With the exception of the few fragments from the Parthenon by 
 Pheidias and his pupils, hardly anything in this gallery can i^e 
 set down with certainty to any first-class name of the very best 
 
156 PARIS [ill. 
 
 periods. IJut many statues can be assigned to groups which 
 took their origin from certain particular famous sculptors : we 
 know the school^ though not the artist. And several are judged 
 by the descriptions of ancient writers to be copies or variants 
 of works assigned to sculptors of the first eminence. 
 
 Many of the statues found in the Renaissance period, and up 
 to the close of the eighteenth century, have been freely and 
 often injudiciously restored : others have really antique heads, 
 which do not however in every case belong to them. Not a 
 few have been considerably altered and hacked about in the 
 course of restoration, or of arbitrarily supplying them with 
 independent faces. This reprehensible practice has ?iot been 
 followed in more recent additions such as the "Venus of Milo" 
 and the Samothracian Nik^.] 
 
 Enter by the same door as for the paintings. Proceed along 
 the corridor (Galerie Denon) and dive, right or left, under the 
 great staircase. (Good new room to the R, containing excel- 
 lent Roman mosaics from French North Africa.) Pass some 
 good sarcophagi and other objects, and enter the Rotonde, 
 which contains for the most part works of a relatively late 
 period. In the centre, the "^Borghese Mars (or, in Greek, Ares), 
 a celebrated statue, less virile than is usual in figures of this 
 god. Round the room are grouped many fairly good statues, 
 not a few of them almost duplicates. Among them should be 
 noticed (beginning from the door) on the R a fine Melpomene ; 
 then, the Lycian Apollo, with harmless serpent gliding from a 
 tree-trunk ; and especially the famous '^Silenus nursing the In- 
 fant Bacchus, of the School of the great sculptor Praxiteles — 
 perhaps the most pleasing of the many representations of Faun 
 and Satyr life which antiquity has bequeathed to us. This 
 work should be studied as showing that later stage of easy Greek 
 culture when sculpture was not wholly religious and monu- 
 mental, but when the desire to please by direct arts and graces 
 was distinctly present. Close by are two or three good draped 
 female figures ; and another Lycian Apollo, which should be 
 closely compared with the one opposite it, as indicating the 
 nature of the numerous copies or replicas commonly made of 
 famous works of antiquity. Beside this, a couple of Hermae, 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I57 
 
 or heads on rough bases, in later imitation of the archaic 
 Greek style, with its curious stiff simper : the type was doubt- 
 less too sacred to be varied from : a portrait statue of a lady 
 with the attributes of Ceres ; a charming Nymph, carrying an 
 amphora ; excellent figures of athletes, etc. Many of the statues 
 in this and succeeding rooms are much restored, and in ssome 
 cases with heads that do not belong to them. They are inter- 
 esting as showing the general high level of plastic art among 
 nameless artists of the classical period. 
 
 The next room, **the Salle Qrecque, or Salle de Phidias, 
 is interesting as containing a few works of the great artist after 
 whom it is called, as well as many specimens of archaic Greek 
 art, before it had yet attained to the freedom and grace of the 
 age of Pheidias. In the centre arc fragments of the early half- 
 prehistoric figures (6th century B.C.) commonly known as 
 Apollos, but more probably serving in many cases merely as 
 funereal monuments — a man in the abstract, to represent the 
 deceased, like a headstone. They exhibit well the constrained 
 attitudes and want of freedom in the position of the arms and 
 legs, which are characteristic of the earliest epoch. These 
 very old features are still more markedly seen in the mutilated 
 draped Here in the centre ; it well illustrates the starting-point 
 of Hellenic art. The admirable *bas-reliefs from Thasos on 
 the entrance wall, on the other hand— removed from a votive 
 monument to Apollo, the Nymphs and ihe Graces, and still 
 retaining ihe dedicatory inscription graven over their portal, — 
 exemplify the gradual increase in freedom and power of modelling 
 during the early part of the 5th century B.C. This improvement 
 is very noticeable in the Hermes with one of the Graces on the 
 first of these reliefs. Still somewhat angular in movement, they 
 herald the approach of the Pheidian period. From this time 
 forward the advance becomes incredibly rapid. 
 
 Next, examine the work of the perfect period. Above is a 
 mutilated fragment of Athenian girls ascending the Acropolis to 
 present the holy robe to Athene, from the frieze of the Parthe- 
 non, of the great age of Pheidias (not a century later than these 
 archaic attempts) : with portions of a Metope of the same 
 temple. The first may be possibly by Pheidias himself : the 
 second by his pupil Alcamenes. Close by, Metope of the 
 
158 PARIS [ill. 
 
 temple of Zeus at Olympia (about 450 B.C.), whose subjects 
 are sufficiently indicated on the labels: almost equal in power 
 to the Athenian examples. The fine bas-relief of Orpheus and 
 Eurydice, of the best period (falsely named above, later) should 
 also be observed. (But the works of the archaic and transi- 
 tional periods are far better exemplified at Munich and in 
 London ; while the fragments of Pheidias cannot of course com- 
 pare with the magnificent series in the British Museum. See 
 the copies of both in the Ecole des Beaux Arts.) By the next 
 window, lion and bull, somewhat recalling remote Assyrian 
 influence ; with numerous small reliefs of the best age, which 
 should be carefully studied. These, for the most part of the 
 finest early workmanship, admirably illustrate the extraordinary 
 outburst of artistic spirit during the age which succeeded the 
 wars with Persia. The reliefs on the end wall, chiefly from 
 Athens and the Piraeus, as well as those by the last window, 
 belong in most instances to this splendid age of awakening 
 and culminating art-faculty. I do not enumerate, as the labels 
 suffice ; but every one of the works in this room should be 
 closely followed. Do not miss the charming, half-archaic, 
 funereal relief of Philis, daughter of Cleomedes, from Thasos. 
 
 Continue on through the Long Gallery, flanked by inferior 
 works — but what splendid inferiority ! — to the room of the 
 Medea sarcophagus, a fine stone tomb, containing scenes 
 from the legend of Medea and the children of Jason. Rountl 
 the room are grouped several small statues, much restored, 
 indeed, and not of the best period, but extremely charming. 
 The most noticeable is the dainty little group of the Three 
 Graces, characteristic and pleasing, though with modern heads. 
 The next compartment— that of the Hermaphrodite — includes 
 one of the best and purest ot the many versions of this favourite 
 subject, from Velletri, couched, by the window. (Another in the 
 Salle des Caryatides, for comparison.) The Farnese Eros is a 
 pretty work of a late period. The room also possesses several 
 works of the Satyr class, two of which, close by, are useful as 
 instances of repetition. The four statues of Venus (Aphrodite), 
 at the four corners (in two closely similar pairs) are also very 
 interesting in the same manner, being variant - based upon one 
 original model, closely resembling one another in their general 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 1 59 
 
 features, but much altered in the accessories and details. The 
 same may be said of the good figures of Athen^ by the far 
 wall. 
 
 The Hall of the Sarcophagus of Adonis contains several 
 excellent sarcophagi, the reliefs on which well illustrate the 
 character of the class ; among them, one to the L has interest- 
 ing reclining figures of its occupant and his wife, an early 
 motive, late repeated. The relief from which the room takes 
 its name, on the wall to the right, represents, in three scenes, 
 the departure of Adonis for the chase ; his wounding by a wild 
 boar ; and Aphrodite mourning over the body of her lover. 
 Such reliefs afforded important hints in mediaeval times to the 
 sculptors who first started the Renaissance movement. As we 
 pass into the next compartment, notice another variant of the 
 Aphrodit^. 
 
 The Salle de Psyche contains, opposite the window, the 
 famous figure from which it takes its name (too much restored 
 to be freely judged) : together with two chaiacteristic dancing 
 Satyrs, after models of the school of Praxiteles. The fine 
 sculptured chairs of office by the window should also be noticed. 
 
 We now come to the Hall of the so-called Venus of MUo— 
 an absurd mistranslation of the French name : the idiomatic 
 English would be either "the Melos Venus," "the Melian 
 Venus," or, better still, " the Melian Aphrodite." This is un- 
 doubtedly the finest plastic work in the whole of the Louvre. 
 Its beauty is self-evident. It was found in 1820 in the island of 
 Melos in the (}reek Archipelago. The statue is usually held 
 to represent the Greek goddess of love, and is a very noble 
 work, yet not one by a recognised master, nor even mentioned 
 hy ancient writers among the well-known statues of antiquity. 
 Nothing could better show the incredible wealth of Greek 
 plastic art, indeed, than the fact that this exquisite Aphroditt; 
 was produced by a nameless sculptor, and seems to have been 
 far surpassed by many other works of its own period. In type, 
 it belongs to a school which forms a transition between the 
 perfect early grace and purity of Pheidias, with his pupils, and 
 the later, more self-conscious and deliberate style of Praxiteles 
 and his contemporaries. Not quite so pure as the former, it is 
 free from the obvious striving after effect in the latter, and 
 
I60 PARIS [III. 
 
 from the slightly affected prettinesses well illustrated here in the 
 group of Silenus with the infant Bacchus. The famous series 
 of Niobe and her Children, in the Uffizi at Florence (duplicates 
 of some elsewhere), exhibits much the same set of character- 
 istics. Those works have been attributed on reasonable grounds 
 to Scopas, a contemporary of Demosthenes : and this statue has 
 therefore been ascribed with little hesitation to one of his pupils. 
 It is, however, purer in form than the Niobe series, and exhibits 
 the perfect ideal, artistic and anatomical, of the beautiful, healthy 
 nude female form for the white race. Its proportions are famous. 
 As regards the missing portions, which have happily not been 
 conjecturally restored, it was originally believed that the left 
 hand held an apple (the symbol of Melos), while the right 
 supported the drapery. It is more probable, however, that the 
 figure was really a Nike (or Victory) and that she grasped a 
 shield and possibly also a winged figure on an orb. Comparison 
 with the other similar half-draped nude statues described as 
 Venuses in the adjoining rooms is very instructive : their 
 resemblances and differences show the nature of the modifica- 
 tions from previous types, while the immense superiority of this 
 to all the rest is immediately apparent. Notice in particular 
 the exquisite texture of the skin ; the perfect moderation of the 
 form, which is well developed and amply covered, without the 
 faintest tinge of voluptuous excess, such as one gets in late 
 work ; and the intellectual and moral nobility of the features. 
 No object in the Louvre deserves longer study. It is one of the 
 finest classical works that survive in Europe. 
 
 Pass to the R into the next suite of rooms, the first of which 
 contains the colossal figure of Melpomene, the tragic muse — 
 a splendid example of this imposing type of antique sculpture, 
 so well represented in the Vatican. Round the room are ranged 
 several minor works, including a charming Flute-Player, doubt- 
 fully restored, and some excellent busts. 
 
 The long series of rooms which follows this one contains 
 in many cases Gra?co- Roman works, imitated from the great 
 Greek models, and often showing more or less decadent spirit. 
 Among them, however, are some of the finest specimens ot 
 ancient sculpture, Greek included : and indeed it must be 
 admitted that the grounds upon which such Greek works are 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) l6l 
 
 distinguished by experts from later copies are often sufficiently 
 delicate and inferential. Centre, a beautiful Genius of Sleep. 
 Behind it, good figures of Eros (Love) drawing his bow, again 
 indicating the nature of the replicas and variations of estab- 
 lished models which were so familiar to antique sculptors. The 
 little mutilated fragment by their side, well placed here for 
 comparison, excellently illustrates the nature of the evidence 
 on which such works are frequently restored. Further on — a 
 Venus, which is a variant (probably Roman) of the type of the 
 Venus of Aries, just beyond it. Behind this, a little in front 
 in the room, the noble "^Pallas from Velletri — the finest and 
 most typical representation of the goddess : a good Roman 
 copy of a Greek work of the best period. Then the famous 
 *Venus of Aries itself, a Greek original, which may be in- 
 structively compared with the replica or variant close to it. 
 (The labels well indicate to the student who cares to proceed 
 further in this study the extent of the restorations in every 
 case.) This figure, after the Melian Aphrodite, is probably the 
 most beautiful female form in the entire collection. Behind 
 it, the graceful and exquisitely-draped Polyhymnia (replica of 
 a well-known type), a model of perfect repose and culture, but 
 largely modern. Then, good bust of Homer. Next, the "•''Apollo 
 Sauroctonus or Lizard-Slayer, a copy in marble of i famous 
 work in bronze by Praxiteles. This is once more one of the 
 many reproductions (not necessarily always actual copies) of 
 types which are mentioned by classical authors. By the arch- 
 way, Euterpe, and a Votary. Among the sarcophagi, one of 
 Acticon torn by his dogs : another representing the Nine 
 Muses. Most of the figures in this room are marked by a calm 
 and classical repose ; while those in the next compartment, 
 
 The Salle du Heros Combatant, indicate in many cases 
 a later tendency to rapidity of motion and violent action, which 
 is alien to the highest plastic ideal. Among the most successful 
 works of this group is the light and airy Atalanta, under the 
 archway, — a beautiful figure of a young girl, running, caught 
 at the most exquisite statuesque moment. Near it, a fine Venus 
 Genetrix. By the window, admirable figure of a wounded 
 Amazon. Next window, the celebrated Borghese Centaur and 
 Bacchus, a charming realization of this mythological concep- 
 
 L 
 
1 62 PARIS [ill. 
 
 tion. Note the playfulness of developed Greek fancy. The 
 centre of the room is occupied by a powerful and anatomically 
 admirable figure of a Fighting Hero (formerly called a Gladi- 
 ator), by Agasias of Ephesus, — one of the few statues here on 
 which the sculptor has inscribed his name. It is a triumph 
 of its own "active" type of art (where movement and life are 
 aimed at), but wholly lacking in beauty or ideality. It belongs 
 to the age of Augustus or a little earlier. Behind it, Marsyas 
 flayed alive, a repetition of a frequent but unpleasant subject. 
 Centre again, the Faun of Vienne, a young satyr, retaining 
 traces of colour, vigorous and clever. Then, **exquisite ideal 
 statue of a young girl fastening her cloak, commonly but incor- 
 rectly known as tlie Diana of Gabii ; for simple domestic grace 
 this dainty work is unrivalled. It is probably of the age of 
 Alexander the Great : and is well worth study. It almost 
 suggests the Italian Renaissance. By the archways, a Hermes 
 known as the Richelieu Mercury, with a closely similar replica. 
 Under the archway leading to the next room, fine portrait 
 statue of the age of Hadrian, representing Antinous, the Em- 
 peror's favourite, in the guise of Aristieus, the mythical hero 
 of agriculture : the features are much less beautiful than in 
 most other instances of this well-known face, several examples 
 of which occur later. Such representations of historical char- 
 acters in the form of gods or mythical heroes were common 
 at Rome : probably in most cases the sitter's head and figure 
 were accommodated or adapted to a well-known model. 
 
 The Salle du Tibre, which we next enter, contains in its 
 centre the celebrated figure of "^Artemis (Diana) known as 
 " Diane k la Biche " or the " Diane de Versailles," one of the 
 antique statues acquired by Franij.ois I'''', the iniluence of which 
 on later art will be very distinctly felt when we come to examine 
 the French sculpture of the Renaissance. It is a charming, 
 graceful, and delicate figure of the age of declining art, exactly 
 adapted to take the French fancy of that awakening period. 
 It was probably executed at Rome by a Greek sculptor about 
 the time of Julius Cassar. At the end of the room, colossal 
 recumbent figure of the Tiber, represented as the benignant 
 Father Tiber of Rome, bearing the oar which symbolizes the 
 navigable river, and the cornucopia denoting the agricultural 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 163 
 
 and commercial wealth of the Tiber valley : by its side nestles 
 the wolf, with Romulus and Remus ; a pretty allegorical con- 
 ception of Rome and the stream which made it : itself doubt- 
 less a pendant to the similar recumbent figure of the Nile in 
 the Vatican. Close by, two Satyrs, imitated from Praxiteles. 
 Behind, four Satyrs as Caryatides, from the theatre of Dionysus, 
 Athens, 3rd cent. B.C. Round the wall, good draped figures 
 of goddesses. Walk through these rooms often, in order to 
 gain an idea of the astonishing wealth and purity of Hellenic 
 sculpture. 
 
 Now, return through the Salle Grecque and the Rotonde, 
 and turn to the L into the Roman Galleries, which contain 
 for the most part statues and busts of the imperial epoch. 
 
 In the first room are reliefs of sacrifices, and fronts of sar- 
 cophagi, together with a fine portrait-statue of Sulla. By the 
 second window, the famous and noble head of Maecenas, the 
 great Etruscan statesman and minister of Augustus, who prac- 
 tically organised the Roman Empire. The astute features, 
 very Tuscan in type, which in some degree recall those both 
 of Bismarck and Aloltke, are full of practical vigour and the 
 wisdom of statecraft. A more characteristic or finer head has 
 not been bequeathed to us by antiquity. Contrast this mag- 
 nificent and thoughtful bust of the best Roman age, instinct 
 with meaning, with the coarse and coarsely-executed colossal 
 head of Caracalla, the cruel and sensuous Emperor of the 
 decadence, in the next window, — as crude as a coarse litho- 
 ;<raph. In the corner, a Mithra stabbing a bull, of a class to 
 be noted again in greater detail later. By the passage into the 
 next room, masks of Medusa with the snaky hair. 
 
 Walk straight through the following rooms, without stopping, 
 till you arrive at the Salle d'Auguste on the right, at the end, 
 so as to take the works in historical sequence. Tiiis hall is the 
 first in chronological order of the Roman period. It contains 
 portrait-statues and busts of the Julian Emperors and their 
 families, and of the Flavian dynasty. Begin down the centre. 
 ■^Bust of Julius Caisar, indicating well the intellectual character 
 and relentless will of the man : a speaking likeness. Next to 
 it, the famous **Antinous (eyes removed ; once jewels), a much 
 idealised colossal portrait-bust of the beautiful young favourite 
 
 1 
 
1 64 PARIS [ill. 
 
 of the Emperor Hadrian, who drowned himself in the Nile in 
 order to become a protecting genius for his patron ; he is here 
 represented in a grave and rigid style somewhat faintly remin- 
 iscent of Egyptian art, and with the attributes of Bacchus or 
 (more correctly) Osiris ; Hadrian deified him and erected a 
 temple in his honour in a town in Egypt which he named after 
 him. Observe the lotus entwined in the hair. Fine portrait- 
 statue of a Roman orator, probably Julius Cicsar, one of the 
 best works of its class of the best period of revived Greek art 
 under the early Roman Empire : signed by Cleomenes. The 
 figure is that conventionally attributed to Hermes or Mercury. 
 Near it, Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augustus and builder of the 
 Pantheon ; full of the statesmanlike characteristics of the early 
 empire. Ideal bust of Rome, cold but beautiful : Romulus and 
 Remus on the helmet. Under the tribune, famous "'^portrait- 
 statue of Augustus, a very noble representation. It is flanked 
 by two good portrait-statues of the Emperor himself, and of 
 his successor, Tiberius. In front of it are Roman boys of the 
 imperial family, the one to the L admirable in execution. 
 They wear the golden bulla round their necks, which marked 
 lads of noble family ; the faces and figures are thoroughly 
 patrician. Windowless wall, members of the imperial (Julian 
 and Claudian) family,— Agrippina, Tiberius, Drusus and Ger- 
 manicus, etc. ; Caligula, showing incipient traces of Caesarian 
 madness ; Octavia, Antonia, and others. Study these care- 
 fully. Then, a most malignant Nero, with less unpleasant ones 
 further : a Messalina, whose gentleness of face belies her 
 reputation ; a grandiose Claudius ; and a selfish Galba, in 
 whom we begin to see traces of the traits produced by ruthless 
 struggle for empire. Near him, a vain-glorious Otho, still fine 
 and classical. Notice the dainty profiles of the women. All 
 the statues and busts in this room, indeed, are conceived in the 
 fine classical spirit, with no trace of the coming decadence. 
 Most of them have the old close-shaven, clear-cut RomJm 
 features, contrasting strongly with the weaker, bearded types 
 we shall see later. By the window wall, statues, not so good^ 
 of the coarse bull-necked Vitellius ; hard, practical, business- 
 like Vespasian ; capable Titus, and one or two less satisfactory 
 busts or statues of Julius Caesar. Observe even already how 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 165 
 
 both types and art begin to show less perfect finish. The men 
 are more vulgar : the artists less able. 
 
 The Salle des Antonins, next, contains a fine series of busts 
 and statues of this second prosperous epoch of the empire. 
 Facing the river, a very noble seated portrait-statue of Trajan, 
 contrasting well with the other more decadent emperors at the 
 further end. We have here still the old Roman severity, and 
 the close-shaven type, admirably opposed to the more sensuous 
 degenerate faces further on, which herald the decadence. 
 These are the builders-up, the others the destroyers, of a great 
 empire. In the corner close by, two erect Trajans. Notice 
 how clear an idea of the personalities of the emperors 
 comparison of these statues and busts affords one. Close to 
 the archway, a beautiful Faustina Junior, one of the loveliest 
 portrait-busts of the second Roman period. Further on, 
 bearded and weaker emperors of the Antonine age ; among 
 them, a capital Lucius Verus, holding the orb of empire. 
 Near it, a fine statue of the philosophic emperor, Marcus 
 Aurelius, seen here rather as the soldier than as the sage. 
 In the centre — the same emperor nude — or rather, a nude 
 figure, on which his head has been placed by a modern 
 restorer. By the middle window, colossal busts of Lucius 
 Verus and Marcus Aurelius, and a very big head of Lucilla^ 
 wife of the former. These all deserve study, by comparison 
 with the simpler and nobler types of the Julian period. 
 
 The Salle de Severe — age of the early decadence — contains 
 in the centre a fine statue of the Emperor's mother, Julia 
 MammcCa, figured after the common fashion as Ceres — a half 
 deification. Near it, another (less pleasing) bust of Antinous. 
 Excellent statue of Pertinax. Round the walls, portrait-busts 
 of the Antonine family and their successors, in sufficient 
 numbers to enable one to form clear conceptions of their 
 personality. This is especially the case with Caracalla and 
 Plautilla by the last window ; Septimius Severus himself — a 
 weak face, gaining somewhat with age ; and Lucius Verus, 
 selfishly vicious, with a distinct tinge of conscious cruelty. 
 Near the last, a fine portrait-statue of Faustina Senior. 
 Beside it, pleasing bust of the boy Commodus ; his subse- 
 quent development may be traced round the rest of the 
 
l66 PARIS [ill. 
 
 window. All these busts, again, should be viewed by the light 
 of their dates ; they are identified by means of coins, where 
 the same faces occur with their names — most interesting for 
 comparison. 
 
 The Salle de la Palx contains mixed woiks, some of 
 them of the extreme decadence. Among them, a good figure 
 of Minerva in red porphyry, the flesh portions of which 
 have been restored in gilt bronze as Rome. By the window, 
 the Emperor Titus as Mars. A half-length of Gordianus Pius 
 near the archway is an unusually fme and classical example 
 for its age. P^ine figure of Tranquillina, his wife, and nude 
 of Pupianus, less successful. In many of these works the 
 decadence triumphs. 
 
 The Salle des Saisons contains busts, mostly of the 
 extreme decadence, and works with a senii= barbaric tinge. 
 The bust of Honorius, by the far door, shows the last traces 
 of classical work rapidly passing into Byzantine stiffness and 
 lifelessness. Note the feebleness of the eyes and general 
 ineffectiveness of plastic treatment. Eugenius, opposite him, 
 equally displays decadence in a somewhat different direction, 
 provincial and Gaulish, foreshadowing barbaric Romanesque 
 workmanship. A fine Muse, however, stands next to Honorius. 
 There are also several very decent reliefs from sarcophagi. 
 The figure of Tiridates, wearing the barbaric trousers, is a fine 
 example of Greco-Roman art applied to a member of an alien 
 civilisation. Close to it, the famous Mithra of the Capitol, 
 stabbing a bull, with other representations of the same 
 subject beneath and beside it. These reliefs are extremely 
 illustrative of a most interesting phase of the later Empire. 
 Rome was then a cosmopolitan city, crowded with Syrians, 
 Jews, Egyptians, Asiatic Greeks, and other Orientals. Many 
 of these people introduced into Italy and the Provinces the 
 worship of their own local deities : the cult of Isis, of 
 Serapis, and of other Eastern gods competed with Christian- 
 ity for the mastery of the Empire. Among these intrusive 
 religions, one of the most successful was the worship of 
 Mithra, which came to Rome indirectly from Persia, and 
 directly from the southern shores of the Black Sea. The 
 mystic deity himself is always represented in an underground 
 
Ill] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 167 
 
 cave, stabbing a bull ; he was regarded as a personification or 
 avatar of the Sun God. His worship spread rapidly to every 
 part of the Roman world, and was immensely popular : 
 similar reliefs have been found in all Romanized regions from 
 Britain to North Africa. The best of those in this room comes 
 from the cave of Mithra in the Capitol at Rome itself, where 
 the eastern god was permitted even to invade the precincts of 
 the Capitoline Jupiter. Notice the barbaric Oriental dress and 
 the voluptuous, soft Oriental treatment ; also, the action in 
 the cave, and the personages on the upper earth above it. 
 Compare all these reliefs with one another, and notice their 
 origin as given on the labels. Observe also the close similarity 
 and religious fixity of the representations. They should be 
 studied with care, as illustrative of the conflict of new religions 
 with old in the Roman Empire, out of which Christianity at 
 last emerged triumphant. Their number and costliness shows 
 the strength of this strange faith ; their inferior art betokens 
 both eastern influence and the approach of the decadence. 
 Compare the Oriental tinge in the Mithra reliefs with that of 
 some Early Christian works in the small Christian room of the 
 Renaissance Sculpture. 
 
 In the centre, Roman husband and wife, in the characters of 
 Mars and Venus, an excellent and characteristic group of the 
 age of Hadrian ; contrast the somewhat debased proportions 
 with those we have seen in the best Greek period. Round the 
 wall and by the windows, many inferior portrait-busts of 
 emperors of the decadence ; observe their dates, and note the 
 gradual decrease in art and truth, and the slow return to 
 something resembling archaic stiffness. We have thus fol- 
 lowed out the rise and culmination of antique art, and watched 
 its return to primitive barbarity. Conspicuous among the 
 works of the better age here are the charming features of 
 Julia Mammaia, wife of Alexander Severus, especially as 
 shown in the bust nearest to the first window. The fine 
 Germanicus, holding the orb of empire, is also an excellent 
 example of the portrait nude of the best period. 
 
 Leave this portion of the Museum by the Salle des 
 Caryatides beyond, so called from the famous Caryatides 
 by Jean Goujon (French Renaissance ; see later), which 
 
l68 PARIS [ill. 
 
 support the balcony at its further end — very noble examples of 
 the revived antique of the age of Francois I'^' — majestic in 
 their serenity. Above them is a cast from Cellini's Nymph 
 of Fontainebleau, to be noticed later. The room contains 
 good Greek and Roman work of the culminating periods. 
 In the vestibule to the L, by the window, the "^^Borghese 
 Hermaphrodite, a variant on the Velletri type, voluptuous and 
 rounded, belonging to the latest Greek period ; the mattress 
 was added (with disastrous effect) by Bernini. In the body 
 of the hall colossal Jupiter of Versailles, an impressive 
 Hermes-figure. To the L, noble and characteristic "^Demos- 
 thenes. In the ccnire, Hermes and Apollo of the School of 
 Praxiteles: boy fastening his sandals. Dionysus, known as 
 the Richelieu Bacchus. By the right wall, Aphrodite at the 
 bath, in a crouching attitude ; a nymph is supposed to be 
 pouring water over her. All the works in this room deserve 
 examination ; they are sufficiently described, however, by the 
 labels. 
 
 2. RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE. 
 [This collection, one of the most important and interesting 
 among the treasures of the Louvre, occupies a somewhat un- 
 obtrusive suite of rooms on the Ground Floor, and is therefore 
 too little visited by most passing tourists. It contains three 
 separate sets of plastic work : first, sculpture of the Italian 
 Renaissance, on which the French was mainly based ; second, 
 sculpture of the Middle Ages in France, leading gradually up 
 to the age of Francois I'-'', and improving as it goes, though 
 uninfluenced as yet by external models ; third, and most im- 
 portant of all, in Paris at least, the exquisite sculpture of the 
 French Renaissance, a revolt from mediaivalism, inspired 
 from above by kings and nobles, based partly on direct study 
 of the antique (many specimens of which were brought to 
 France by Francois I*^"^), but still more largely on Italian 
 models, made familiar to French students through the work ot 
 artists invited to the Court under the later Valois, as well as 
 through the Italian wars of Charles VIII, Louis XII and 
 Francois P' (of which last more must be said when we visit St. 
 Denis). At least one whole day should be devoted by every 
 one to this fascinating collection : those who can afford the 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 169 
 
 time should come here often, and study au fond the exquisite 
 works of Donatello, Michael Angelo, and (most of all) Jean 
 Goujon, Germain Pilon, and their },'reat French contem- 
 poraries. The Italians can be seen to greater advantage at 
 Florence and elsewhere ; only here can one form a just idea of 
 the beauty and importance of the French Renaissance.] 
 
 Enter by Door D, in Baedeker's plan— centre of the South- 
 Eastern wing in the (old) Cour du Louvre. Pass straight 
 through the vestibule, and Salle de Jean Goujon ; then turn to 
 your R, traversing the Salle de Michel Ange, and enter that 
 of the Italian Renaissance (numbered VI officially). 
 
 The Renaissance in France being entirely based upon that 
 in Italy, we have first to observe (especially in the case of those 
 who have not already visited Venice and Florence) what was 
 the character of the Italian works upon which the French 
 sculptors and architects based themselves. Here you get, as it 
 were, the original : in French sculpture, the copy. This small 
 hall — the hall of Donatello — contains works of sculpture of 
 the 13th to the 15th centuries in Italy. Contrast it mentally 
 with the purely mediieval objects which you saw at Cluny, 
 unrelieved for the most part by classical example, in order 
 to measure the distance which separates the Italians of this 
 epoch from their contemporaries north of the Alps. Recollect, 
 loo, that the Italian Renaissance grew of itself from within, 
 while the French was an artificially cultivated exotic. 
 
 R and L of the door, early squat figures of Strength and 
 Prudence, Italian sculpture of the 13th century, still exhibiting 
 many Gothic characteristics, but with a nascent striving after 
 higher truth which began with the school of the Pisani at Pisa. 
 Opposite them, Justice and Temperance, completing the set of 
 the four cardinal virtues. These may be looked upon as the 
 point of departure. They show the first germ of Renaissance 
 feeling. L of doorway, good Madonna from Ravenna ; flanked 
 by two innocent-faced angels, in deacon's dress, drawing aside 
 a curtain from a tomb — beautiful work of the Pisan school of 
 the 14th century : contrasted with the best French reliefs at 
 Cluny (such as the legend of St. Eustace), these works exhibit 
 the early advance of art in Italy. Between them (contrasting 
 
lyo PARIS [III. 
 
 well with the early French style, as much more idealised), 
 terra-cotta painted Madonna and Child. Beneath, good 
 Madonna in wood, and painted <^esso Madonnas, later. 
 Near the window, **beautiful bust of a child, by Donatello, 
 exhibiting the exquisite unconscious naivete of the early 
 Renaissance. Most of these works are so fully described on 
 their pedestals that I shall only call attention to a few charac- 
 teristics. The emaciated figure of the Maj^dalen, in a Glory 
 of Cherubs, below, is the conventional representation of that 
 Saint, when a penitent in Provence, being daily raised aloft to 
 the beatific vision : many examples occur at Florence. The 
 beautiful little terra-cotta Madonna under a canopy close by is 
 admirable in feeling. Opposite it, characteristic decorative 
 work of the Renaissance. Then, ^^Donatello's naif Young St. 
 John, the Patron Saint of Florence, is another exquisite ex- 
 ample of this beautiful sculptor. The open mouth is typical. 
 A Lucretia, near it, indicates the general tendency to imitate 
 the antique, still more marked in the relief of a funeral cere- 
 mony, where the boy to the R is especially pleasing. Do not 
 overlook a single one of the Madonnas in this delightful room : 
 the one above the funeral relief, though skied, is particularly 
 pleasing. Even the large painted wooden Sienese Madonna 
 in the centre, though the merest church furniture, has the 
 redeeming touch of Italian idealism. The busts of Roman 
 emperors, imitated after the antique, betray on the other hand 
 the true spring of Renaissance impulse. 
 
 The room beyond— to the R— No. VII — is filled for the 
 most part with fine coloured terracottas or majolicas of the 
 School of Delia Robbia. Centre of l wall, at the end (as you 
 enter), Madonna and Child, with St. Roch showing his plague 
 spot, and St. Francis pointing to the stigma in his side — a 
 votive offering. Fine nude figure, L of it, of Friendship, by 
 Olivieri. Exquisite little cherubs and angels. Bronze busts, 
 instinct with Renaissance feeling. Window wall — centre — a 
 Delia Robbia of the Agony in the Garden : the arrangement is 
 conventional, and occurs in many other works in this Gallery. 
 It is flanked by two good Apostles of the Pisan school (the 
 first to imitate the antique) from the Cathedral of Florence. 
 Far L, a voluptuous figure of Nature by Tribolo, from Fontaine- 
 
Ill] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 17I 
 
 bleau, characteristic of the works collected by Francois I"- R 
 wall, several Madonnas, all of which should be closely studied. 
 In the centre, terra-cotta of the School of Donatello. R and L 
 of it, fine busts of the Italian Renaissance, with most typical 
 faces. Near the door, portrait-statue of Louis XII, by Lorenzo 
 da Mugiano : this king was the precursor of the French 
 Renaissance : note the fine decorative work on his greaves and 
 knee-caps. In the centre, a fine St. Christopher, his face 
 distorted by the weight of the (non-existent) Christ Child. I 
 note these in particular, but all the works in these two rooms 
 should be closely followed, both as exhibiting the development 
 from traditional forms, and as illustrating the style of art on 
 which the French Renaissance was grafted. Notice for in- 
 stance (as survival, modified) the quaint little St. Catherine, in 
 the corner by the window, bearing her wheel, and laying her 
 hand with a caressing gesture on the donor — a special votary, 
 evidently. Observe, again, the three little scenes from the 
 life of St. Anne, in gilt wood, under the large Delia Robbia of 
 the Ascension, on the wall opposite the windows. They repre- 
 sent respectively the Rejection of Joachim's Offering (he is 
 expelled from the Temple by the High Priest, because he is 
 childless : notice his servant carrying the lamb for sacrifice) ; 
 the Birth of the Virgin (with the usual details of St. Anne in 
 bed washing her hands, the bath for the infant, and the attend- 
 ant bringing in a roast chicken to the mother) ; and the Meeting 
 of Joachim and Anne at the Golden Gate— a scene which you 
 may often recognise elsewhere (it comes immediately after 
 the first, the Birth being interposed as principal subject : the 
 servant here bears the rejected lamb less ceremonially). Be- 
 neath them, once more, a characteristically dainty St. George 
 and the Dragon — with the beautiful Princess most heartlessly 
 fleeing (as always) in the distance — should be carefully noted 
 for comparison later with Michel Colombe and Raphael (St. 
 George's lance is accidentally broken : you can still see the 
 stump of it). To the L, again, is a beautiful Tabernacle of the 
 Delia Robbia school — angels guarding relics. To the R, a 
 terra-cotta angel, most graceful and beautiful. Further L, 
 charming Madonna : I need hardly call attention to the frames 
 of fruit, which were a Delia Robbia speciality. Further R, 
 
172 ' PARIS [ill. 
 
 Baptism of Clovis, gilt, and very spirited, though over-crowded. 
 Do not overlook the skied St. Sebastian. 
 
 (The Httle room beyond again contains a small but interest- 
 ing collecti.:>n of Early Christian works which must be visited 
 and studied on some other occasion. These very ancient 
 Christian sculptures, antique in conception, antedate the rise of 
 the conventional representations.) 
 
 Now return through Room VI to the 5alle de Michel 
 Ange (Room V), containing for the most part still more 
 developed works of the Italian Renaissance, which therefore 
 stand more directly in connection with French sculpture of that 
 and the succeeding period. The "^doorway by which we enter 
 is a splendid specimen of a decorated Italian Renaissance 
 portal, removed from the Palazzo Stanga at Cremona ; it was 
 executed by the brothers Rodari at the end of the 15th century, 
 and is decorated with medallions of Roman Emperors, a figure 
 of Hercules (the mythical founder of Cremona), and of Perseus, 
 together with reliefs from the myths of those heroes and others. 
 Identify these. Above the name of Perseus, for example (to 
 the r), is a relief representing the three Gorgons and the head 
 of Pegasus. Above that of Hercules (l) are the heads of the 
 Hydra which he slew (as also represented in a bronze on the 
 end wall not far from it). This gateway you should mentally 
 compare, when you visit the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, with that of 
 Diane de Poitiers' Chateau d'Anet now erected in the court- 
 yard and with \.\\Qfa(^iide of the Chateau de Gaillon at the same 
 place. The beautiful Italian Renaissance fountain in the 
 centre of the room comes itself from the same Chateau ce 
 Gaillon : it was given to Cardinal d'Amboise (who built the 
 Chateau) by the Republic of Venice. 
 
 The most beautiful works in this room, however, are the two 
 so-called "^Fettered Slaves, by Michael Angelo — in reality 
 figures of ihe Virtues, designed for the monument of Julius II. 
 It was Michael Angelo's fate seldom to finish anything he 
 began. This splendid monument, interrupted by the too early 
 death of the Pope who commissioned it, was to have embraced 
 (among other features) figures of the Virtues, doomed to ex- 
 tinction by the death of the pontiff. These are two of them ; 
 the one to the right, unfinished, is of less interest : "'^'^that to 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 173 
 
 the left, completed, is of the exquisite beauty which this sculptor 
 often gave to nude youthful male figures. They represent the 
 culminating point of the Italian Renaissance, and should be 
 compared with the equally lovely sculptures of the Medici 
 tombs in San Lorenzo at Florence. Observe them well as 
 typical examples of Michael Angelo's gigantic power and 
 mastery over marble. 
 
 You will note in the windows close by several exquisite 
 bronze reliefs ; eight of them, by Riccio, are from the monu- 
 ment of the famous anatomist, Delia Torre, representing his 
 life and death in very classical detail. (L window) Delia Torre 
 lecturing at Verona ; dangerously ill ; sacrifice to the gods for 
 his recovery ; his death and mourning : (r window) his obse- 
 quies ; passage of the soul (as a naked child with a book) in 
 Charon's boat (pursued by P\iries) ; apotheosis (crowned by 
 Fame); and celebrity of the deceased on earth; all designed in 
 a thoroughly antique manner. (Souls of the recently dead are 
 frequently represented leaving the body like new-born children.) 
 This work shows the Renaissance not only as secular and 
 humanist but even as pagan : early ages would have considered 
 such treatment impious. All the other reliefs in this very im- 
 portant room should be carefully noted, liy this (r) window, 
 the Annunciation (from Cremona) ; Judgment of Solomon (now 
 wholly conceived in the classical spirit) ; Adoration of the Magi, 
 in bronze ; figures of Galba and Faustina, entirely antique in 
 tone ; Paul shaking off the snake, etc. A portrait medallion of 
 Ludovico il Moro of Milan (also by this window) may be in- 
 structively compared with those in contemporary Italian paint- 
 ings upstairs. The next (L) window (with a rosso antico and 
 marble imitation of the Wolf of the Capitol) contains the be- 
 i^'inning of the reliefs from the tomb of Delia Torre, in the same 
 classical style, together with two exquisite Madonnas by Mino 
 da Fiesole, and other charming works of the same period 
 The infantile simplicity of Mino has an unspeakable attraction 
 Between the windows, a Pieta from Vicenza, with St. Jerome, 
 beating his breast as always with a stone, and St. Augustine 
 (I think) writing. On the far wall, note a fine wooden Annunci- 
 ation in two figures, from Pisa, of the Florentine I4lh cent. 
 The angel Gabriel and the Madonna arc frequently thus separ- 
 
174 PARIS [ill. 
 
 ated. Between them, admirable equestrian figure of Robert 
 Malatesia, of Rimini, where the action of the horse is particularly 
 spirited. Fine bust of Philippe Strozzi by Benedetto da Majano 
 on a pedestal close by. (You will find many works by this artist 
 for this patron at Florence.) The various Virgins on the R wall 
 should also be carefully studied, as well as the fine wooden Cir- 
 cumcision — a good rendering of the traditional scene, where the 
 artist triumphs over his intractable material — and the exquis- 
 itely dainty bust of the Florentine "'^^Baptist, instinct with the 
 tender simplicity of Mino da Ficsole, whose decorative frag- 
 ments above must not be overlooked. Do not leave this room 
 without having carefully examined everything it contains, as 
 every object is deserving of study. [For instance, I have omitted 
 to mention works so fine as the self-explanatory High Renais- 
 sance Jason, the relief of Julius Cicsar, the splendid bust of 
 Beatrice d'Este (see for this family the Perugino, etc., upstairs), 
 and the spirited bronze of Michael Angelo, lined with the lines 
 of a thinker who has struggled and suffered.] Finally, sit long 
 on the bench between the windows, and look well at the 
 Nymph of Fontainebleau, with stag and wild boar, by Ben- 
 venuto Cellini, the great Florentine metal-worker whom Fran- 
 (jois P"" commissioned to produce this work for Fontainebleau. 
 (Rut Henri H gave it instead to Diane de Poitiers, for her 
 Chateau d'Anet.) Cellini's work gave an immense impetus 
 to French sculpture, and it is largely on his style that Jean 
 Goujon and the great French sculptors we have shortly to ex- 
 amine formed their conceptions. Voluptuous and overlithe, 
 this fine relief is a splendid example of its able, unscrupulous, 
 deft-handed artist — seldom powerful or deep, yet always ex- 
 quisite in tone and perfect in handicraft. 
 
 Now, in order to form a just conception of the rise of the 
 French school of sculpture, traverse the Salle de Jean Goujon 
 and the other rooms which succeed it, till you come to the last 
 room of the suite — officially No. I — the Salle d'Andre Beau^ 
 neveu. This vault-like hall contains works of the Early French 
 School of the 13th, 14th, and 15th cent., still for the most part 
 purely Gothic, and uninfluenced in any way by Italian models. 
 Among them we notice, at the far end of the room, near the 
 door which leads into the Egyptian Museum, several statuettes 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 175 
 
 of Our Lady and Child, of a character with which Cluny has 
 aheady made us acquainted. Invariably crowned and noble, 
 they represent the Madonna as the Queen of Heaven, not the 
 peasant of Bethlehem. This regal conception and, still more, 
 the faint simper, are intensely French, and mark them off at 
 once from most Italian Madonnas. Further on, by the end 
 window, the figures of angels, of St. John Baptist, and of a 
 nameless king, are also thoroughly French in character ; while 
 the dainty little Burgundian choir of angels, holding, as they 
 sing, a scroll with a Gloria, is in type half German. Note also 
 the numerous recumbent effigies from tombs, among the 
 best of which are those of Catherine d'Alent^on and of Anne of 
 Burgundy, Duchess of Bedford. The tombs at this end have 
 still the stiff formality of the early Gothic period. The strange 
 recumbent figure in the centre, supported by most funereal 
 mourners (placed too low to be seen properly), is the tomb of 
 Philippe Pot, Grand Seneschal of Burgundy under John the 
 Good, from the Abbey of Citeaux. Such mourners are charac- 
 teristic of the monumental art of Burgundy. One more occurs 
 under a canopy near the middle window : j'ou will recollect to 
 , have seen others (from the tomb of Philippe le Ilardi) at Cluny. 
 Further on in the room we get more Madonnas whose marked 
 French type you will now be able to recognise. Good recum- 
 bent figures of a bishop, and of Philip VI, sufficiently described 
 by the labels, and other excellent statues, one of the best ot 
 which is the child in the centre. The king and queen by the 
 doorway are also fme examples of the art of the 15th cent. 
 Notice the dates of all these figures, as given by the labels, and 
 convince yourself from them (as you can do still more fully in 
 the next room) that French art itself made a domestic advance 
 from the nth cent., onward, wholly independent of Italian 
 iiitluence. This advance was due in tlie main to national 
 development, and to the slow recovery of trade and handicraft 
 from the barbarian irruption. What was peculiar to Italy was 
 the large survival of antique works, which the School of Pisa, 
 and others after them, strove to imitate. In France, till F>an- 
 (;ois I'^'', no such classical influence intervenes : the develop- 
 ment is all home-made and organic. But if you contrast the 
 busts by the w doorway, or the tombstone of I'ierre de Fayet, 
 
176 PARIS [III. 
 
 near them, with the ruder work by the first window in the next 
 room, the reality of this advance will become at once apparent 
 to you. The artists, though still hampered by tradition, are 
 striving to attain higher perfection and greater truth to nature. 
 Do not miss in this connection the excellent wooden Flagellation 
 by the middle window : nor the Madonna opposite it ; nor the 
 donor and donatrix close by ; nor the fine mutilated Annunci- 
 ation (with lily between the figures) by the w window ; nor the 
 well-carved Nativity (clearly Flemish, however) near the seat by 
 the doorway. In this last, observe the quaint head-dress of the 
 donatrix in the background (an unusual position) as well as the 
 conventional ox and ass, and the Three Kings approaching in 
 the upper right-hand corner, balanced by the shepherds listen- 
 ing to the angels. St. Joseph's candle is, however, a novelty. I 
 merely note these points to show how much there may often be 
 in seemingly unimportant objects. This is officially called an 
 Adoration of the Shepherds, but if you look into it, you will 
 see, erroneously. The person entering from behind is a mere 
 modern spectator. Study well the works in this room and the 
 next, regarded as a starting=point. 
 
 In the passag:e leading into the next room are a truncated 
 statue of St. Uenis, from his Basilica (to be visited later), and, 
 beyond it, a group of Hell from the same church. Notice the 
 usual realistic jaws of death, vomiting flame and swallowing the 
 wicked. Observe also that souls are always represented as 
 nude. Opposite this, a mutilated fragment of St. Denis bear- 
 ing his head, and accompanied by his two deacons, St. Rusticus 
 and St. Elcutherius. I have not hitherto called attention to 
 these two attendant deacons, but you will find them present in 
 almost all representations of St. Denis. (Look for them among 
 the paintings.) Try to build up your knowledge in this way, by 
 adding point to point as you proceed, and afterwards returnir.j^ 
 to works earlier visited, which will gain fresh light by compari- 
 son with those seen during your more recent investigations. 
 
 Enter Room II : Salle du Moyen Age. Notice, first, the 
 fragments by the window; those numbered 19 to 22 are good | 
 typical examples of the rude work of the Romanesque period 
 (loth to 1 2th cents.). 23, beside them, shows the improvement 
 which came in with the Gothic epoch, as well as the distinctive 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 1 77 
 
 Gothic tone in execution, — softer, and rounder, with just a touch 
 of foolish infantile simplicity or inanity. Observe all the other 
 heads here, and compare their dates, as shown on the labels. 
 Two beautiful angels, from the tomb of the brother of St. Louis, 
 will indicate this gradual advance in execution, wholly anterior 
 to any Renaissance influence. On the R side of the window, 
 notice particularly an admirable head of the Virgin, 76, and 
 another near it, from the cathedral of Sees. On the pillar, St. 
 Denis bearing his head. Every one of these capitals and heads 
 should be closely noted, with reference to the dates shown on 
 the label. In the little Madonna on the L hand window, ob- 
 serve a nascent attempt to introduce an element of playfulness 
 which is characteristically French. This increases later. It 
 develops into the grace — the somewhat meretricious grace — 
 of more recent French sculpture. 
 
 Now turn to the body of the room. R wall, 53, an excellent 
 angel. Beyond it, the Preaching of St. Denis ; observe that he 
 is here attended by his two faithful deacons ; the gateway indi- 
 cates that he preaches at Paris. Such little side-indications are 
 common in early art : look out for them. Above it, Christ in 
 Hades, redeeming Adam and Eve, as the firstfruits of the souls, 
 from Limbo ; the devil bound in chains on the ground beneath 
 them ; you saw several similar works at Cluny. Further on, 
 another Madonna and Child, with the same attempt at playful- 
 ness ; notice here Our Lady's slight simper, a very French 
 feature ; the Child carries a goldfinch, which you will frequently 
 find, if you look for it, in other representations, both P^rench and 
 Italian. The coloured relief of Pilate recalls those in the am- 
 bulatory at Notre- Dame. (Read in every case the date and 
 place whence brought here.) Beneath it are the Flagellation, 
 Hearing of the Cross, Crucifixion, and Entombment, which may 
 be profitably compared with other examples. 
 
 (If, after observing the French type of Madonna in these 
 rooms, and the few Burgundian works they contain, you have 
 time to revisit the MedicEval Sculpture at Cluny — Room VI, 
 ground floor — as I strongly advise you to do, you will find that 
 Burgundian art in the Middle Ages was quite distinct from 
 French, and had types of its own, approximating to the 
 Flemish, and still more to the German. This is well seen in 
 
178 PARIS [III. 
 
 the Burgundian Madonna and St. Catherine at Cluny. For 
 study of the style, it is a good plan to stop at Dijon on your 
 way to or from Switzerland.) 
 
 The end of the room is occupied by a Gothic doorway from 
 a house in Valencia (Spain), which may be contrasted with the 
 scarcely later Renaissance example from the Palazzo Stanga. 
 On its top is an Annunciation, representations of which are 
 frequent in similar situations ; we saw one on the fagade of 
 St. Etienne du Mont ; in such cases, the Madonna is almost 
 always separated by some form of wall, door, or ornament 
 from the angel Gabriel ; here, the finial represents the usual 
 pot of lilies. Below it, a very characteristic French Madonna, 
 again slightly smirking, and with the Child bearing the gold- 
 finch. Note once more the royal air, the affected lady-like 
 manner, given to the Madonna in early French sculpture and 
 painting. To its L, a similar regal painted Madonna. To the 
 R, gorgeous coloured statue of King Childebert, of the 13th 
 cent. : this once stood at the entrance to the beautiful re- 
 fectory of the Abbey of St. Germain-des-Fres (see later) which 
 Childebert founded, and where the king was buried. L wall, 
 fragment of a coloured stone relief, Judas receiving payment: 
 of the same type as those in Notre- Dame. Further on, a 
 similar Kiss of Judas, (Compare this with several specimens 
 at Cluny.) The mutilated state of many of these fragments 
 is in sever.'il instances due to the Revolution. All the other 
 statues and. fragments in this compartment should be carefully 
 examined, including the strange scene from a Hell, and the stiff 
 wooden Madonna, on pedestals in the centre. By the doorway, 
 painted Virgin and Child, — the Madonna under a little canopy, 
 and very typical of French conceptions. 
 
 Room III, Salle de Michel Colombe, represents the 
 advance made in French plastic art during the last half 
 of the 15th cent., and the beginning of the i6th cent., in 
 some cases independently of the Italian Renaissance. The 
 bust of Francois I^', in bronze, on a pedestal near the door, 
 may be compared, both for spirit and likeness, with the (very 
 wooden) contemporary portraits of the same king in the French 
 School upstairs. It has all the stiffness and archaic fidelity 
 of early portraiture, with the usual lack of artistic finish.! 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 179 
 
 Note such little points as that the king wears the collar of his 
 order, with the St. Michael of France as a pendant. Near 
 the window, fragments of work displaying Renaissance in- 
 fluence. One, a relief of the Return of the Master, from the 
 Chateau de Gaillon (built by Cardinal d'Amboise, minister of 
 Louis XII, and one of the great patrons of tlic Renaissance 
 in France), exhibits the beginning of a taste for secular, 
 domestic, and rustic subjects, which later became general. 
 (Early work is all sacred — then comes mythical — lastly, human 
 and contemporary.) Note on the opposite side, the fine bronze 
 of Henri Blondel de Rocquencourt, under Henri II. The 
 Apollo and Marsyas is strongly Renaissance — a mythic subject 
 (see the Perugino upstairs). The Massacre of the Innocents 
 exhibits Renaissance treatment of a scriptural scene. The 
 centre of the room is occupied by fme bronzes of the school 
 of Giovanni da Bologna, a Frenchman who worked in Italy 
 and forms a link between the art of the two countries. Ob- 
 serve the decorative French slenderness and coquetry of form, 
 combined with the influence of the Italian Renaissance. The 
 Mercury — light and airy — is a replica of Giovanni da Bologna's 
 own famous statue in the Bargello at Florence. The Mercury 
 and Psyche beside' it is a splendid example of Giovanni da 
 Bologna's school, by Adrian de Vries. Notice the French 
 tinge in the voluptuous treatment of the nude, and the slen- 
 derness and grace of the limbs. The bronze statue of Fame, 
 from the tomb of the Due d'Epernon, exhibits in a less degree 
 the same characteristics. It is obviously suggested by Gio- 
 vanni's Mercury. 
 
 Along the wall to the L, the most noticeable work is the 
 splendid '^^ marble relief of St. George, by the great French 
 sculptor Michel Colombe, produced for the chapel of the 
 Chateau de Gaillon ; recollect all these Gaillon objects, and 
 their connection with one another : the chateau was erected 
 under Louis XII, at the dawn of the French Renaissance, and 
 much of its work, like this fine relief, shows a considerable 
 surviving Gothic feeling. You will see the facade of the cha- 
 teau later at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. It is interesting to 
 compare this splendid piece of sculpture with the little Delia 
 Robbia in the Italian rooms, and the painting by Raphael 
 
l8o PARIS [ill. 
 
 upstairs : the dragon here is a fearsome and very mediaeval 
 monster ; but the St. George and his horse are full of life and 
 spirit ; and the fleeing Princess in the background is delicately 
 French in attitude and conception. The dragon is biting the 
 saint's lance, which accounts for its broken condition in the 
 Raphael and the Mantcgna. Comparison of the various St. 
 Georges in this collection, indeed, will give you an admirable 
 idea of the way in which a single conventional theme, em- 
 bracing always the very same elements, is modified by national 
 character and by the individuality of the artist. To under- 
 stand this is to have grasped art-history. (Note that the legend 
 of St. George itself is in one aspect a Christianisation of the 
 myth of Perseus and Andromeda.) 
 
 Beneath the St. George stands a fine Dead Christ, also 
 exhibiting characteristic French treatment. The somewhat 
 insipid but otherwise excellent Madonna and Child, on a 
 pedestal close by, is admirable as exemplifying the transforma- 
 tion of the smirking Madonnas of the Middle Ages into the 
 type of the Renaissance. The Death of the Virgin, near it, 
 from St. Jacques-de-la-Boucherie (of which only the tower now 
 remains), suggests to one's mind the riches which must once 
 have belonged to the demolished churches of Paris, — mostly. 
 alas ! destroyed at the great Revolution. Observe in this work 
 the figures of the attendant apostles, the Renaissance archi- 
 tecture of the background, and the soul of the Madonna as- 
 cending above, escorted by angels, to heaven. More naive, and 
 somewhat in the earlier style, is the Nativity above it, flanked 
 by the two St. Johns, the Baptist and the Evangelist. The 
 tomb of Philippe de Commynes also illustrates the older 
 feeling, as yet little influenced by the Italian irruption. Note 
 that the works which betray the greatest Italian influence are 
 chiefly connected with the royal chateaux and palaces of 
 Frangois P"" and his Italianate successors, or their wives and 
 mistresses ; the nation as yet is little touched by the new 
 models. 
 
 The bronze tomb of Alberto Pio of Savoy, by Ponzio, on the 
 other hand, exhibits strongly the Italian tendency, and should j 
 be compared with the earlier recumbent tombs, behind in Roon: 
 I, as showing the survival of the mediaeval type, transmutec 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS (THE LOUVRE) iSl 
 
 and completely revivified. The same may be said of the tomb 
 of Philippe de Chabot, which, however, is more distinctively 
 ?>ench and much less markedly Italian. See how the early 
 prostrate effigies become here recumbent : the figure, as it were, 
 is trying to raise itself. In comparing the various works in this 
 room, endeavour to note these interlacing points of resemblance 
 and difference. The beautiful Cienii above are parts of the same 
 tomb, and are exquisite examples of the minor work of the 
 French Renaissance. Passing the Italian Tacca's admirable 
 bust of Giovanni da Bologna, \vc come to an excellent Entomb- 
 ment, of the French School, from St. Eustache, which should 
 be compared with earlier specimens in the adjacent rooms. 
 Beneath it, a fine fragment by Jean Cousin. Still lower, a 
 Passage of the Red Sea, beginning to display that confused 
 composition and lack of unity or simplicity which spoiled the 
 art of the later i6th and 17th centuries. The fine Madonna 
 and Child close by should be compared with the very similar 
 example opposite, as well as with its predecessors in other 
 centuries. (Comparison of varying versions of the same theme 
 is always more instructive than that of different subjects.) The 
 tomb of Abbot Jean de Cromois, with its Renaissance frame- 
 work, shows a survival of earlier tendencies ; as does also that 
 of Roberte Legendre, though the figures of Faith and Hope 
 (Charity is missing) are distinctly more recent in type than the 
 recumbent effigy. Those who have time to notice and hunt up 
 the coats of arms on the various tombs will often find they 
 shed interesting light on their subjects. Observe also the 
 churches from which these various monunients have been 
 removed, a point which will fit in with your previous or sub- 
 sequent knovvledge of the buildings in many cases. 
 
 The last window contains a few works of the Qerman 
 School, which it is interesting to compare with their French 
 contemporaries. Thus, the shrewd, pragmatical, diplomatic 
 head of Frederick the Pacific, a coarse, cunning self-seeker, is 
 excellently contrasted with the French portrait-busts. The 
 little scene of the Holy Family, after Diirer, which should be 
 closely studied, is essentially German in the domestic character 
 of its carpenter's shop, in the broad peasant faces of its 
 Madonna and attendant angels, in the playful touches of the 
 
l82 PARIS [III. 
 
 irreverent cherubs, and in the figure of the Ahnighty appearing 
 in clouds at the summit of the composition. The Kiss of Judas, 
 opposite it, is also characteristically German ; notice the brutal 
 soldiers, whose like we have seen in woodwork at Cluny : the 
 bluff St. Peter with the sword is equally noteworthy ; in the 
 backj^'round are separate episodes, such as the Agony in the 
 (harden ; though officially ascribed to the French School, this 
 is surely the work of a deft but unideal German artist. Uo not 
 neglect the many beautiful decorative fragments collected in 
 this room, nor the fine busts, mostly of a somewhat later 
 period. 
 
 Now enter Room VIII, the Salle de Jean Goujon. The 
 magnificent collection of works contained in this room embraces 
 the finest specimens of French Renaissance work of the 
 school of the great artist whose name it bears, and of his equally 
 gifted contemporary, Germain Pilon. They represent the plastic 
 side of the School of Fontainebleau. In the centre is Jean 
 Goujon's "^^Huntrcss Diana, with her dogs and stag ; it was 
 probably executed for Diane de Poitiers, and comes from her 
 Chateau d'Anet, presented to her by her royal lover. (Note 
 all the works from the Chateau d'Anet, which is a destroyed 
 museum of the art of the Renaissance.) Observe on the base 
 the monogram of H. and D., which recurs on contemporary 
 portions of the Louvre. The decorative lobsters and cray-fish 
 on the pedestal should also be noted. Diana herself strikes 
 the keynote of all succeeding French sculpture. Beautiful, 
 coquettish, lithe of limb, and with the distinctive French 
 elegance of pose, this figure nevertheless contains in it the 
 germs of rapid decadence. It suggests the genesis of the i8th 
 century, and of the common ormolu clock of commerce. Step 
 into the next room and compare it with the Nymph of Fontaine- 
 bleau, by Benvenuto Cellini. You will there see how far the 
 Florentine artist approached the French, and how much the 
 Frenchman borrowed from the Florentine. Walk round and 
 observe on either side this the most triumphant work of the 
 French Renaissance. Observe also its relations to the Diana 
 of Versailles, in the Classical Gallery — brought to France by 
 Francois P"", — and its general debt to the antique, as well as to 
 contemporary Italy. 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 183 
 
 Perhaps still more beautiful is the exquisite **group of the 
 Three Graces, supportin<,^ an urn, by Germain IMlon, intended to 
 contain the heart of Henry II, and commissioned by Catherine 
 de Medicis. It once stood in the Church of the Celestines. 
 Here again one sees the delicacy and refinement of the French 
 Renaissance, with fewer marks of its inherent defects than in 
 Jean Goujon's statue. Sit long and study this exciuisite trio— 
 which the Celestines piously described as the Theological Virtues. 
 Walk round it and observe the admirably natural way in which 
 the figures are united by their hands in so seemingly artificial a 
 position. The charming triangular pedestal is by the Floren- 
 tine sculptor, Domenico del IJarbiere. 
 
 The third object in the centre of tlie room is the exciuisite 
 <^roup of the "^^Four Theological Virtues, in wood, also by 
 Germain Pilon, which, till the Revolution, supported the re- 
 liquary containing the remains of Ste. Geneviiljve, in St. 
 Etienne-du-Mont, and earlier still in the old church now re- 
 placed by the Pantheon. These are probably the finest figures 
 ever executed in this difficult material. The faces and attitudes 
 deserve from every side the closest study. If you have entered 
 into the spirit of these three great groups in the centre of this 
 room, you have succeeded in understanding the French Renais- 
 sance. 
 
 Now, begin at the further wall, in the body of the Salle, and 
 observe, first, the exquisite reliefs of ^Tritons and Nereids, 
 with **Nymphs of the Seine, by Jean Goujon. Read the labels. 
 We shall visit hereafter the Fountain of which these graceful 
 and delicate reliefs once formed a portion. The Nymph to the 
 L is one of the loveliest works ever produced by its sculptor, 
 and is absolutely redolent of Renaissance spirit. It indicates 
 the change which had come over French handicraft, under the 
 influence of its Italian models, at the same time allowing the 
 national spirit to shine through in a way which it never suc- 
 ceeded in doing in contemporary painting. Beneath it are two 
 noble figures in bronze, from the tomb of Christopher de Thou, 
 attributed to an almost equally great artist, Barthelemy Prieur. 
 Fremin Roussel's Genius of History still more markedly an- 
 ticipates more recent French tendencies. It is intensely modern. 
 Germain Pilon's monumental bronze of Rend Birague prepares 
 
184 PARIS [ill. 
 
 us for the faults of the French works of this style in the 
 Louis XIV period. Mere grandiosity and ostentation are here 
 foreshadowed. The centre of the next wall is occupied by 
 Germain Pilon's fine chimney-piece, with Jean Goujon's bust 
 of Henri II as its central object. The decorative Renaissance 
 work on this mantel should be closely studied, as well as that — 
 so vastly inferior — on the adjacent later columns of the age of 
 Louis XIV. Barthdlemy Prieur's exquisite bronzes from the 
 tomb of the Constable Anne de Montmorency also breathe 
 a profoundly French spirit. The figures represent Justice, 
 Courage, and Abundance. Germain Pilon's too tearful Mater 
 Dolorosa (painted terra-cotta) close by, from the Sainte 
 Chapelle, indicates the beginnings of modern French taste in 
 church furniture. His recumbent tomb of Valentine Balbiani, 
 on the other hand, is admirable as portraiture ; but the genius 
 of the artist is only fully displayed in the repulsive figure of 
 the same body seen emaciated in death and decomposition 
 beneath it. Barthelemy Prieur's recumbent figure of Anne 
 de Montmorency shows survival of the older type, doubtless 
 due to the prejudices of patrons. 
 
 Above it is an admirable piece of Renaissance sculpture, by 
 Jean Goujon, for the decoration of the rood-loft (now removed) 
 in St. Germain I'Auxerrois. The rare beauty of the existing 
 one at St. Etienne-du-Mont (by a far inferior artist) enables 
 us to estimate the loss we have sustained by its disappearance. 
 The Deposition, in the centre, marked by the highly classical 
 style and secular or almost sensuous beauty of its Maries, and 
 the anatomical knowledge displayed in its Dead Christ, should 
 be contrasted with earlier specimens in adjacent rooms. In 
 the accompanying figures of the four Evangelists, notice how 
 earlier conceptions of the writers and their attendant symbols 
 have been altogether modified by a Raphaelesque spirit. You 
 would scarcely notice the eagle, angel, bull, and lion (compare 
 Sacchi upstairs), unless you were told to look for them. Ger- 
 main Pilon's Agony in the Garden displays an exactly similar 
 transformation of a traditional subject. 
 
 Some interesting works are placed near the windows. In 
 the first is a fragment from the pulpit of the Church of the 
 Grands Augustins in Paris, by Germain Pilon, representing 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 185 
 
 Paul Preaching at Athens. The bald head and long beard 
 of the Apostle of the Gentiles are traditional ; the figure is 
 modelled on Italian precedents ; here again the female auditors 
 are introduced entirely in the classical spirit, and treated with 
 Renaissance love for exuberant femininity. Nominally sacred, 
 such works as this are really nothing more than sensuous and 
 decorative in their tendencies. The Church accepted them 
 because they were supposed to be artistic. Other fragments 
 opposite exemplify the same baneful tendency, pregnant with 
 decadence. Christ and the Woman of Samaria (with her 
 classical urn) is a subject we have already met with elsewhere : 
 here, it is much permeated by Renaissance feeling. The 
 Preaching of St. John Baptist gives the artist an opportunity 
 for introducing two attractive female listeners. In the second 
 window, the contrast between the comparatively archaic St. 
 Eloi from Dijon, and the Nymphs of the school of Jean Goujon, 
 is sufficiently abrupt to point its own moral. Germain Pilon's 
 Entombment may be instructively compared with Jean Goujon's 
 and others ; the Magdalen here is an admirable figure. Glance 
 across from one to the other and note the resemblance. Even 
 at this late date, how close is the similarity in the attitudes 
 of the chief actors ! They almost correspond figure for figure : — 
 Joseph of Arimathaea, and then Nicodemus, supporting the 
 dead Christ ; next, the fainting Madonna, in the arms of one 
 of the Maries ; then, the Magdalen at the foot, with her box 
 of ointment, and the mourning women ; all stand in the same 
 relations in the two reliefs. If you will compare both paint- 
 ings and sculptures in this manner, you will learn how much 
 the artist borrowed in each case from predecessors, and exactly 
 how much is his own invention. Opposite the Entombment 
 are other Nymphs of the school of Jean Goujon, and a charac- 
 teristic transitional figure of a Donor and his Family, showing 
 a distinct attempt to treat an old motive by the new methods ; 
 L the Donor, kneeling, introduced by his patron, St. John 
 Baptist ; R, two ladies of his family, introduced by a sainted 
 bishop and an abbot ; near them, their children, kneeling, but 
 with some genial allowance for the sense of tedium in infancy ; 
 in the background. Renaissance architecture, with quaint bas- 
 reliefs of Samson carrying off the gates of Gaza ; the Resur- 
 
l86 PARIS [III. 
 
 rection and Appearance to the Apostles; the Supper at Emmaus; 
 and Jonah emerging from the mouth of the whale. Works 
 like these, often artistically of less importance, nevertheless not 
 infrequently throw useful light on the nature of the conditions 
 under which the sculptor worked — the trammels of tradition, 
 the struggle to wriggle out of the commands of a patron, who 
 desires to see reproduced the types of his childhood. The 
 third window contains some charming but mutilated frag- 
 ments from the tomb of the Due de Guise : more figures by 
 Germain Pilon ; and a thoroughly Renaissance Awakening of 
 the Nymphs, attributed (with little doubt) to Fremin Roussel. 
 Germain Pilon's good bust of Charles IX strikes the keynote 
 of the king's vain and heartless character. The baby Christ, 
 by Richier, though evidently suffering from water on the brain, 
 is otherwise a charming early French conception of soft inno- 
 cence and infantile grace. Notice, above this, a somewhat 
 transitional Piet^, placed as a votive offering (like so many 
 other things) in the (old) church of Ste. Genevieve, with the 
 kneeling donor represented as looking on, after the earlier 
 fashion. The Judgment of Daniel, attributed to Richier, though 
 splendid in execution, forms an example of the more crowded 
 and almost confused composition which was beginning to 
 destroy the unity and simplicity of plastic art. As a whole, 
 the works in this room should be attentively and closely studied, 
 illustrating as they do the one exquisite moment of perfect 
 fruition, when the French Renaissance burst suddenly into full 
 flower, to be succeeded almost at once by painful degeneracy 
 and long slow decadence. I would specially recommend you 
 to compare closely the more classical works of this room with 
 those in the adjoining Salle de Michel Ange in order to recog- 
 nise the distinctively French tone as compared with the Italian. 
 The importance of these various rooms, of both nationalities, 
 to a comprehension of Paris and French art in general, cannot 
 be over-estimated. By their light alone can you fully under- 
 stand the fabric of the Louvre itself, the Luxembourg, the 
 Renaissance churches, the tombs at St. Denis, and above all, 
 Fontainebleau, St. Germain, Versailles itself, and the entire 
 development of architecture and sculpture from Franqois I*"^ 
 to the Revolutionary epoch. Especially should you always 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 1 87 
 
 bear in mind the importance of works from the Chateau de 
 Gaillon (early) and Chateau d'Anet (full French Renaissance). 
 
 In the vestibule, as you pass out, notice a copy in bronze, 
 probably by Barthdlemy Prieur, of the antique Huntress Diana, 
 the original of which we have already noticed in the Classical 
 Gallery. It helps to accentuate the direct dependence of French 
 Renaissance sculpture upon the classical model as well as upon 
 that of the contemporary Italians. Observe that while each 
 of these arts is based upon the antique, it necessarily follows 
 the antique models then and there known to it — not the " Venus 
 of Milo" discovered in 1820, or the figures from Olympia of 
 quite recent discovery. 
 
 3. MODERN SCULPTURE. 
 
 This collection is entered by a separate door in the Cour du 
 Louvre, marked E on Baedeker's plan. It takes up the 
 development of French plastic art at the point where the last 
 collection leaves off. It is, however, of vastly inferior interest, 
 and should only be visited by those who have time to spare 
 from more important subjects. The decline which affected 
 French painting after the age of the early Renaissance had 
 even more disastrous effects in the domain of sculpture. I 
 will not, therefore, enumerate individual works in these rooms, 
 but will touch briefly on the characteristics of the various 
 epochs represented in the various galleries. 
 
 The Salle de Puget contains sculptures of the age of Louis 
 XIII and XIV, for the most part theatrical, fly-away, and 
 mannered. They are grandiose with the grandiosity of the 
 school of Bernini ; unreal and over-draperied. Like contem- 
 porary painting, too, they represent official or governmental 
 art, with a courtier-like tendency to flattery of monarchy, 
 general and particular. A feeble pomposity, degenerating into 
 bombast, strikes their keynote. Few works in this room need 
 detain the visitor. 
 
 The Salle de Coyzevox continues the series, with numerous 
 portrait-busts of the celebrities of the age of Louis XIV, 
 mostly insipid and banal. The decline goes on with accele- 
 rated rapidity. 
 
 The Salle des Coustout mostly Louis XV, marks the lowest 
 
l88 PARIS [III. 
 
 depth of the degradation of plastic art, here reduced to the 
 level of Palais Royal trinkets. It represents the worst type of 
 1 8th century handicraft, and hardly contains a single passable 
 statue. Its best works are counterparts in marble of Boucher 
 and Greuze, but without even the touch of meretricious art 
 which colour and cleverness add to the craft of those boudoir 
 artists. Few of them rise to the level of good Dresden china. 
 The more ambitious lack even that mild distinction. 
 
 The Salle de Hotidon, of the Revolutionary epoch, shows 
 a slight advance upon the preceding (parallel to the later work 
 of Greuze), and is interesting from its portrait-busts of 
 American statesmen and French republican leaders. Some of 
 the ideal works, even, have touches of grace, and a slightly 
 severer taste begins to make itself apparent. The classical 
 period is foreshadowed. 
 
 The Salle de Chaudet, of the First Empire, answers in sculp- 
 ture to the School of David in painting. It is cold, dignified, 
 reserved, and pedantic. It imitates (not always at all success- 
 fully) the antique ideals. The best works in this room are 
 Canova's; but the intention is almost always better than the 
 execution. A sense of chilly correctness distinguishes these 
 blameless academic works from the natural grace and life of 
 antique Greek sculptors. They lie under the curse which 
 pursues revivals. 
 
 The Salle de Rude contains plastic work of the Restoration, 
 the July Monarchy, and the Second Empire. It answers 
 roughly to the romantic School of Delaroche in painting. 
 Several of these almost contemporary works have high merit, 
 though few of them aim at that reposeful expression which is 
 proper to sculpture. Some, indeed, trench upon the domain 
 of painting in their eager effort to express passing emotion 
 and action. Picturesqueness and sensuousness are their pre- 
 vailing features. Nevertheless, the room, as a whole, exhibits 
 the character of a real renaissance, such as it is, from the 
 mediocrity of the last century, and the bleak propriety of the 
 classical revival. Too many of the works, however, are aimed 
 at the taste of the Boulevards. They foreshadow that feeling 
 which makes too much modern sculpture attempt to catch 
 the public by flinging away everything that is proper to the 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 189 
 
 art. The desire for novelty is allowed to override the sense of 
 beauty and of just proportion : repose is lost ; dignity and 
 serenity give place to cleverness of imitation and apt catching 
 at the momentary expression. 
 
 III. THE SMALLER COLLECTIONS. 
 
 The other collections at the Louvre appeal for the most 
 part rather to the specialist than to the general public. They 
 are for workers, not for sight-seers. The Egyptian Museum, 
 
 for example, to the L as you enter the Cour du Louvre by the 
 main entrance, contains, perhaps, the finest collection of its 
 sort in all Europe. You must, of course, at least walk through 
 it — especially if you have not seen the British Museum. The 
 objects, however, are sufficiently indicated for casual visitors 
 by means of the labels ; they need not be enumerated. The 
 opposite wing, to the R as you enter, contains the Assyrian 
 Collection, inferior on the whole, especially in its bas-reliefs, 
 to that in the British Museum. Beyond it, again, to the left, 
 lie a group of rooms devoted to the intermediate region 
 between the sphere of Assyrian and Greek art. These 
 rooms ought certainly to be examined by any who wish to 
 form some idea of the origin and development of Hellenic 
 culture. The first two rooms of the suite contain Phcenician 
 works, — important because the Phoenicians were the precur- 
 sors of the Greeks in navigation and commerce in the 
 Mediterranean, and because early Greek art was largely based 
 on Phcenician imitations of Assyrian and Egyptian work, or 
 on actual Egyptian and Assyrian objects imported into Hellas 
 by Phoenician merchants. These Semitic seafarers had no 
 indigenous art of their own ; but they acted as brokers 
 between East and West, and they skilfully copied and imitated 
 the principal art-products of the two great civilisations on 
 whose confines they lay, though often without really under- 
 standing their true import. The Phoenicians were thus the 
 pioneers of civilisation in the Eastern Mediterranean. 
 
 Room IV, beyond these two, contains more Phoenician 
 antiquities, and others from Cyprus, an island inhabited by 
 Greeks or half Greeks, but one in which this imported Oriental 
 
190 PARIS [ill. 
 
 culture earliest took root and produced native imitations. 
 Examine these objects as leading up to, and finally correct- 
 ing, the archaic Greek work ill represented by a few objects 
 in the Salle de Phidias. The Salle de Mllet, beyond, con- 
 tains Greek antiquities from Asia Minor, some of which 
 indicate transition from the Assyrian to the Hellenic type. 
 Examine these from the point of view of development. 
 The reliefs from the temple of Assos in Mysia show an 
 early stage in the evolution of Asiatic Greek art. Compare 
 them with the archaic objects in the Salle de Phidias. It 
 must be borne in mind that civilised art entered Greece from 
 Assyria, by way of Phoenicia, the Hittites, Lydia, Phrygia, 
 the Ionian cities in Asia Minor, and the Islands of the 
 Archipelago. These intermediate rooms should therefore be 
 studied in detail from this point of view, dates and places 
 being carefully noted, as illustrating the westward march of 
 art from Nineveh to Athens. The last hall of the suite, the 
 Salle de Magnesie, on the other hand, contains works from 
 Ephesus of a late Greek period, representing rather i slight 
 barbaric deterioration than a transitional stage. These collec- 
 tions, most important to the student of Hellenic culture, may 
 be neglected by hurried or casual visitors. 
 
 The Salle Judaique, to the right, under the stairs, contains 
 the scanty remains of the essentially inartistic Jewish people, 
 interesting chiefly from the point of view of Biblical history. 
 The famous and much-debated Moabite Stone, recording 
 the battles of King Mesa of Moab with the Jews in B.C. 896, 
 is here preserved. It is believed to be the earliest existing 
 specimen of alphabetic as opposed to hieroglyphic or ideo- 
 graphic writing. 
 
 There is, however, one group of objects in the Louvre, too 
 seldom visited, which no one should omit to inspect if time 
 permits him. This is the admirable **Dieulafoy Collection 
 of Persian Antiquities. To arrive at it, go to the front of 
 the Old Louvre, facing St, Germain I'Auxerrois, as for the 
 previously noted series. Enter by the principal portal, and 
 turn to the R, through the Assyrian collection, whose winged 
 bulls and reliefs of kings you may now inspect in passing, 
 if you have not done so previously. Mount the staircase at 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I9I 
 
 the end, and, at the landing on the top, turn to your L, when 
 you will find yourself at once face to face with the collec- 
 tion. 
 
 The First Room contains merely Grreco- Babylonian objects 
 (of a different collection) which need only be inspected by 
 those whose leisure is ample. They illustrate chiefly the eflfect 
 of Hellenic influence on Asiatic models. On the entrance wall 
 of the Second Room is the magnificent *Frieze of Archers 
 of the Immortal Guard, in encaustic tiles, with cuneiform 
 inscriptions, from the Throne Room of Darius I. This 
 splendid work, mere fragment though it is of the original, 
 gives in its colour and decorative detail some idea of the 
 splendour of the Palace of the Persian monarchs. The 
 colours are those still so prevalent in Persian art, showing a 
 strong predominance of blues and greens, with faint tones of 
 yellow, over red and purple, which latter, indeed, are hardly 
 present. Round the rest of the walls are ranged decorative 
 fragments from the Palace of Artaxerxes Mnemon. Opposite 
 the archers is another magnificent frieze of angry lions, from 
 the summit of the portals in the last-named palace. The next 
 compartment of the same room contains the "^Base of a Column 
 and a ^^Capital of the same, also from the Palace of Artaxerxes 
 Mnemon : — two figures of bulls supporting between them the 
 enormous wooden rafters of the ceiling. These gigantic and 
 magnificent figures form perhaps the most effective and 
 adequate supports for a great weight to be found in any school 
 of architecture. 
 
 The next room contains the admirable reconstruction of 
 the Palace, when entire, showing the position on the walls of 
 either pylon, and the manner in which the columns supported 
 the colossal roof. If, from inspection of this model, we return 
 to the base and capitals themselves, we shall be able to judge 
 what must have been the magnificent and gigantic scale of 
 this Titanic building, the effect of which must have thrown 
 even the Temple of Karnac into the shade. At the side are a 
 lion and winged bull, which help to complete the mental 
 picture. This collection, unique in Europe, serves to give one 
 an idea of the early Persian civilisation which can nowhere 
 else be obtained, and which helps to correct the somewhat 
 
192 PARIS [ill. 
 
 one-sided idea derived from Ihe accounts of Greek historians. 
 On no account should you miss it. 
 
 The minor art-objects of the Louvre, though of immense 
 value and interest in themselves, may be largely examined by 
 those who have the time in the light of their previous work at 
 Cluny. The collection of drawings, one of the finest in Europe, 
 is mostly interesting to artists. That of smaller Medisval and 
 Renaissance Objects contains works closely similar to those at 
 Cluny, including admirable ivory-carvings, fine potter>' (the 
 best of which is that by Palissy, and the Henri II ware), 
 together with Oriental faience, bronzes, etc. The Qreelc Vases, 
 again, of which this Museum contains a magnificent collection, 
 are mainly interesting to Hellenic specialists. For the casual 
 visitor, it will suffice to examine one or two of them. The 
 Etruscan Antiquities give a good idea of the civilisation of 
 this ancient race, from which, both in earlier and later times, 
 almost all the art, poetry, and science of Italy has proceeded. 
 Though entirely based upon Greek models, the Etruscan pro- 
 ductions betray high artistic faculty and great receptive powers 
 of intellect. Among the minor Qreelc works, none are more 
 interesting than the beautiful little terra-cotta figures from 
 Tanagra in Bceotia, which cast an unexpected light on one 
 side of Greek art and culture. Examine them as supplement- 
 ing the collection of antique sculpture. These figurines, as they 
 are called, were produced in immense quantities, chiefly in 
 Bceotia, both for household decoration and to be buried with 
 the dead. They were first moulded or cast in clay, but they were 
 afterwards finished by hand, with the addition of just such 
 accessories or modifications as we have seen to obtain, in the 
 case of the statues in the antique gallery. Finally they were 
 gracefully and tastefully coloured. Nothing better indicates the 
 universality of high art-feeling among the ancient Greeks than 
 the extraordinary variety, fancy, and beauty of these cheap 
 objects of every-day decoration ; while the unexpected novelty 
 given by the slightest additions or alterations in wh^t (being 
 moulded) is essentially the same figure throws a flood of light 
 upon the methods of plastic art in higher departments. Look 
 out for these exquisite little figures as you pass through the 
 (inner) rooms on the South Side of the old Cour du Louvre, on 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) 193 
 
 the First Floor. Most of them will be found in Room L of 
 Baedeker's plan. Almost every visitor is equally surprised and 
 charmed by their extremely modern tone of feeling. They are 
 alive and human. In particular, the playfulness of Greek art 
 is here admirably exemplified. Many of them have touches 
 of the most graceful humour. 
 
 Here, again, do not suppose that because I do not specify, 
 these minor works of art are of little importance. If you have 
 time, examine them all : but you must do so by individual care 
 and study. 
 
 The neighbouring Salle des Bijoux contains beautiful antique 
 jewellery ; do not miss the very graceful gold tiara presented 
 to the Scythian King Saitaphernes by the Greek city of Olbia 
 in the Crimea— a lovely work of the 3rd century B.C. Its 
 authenticity has been disputed, but not its beauty. 
 
 The Qalerie d'Apollon contains, among many objects of 
 considerable interest, the Reliquary which encloses the Arm of 
 Charlemagne — who, having been canonized, was duly entitled 
 to such an honour. The Reliquary of St. Henry, and the 
 Chasse of St. Louis are also well worthy of inspection. Notice, 
 too, the Hand of Justice, used at the coronation of the French 
 Kings. But all these objects can only be properly studied, by 
 those who wish to investigate them, with the aid of the official 
 catalogue. I shall recur at greater length to a few of them after 
 our return from St. Denis. 
 
 When you have learnt Paris well, go often to and fro between 
 these rooms of the Louvre, the Mediaeval and Renaissance 
 Sculpture, the halls at Cluny (particularly Room VI, with its 
 French architectural work), and the older churches, such as St. 
 Germain-des-Pres, Notre-Dame, St. Denis, etc. Thus only 
 can you build up and consolidate your conceptions. 
 
 A special small collection, to which part of a day may well be 
 devoted, is the Early Christian Sculpture, to which I have 
 already briefly alluded, in the first room to the R as you 
 enter the Renaissance Galleries in the Cour du Louvre. 
 
 The centre of the hall is occupied by a good Early Christian 
 sarcophagus, with a cover not its own, sufficiently described 
 as to origin on the label. The front towards the window 
 
 N 
 
194 PARIS [ill. 
 
 represents the True Vine, surrounding the " X P," which form 
 the first two letters of the name of Christ in Greek, inscribed in 
 a solar circle, and with the Alpha and Omega on either side of 
 it. This figure, repeated on various works in this room in 
 slightly different shapes, is known as a Labarum. It forms, 
 after Constantine (who adopted it as his emblem and that of 
 the Christianized Empire), the most frequent symbol on early 
 Christian monuments. Note modern reproductions on the 
 frieze of this apartment. Its variations are numerous. At the 
 ends, are other True Vines and a better Labarum, with a Star 
 of Bethlehem. The back has the same devices repeated. 
 
 Wall nearest the entrance, several inscriptions, among 
 which notice the frequency of the Labarum, with the two birds 
 pecking at it, — a common Early Christian Symbol. Below 
 them, good early sarcopliagus. On its end, remote from 
 window, Daniel in the Lions' Den, a traditional representation, 
 of which an extremely rude barbaric degradation may be 
 noticed, high up, near the door which leads into the Delia 
 Robbia room, adjacent. In Early Christian art certain sub- 
 jects from the Old and New Testaments became convention- 
 alised, and were repeated on numerous works ; of which this 
 scene of Daniel is an example. Observe here that Old 
 Testament subjects are frequent ; while Madonnas are rare, 
 and saints almost unknown. Further on, on the ground, 
 sarcophagus representing Cfirist with tlie Tweive Apostles. 
 The treatment here, in spite of slight Oriental tendencies (com- 
 pare the Mithra reliefs) is on the whole purely classical. Now, 
 the great interest in this room is to watch the way in which 
 classical styles and figures passed slowly from pagan types into 
 Christian, and again from the debased classical types of the 
 later Empire into those of Romanesque or Gothic barbarity. 
 As an example of this surviving pagan element, see, on the wall 
 to the R of this sarcophagus, Elijah taken up to Heaven in a 
 chariot of fire, and leaving his mantle to Elisha. Here, the 
 Jordan is represented, in truly pagan style, by a river-god 
 rechning on an urn and holding water-weeds. Such river-gods 
 were the conventional classical way of representing a river (see 
 the Tiber here, and the Nile of the Vatican, reproduced in the 
 Vestibule) : and Christian artists at first so represented the 
 
III.] RENAISSANCE PARIS {THE LOUVRE) I95 
 
 Jordan, as in the Baptism of Christ (in mosaic) in the Baptistery 
 of the Orthodox at Ravenna. 
 
 Above the sarcophagus of Christ and the Twelve Apostles is 
 an extremely beautiful altar-front from the abbey of St. Denis 
 (read label) with a cross and palm trees, the True Vine inter- 
 lacing it, and the characteristic wave-pattern, which you may 
 note on many other works in this room. This is the most 
 beautiful piece of early Romanesque or intermediate Christian 
 carving in this collection. 
 
 In the centre of the Elijah wall, below, a sarcophagus with a 
 very Oriental figure of the Good Shepherd — a frequent early 
 Christian device. Compare this figure with the plaster cast of 
 a similar statue from Rome, near the Delia Robbia doorway. 
 Compare the marked Orientalism of fiice, form, and foot-gear 
 with the Mithra reliefs. Above it. Scenes from the Life of 
 Christ : — Blessing the Children, Christ and Peter, the Woman 
 of Samaria, etc. ; treatment quite classical. Still higher, 
 sarcophagus-front of Christ and the Twelve Apostles ; work- 
 manship becoming decadent ; architecture, classical in the 
 centre, passing at the sides into early Romanesque or Con- 
 stantinian and Diocletianesque, as in some of the other examples 
 in this room. Lof it, Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac, with rather 
 late architecture. 
 
 All the other objects in this room should be carefully ex- 
 amined, and their place of origin noted. The symbols and the 
 frequent Oriental tinge should also be observed. Likewise, the 
 absence of several ideas and symbols which come in later. Note 
 that there are no crucifixions, sufferings, or martyrdoms ; the 
 tone is joyous. Many of the minor objects have their own value. 
 Thus, the fish, by the entrance door, is a common Early Chris- 
 tian symbol, because the Greek word IX0Y2 formed the initials 
 of the sentence, " Jesus Christ, Son of God, the Saviour" ; and 
 its sacred significance is here still further emphasised by the 
 superimposed cross — a symbol, however, which does not belong 
 to the very earliest ages of Christendom. So, on the opposite 
 wall of the window, notice the little Daniel in the Den of Lions, 
 and the youthful beardless Christ with a halo. The longer you 
 study these interesting remains, the more will you see in them. 
 
 Those who have had their interest aroused in Early Christian 
 
T96 PARIS [III. 
 
 art from the examination of this room will find the subject best 
 pursued at Rome (Catacombs and Lateran) and Ravenna, where 
 we can trace the long decline from classical freedom to Byzan- 
 tine stiffness and Gothic barbarism, as well as the slow upward 
 movement from the depths of the early Romanesque style to the 
 precursors of the Renaissance. For the chronological pursuit 
 of this enticing subject the best order of visiting is Rome, 
 Ravenna, Bologna, Pisa, Siena, Florence. For a list of the 
 extensive literature of the subject, see Dean Farrar's Christ in 
 Art. 
 
I \ 
 
 THE NORTH BANK (RIVE DROITE) 
 
 r"P)ARIS, north of the river,— which is for most purposes 
 L XT ^^6 practical Paris of business and pleasure (and of 
 the ordinary tourist) at the present day — has grown by slow 
 degrees from small beginnings. The various rings of its 
 growth are roughly marked on the Map of Historical Paris. 
 The wall of Philippe Auguste started from near the eastern- 
 most end of the existing Louvre, and, after bending inland 
 so as just to enclose the Halles Centrales, reached the river 
 again near the upper end of the tie St. Louis. It thus en- 
 circled the district immediately opposite the primitive islands . 
 and this innermost region, the Core of the Right Bank, still 
 contains most of the older buildings and places of interest 
 N. of the river. Etienne Marcel's walls took a slightly wider 
 sweep, as shown on the Map ; and by the time of Louis XIII, 
 the town had reached the limit of the Great Boulevards, 
 which, with their southern prolongation, still enclose almost 
 everything of historical or artistic interest in modern Paris. 
 The fact that the kings had all their palaces in this northern 
 district was partly a cause, partly perhaps an effect, of its rapid 
 predominance. The town was now spreading mainly north- 
 ward. 
 
 The increase of the royal power brought about by Richelieu, 
 and the consequent stability and internal peace of the kingdom, 
 combined with the complete change in methods of defence 
 which culminated in Vauban, enabled Louis XIV to pull down 
 the walls of Paris altogether, and to lay out the space covered 
 by his predecessor's fortifications in that series of broad curved 
 avenues which still bears from this circumstance the name of 
 Boulevards (" bulwarks " or ramparts). The original line so 
 
 107 
 
198 PARIS [IV. 
 
 named, from the Bastille to the Madeleine, is ordinarily spoken 
 of to this day simply as " the Boulevard." All the others called 
 by the same have borrowed the title, mostly at a very recent 
 date, from this older girdle. Gradually, the Faubourgs which 
 gathered beyond the line of the inner city, as well as beyond 
 the artificial southern prolongation of the Boulevards by which 
 Louis continued his circle, with true French thoroughness of 
 system, on the southern bank, have entirely coalesced with the 
 central town, and at last enormously outgrown it. Neverthe- 
 less, to the end, the Paris of Louis XIV continues to enclose 
 almost all that is vital in the existing city. Especially is 
 Paris within the Great Boulevards to this day the Paris 
 of business and finance : it includes the Bourse, the Banque 
 de France, the Bourse de Commerce, the chief markets, the 
 Post Office, the Ministries of Finance, Marine, and Justice, the 
 Hotel de Ville, numerous Government Offices, the principal 
 wholesale warehouses, financial firms, and agencies, and almost 
 all the best shops, hotels, banks, and business houses. 
 
 Even the inner circle itself, again, within the Boulevards, 
 has been largely transformed by modem alterations, especially 
 in that extensive reorganisation of the city inaugurated under 
 Napoleon III by Baron Haussmann. In the brief itinerary 
 which follows, and in which I have endeavoured to give the 
 reader in two short walks or drives some general idea of the 
 development of the Right Bank, with its chief points of interest, 
 I shall indicate roughly the various ages of the great thorough- 
 fares, and note with needful conciseness the causes which at 
 various times led to their construction.] 
 
 A. THE CORE OF THE RIGHT BANK 
 
 Start from the Place de la Concorde, and walk eastward 
 along the Rue de Rivoli, in the direction of the Louvre. (If 
 you like, the top of an omnibus will suffice as far as the Hotel 
 de Ville.) The Place de la Concorde itself, though old in 
 essence, is, in its present form, quite a modern creation, having 
 been laid out in 1854 under the Second Empire, when it was 
 decorated with the 8 seated stone figures, wearing mural crowns, 
 and representing the chief cities of France (including Stras- 
 bourg\ The Luxor obelisk (age of Rameses II) was erected 
 
IV.] THE NORTH BANK {RIVE DROITE) I99 
 
 in the Place, in its simpler form, by Louis Philippe, in 1836. 
 The two handsome large buildings on the N. side are still 
 earlier in date, age of Louis XV : one of them is occupied by 
 the Minist^re de la Marine — that nearest the Tuileries. 
 
 Proceed along the Rue de Rivoll, driven through this part 
 of Paris by Napoleon L He was a Corsican, and admired his 
 native Italian arcaded streets, which he transplanted to Paris 
 in this thoroughfare, and in the Rues Castiglione, and des Pyra- 
 mides, all of which commemorate his victories. The form, 
 however, is ill-adapted to the North, being draughty and sun- 
 less : and Frenchmen have never cared for the Rue de Rivoli, 
 which is the street of strangers and especially of Englishmen. 
 The native Parisian has always preferred to sun himself on the 
 Boulevards. To your R are the Gardens of the Tuileries, 
 still much as they were laid out under Louis XIV by Le Notre, 
 in the formal style which well accorded with that artificial 
 epoch. They contrast markedly with the newer portion, fur- 
 ther E., on the site of the Palace, laid out by the present Republic 
 in something like the English manner. 
 
 L, as you proceed, lies the Rue Castiglione, another of 
 Napoleon's arcaded streets, leading up to the Place and 
 Colonne Vendome. R, a little further on, you come abreast 
 of the Louvre, the first Pavilion being part of the connecting 
 wing of the Tuileries. L, the Rue des Pyramides, again 
 Napoleonic : and further L, opens up the Place du Palais- 
 Royal, with the faQade of the Palace showing behind it. This 
 part, marked Conseil d'Etat, is the original building (much 
 restored and rebuilt) : it was erected by Richelieu for his own 
 occupation, and bore at first the name of Palais-Cardinal. 
 Occupied after his death by the widow of Louis XIII, it took 
 its present name : and was later the residence of the notorious 
 Regent, Philippe d'Orl^ans, and of his scheming grandson, 
 Philippe 6galite. The garden behind, with an arcade of shops, 
 now half deserted and uninteresting, which also bears the name 
 of Palais-Royal (almost to the exclusion of the original build- 
 ing) was laid out and let in this curious way by the Regent, as 
 a commercial speculation. As a relic of the past, it is worth 
 ten minutes' visit, some time in passing. 
 
 Continue along the Rue de Rivoli, eastward, till you reach 
 
200 PARIS [IV. 
 
 the Rue du Louvre. So far, you have been passing through 
 the Paris of Louis XIII, Louis XIV, and the Empire ; but now 
 you are abreast with the wall of Philippe Auguste, and enter 
 the Core of the Rig:ht Bank. Old as this part is, however, 
 by origin, few of its buildings are mediaeval ; almost everything 
 has been re-made in the Renaissance period. To your R lies 
 the site of the old chdteaii of the Louvre, and opposite it, the 
 mediaeval Church of St. Germain I'Auxerrois, one of the few 
 remaining, which thus announces your arrival in early Paris 
 from the town of Napoleon and Francois I^^ (The Rue du 
 Louvre itself is of very recent origin, and leads to the L to the 
 new Post Office.) Still going east, you have on your R the 
 tower of St. Jacques, once another fine mediaeval church, now 
 demolished, (Near it, on the L, opens out the modern Boule- 
 vard de Sebastopol, forming part of the great trunk line from 
 N. to s., which was a principal feature in the Haussmannizing 
 plan. It is known, further N., as the Boulevard de Strasbourg, 
 and s. as the Boulevard du Palais, and the Boulevard St. Michel.) 
 Keep on till you come to the Hotel de Ville, the centre of 
 the town on the North Bank. 
 
 The old Hotel de Ville, which this building replaces, was 
 erected in 1533, under Francois P', by an Italian architect, 
 in emulation of the similar buildings in Italy and the Low 
 Countries. It was afterwards largely added to at various times, 
 and played an important part in the history of Paris. This 
 first Hotel de Ville, however (a handsome Renaissance building), 
 was unfortunately burned down during the internal struggles 
 of 1 87 1. The present edifice wa^- erected shortly after, in much 
 the same style, but on a larger scale ; a walk round the exterior 
 will help to piece out the visitor's conception of Renaissance 
 Paris. Note here once more the pavilions at the angles, and 
 other features which recall the Louvre. A visit to the interior 
 is quite unnecessary for any save those hardened sightseers 
 who desire to inspect the decorations and arrangements of 
 purely contemporary buildings. The sole reason for coming 
 to the Hotel de Ville at all, indeed, is the desirability of recog- 
 nising its historic site, and understanding that here, by the hall 
 of the old Prevot des Marchands and the seat of the revolu- 
 tionary Commune of Robespierre's period, you stand at the 
 
IV THE NORTH BANK {RIVE DROITE) 201 
 
 heart of La Ville — the Paris of the merchants. The building 
 is occupied by the Prefet de la Seine — the Department which 
 practically coincides with Paris. The Place in front of it, now 
 called after the Hotel itself, is the old Place de Gr^ve, the 
 famous place of execution under the old Monarchy, — almost 
 equally conspicuous in the history of the great Revolution. 
 
 Earlier still than the building of Francois I", a " Hostel de 
 Ville " had stood upon the same site, purchased for the purpose 
 by Etienne Marcel, Prevot des Marchands, the real founder of 
 the Paris municipality — to whom, therefore, a bronze equestrian 
 statue has been erected in the little square facing the river. 
 
 The Hotel de Ville forms a convenient centre from which to 
 begin the exploration of the core of the northern city. Walk 
 round to the back (with a second fine fa<^ade) and, between the 
 two handsome barracks, you see towering before you the front 
 of the church of 
 
 5t. Qervais. 
 This is an old church, remodelled : and, unlike most of the 
 churches in the older part of Paris, it does 7tot commemorate a 
 local saint. Gervasius and Protasius, to whom it is dedicated, 
 were two very doubtful martyrs of the persecution under Nero, 
 whose names, bodies, and resting-place were miraculously and 
 conveniently revealed to St. Ambrose at Milan (a.d. 387) at the 
 exact moment when he needed relics for the church he had 
 built, and which is now dedicated to him — the most interesting 
 building in that beautiful city. St. Germain, bishop of Paris, 
 brought back some relics of these saints in 560 : and thence- 
 forth St. Gervais and St. Protais became great objects of cult, 
 like St. Stephen, in the Prankish city. (They are frequent 
 subjects of French pictures in the 17th century.) This church, 
 dedicated to them, probably occupies the site of one built by 
 St. Germain in their honour. It was begun in 12 12, added to 
 and completely altered in 1420, and finally remodelled in front 
 in the later Renaissance or classic manner. Most of the build- 
 ing as it stands is late Gothic ; but you must go to the side to 
 see it : the incongruous classic faqade^ illustrating the Doric, 
 Ionic, and Corinthian orders, was added by Debrosse in 16 16. 
 Notice the coldness and bareness of this pseudo-classical front, 
 as compared with the rich detail of the earlier mediicval ex- 
 
202 PARIS [IV. 
 
 teriors. Almost the only breaks are the figures, on either side, 
 of the two martyrs to contain whose relics the church was 
 built. The sides, enclosed in houses which go close up to the 
 wall, show the earlier architecture. Most churches in Paris 
 were so walled up during the 17th century. The tower, and 
 the aspect of the streets at the side, are very characteristic of a 
 set of old effects now seldom visible. 
 
 The interior is chiefly noticeable for its great height, and 
 for its interesting Late Gothic architecture. The patron saints, 
 with their palms of martyrdom, stand on either side of the 
 High Altar. The chapels at the S, side should be examined 
 separately : in one is a good stained glass window by Pinaigrier 
 (restored) of the Judgment of Solomon. Notice to what saint 
 each is dedicated. The beautiful flamboyant Lady Chapel, be- 
 hind the choir, contains good modern frescoes, illustrating the 
 mystic titles of the Blessed Virgin, whose history is shown in 
 the stained glass of the windows, also by Pinaigrier, but very 
 much restored. These scenes the reader will now, I trust, be 
 able to follow for himself — the birth, education, marriage, etc., 
 of the Virgin, with the events of her life as recorded in the 
 Gospels, and her death and assumption. Good Pietk (Christ 
 mourned by angels) as you return on the N. side, with some 
 excellent paintings — Martyrdom of St. Juliet, etc. I do not 
 enlarge, as I hope the reader is now able to follow the lead I 
 have given him in previous churches. 
 
 From St. Gervais, walk a little way along the N. side of the 
 church, enclosed in its curious envelope of houses, till you 
 come to the Mairie of the I Vth Arrondissement. Then, turn up 
 into the Rue de la Verrerie, along which continue till you 
 reach the side of the church of St. Merri, almost hidden from 
 view by a wall of houses. The fiK^ade is round the corner, in 
 the Rue St. Martin. This is one of the few remaining mediaeval 
 churches in this district. St. Merri (Abbot Mederic of Autun) 
 was a (historical) saint of the 7th century, local and early. He 
 had a hermitage on this spot (then in the woods), and was 
 finally buried here. The shrine over his tomb became the 
 centre of a Parisian cult, and several churches rose successively 
 above his body. The present one was not built till 1520 ; it is 
 nevertheless a good late Gothic building. But notice the 
 
IV.] THE NORTH BANK {RIVE DROITE) 203 
 
 decline from the purity of Notre-Dame and the exquisite light- 
 ness of St. Louis's chapel. Handsome flamboyant doorway, 
 one mass of sculpture : statues of 12 Apostles, with symbols of 
 their martyrdoms, all restored, after being destroyed in the 
 Revolution. The interior is interesting, but spoilt in 17th 
 century : good stained glass, badly injured. I bring you here 
 mainly for the sake of the reminiscences. 
 
 Continue straight on through characteristic old streets, to the 
 modern Boulevard de Sebastopol, which cuts right through the 
 core of Paris. Cross it and take the first turn to the left (as 
 you walk northward) observing the marked contrast of the 
 modern thoroughfare to the narrow streets we have just been 
 traversing. Go along the Rue de la Reynie, and continue for 
 one block, till you see, a little obliquely to your right, the 
 
 Square des Innocents. 
 In the centre rises the Fontaine des Innocents, designed by 
 Pierre Lescot, with beautiful and appropriate sculptured figures 
 of nymphs, bearing urns of water, by Jean Goujon. The 
 fountain originally stood with its back to the Church of the 
 Innocents, demolished in 1783. It has been re-erected here, 
 with a fourth side added (to the S.), and has been much altered 
 by the addition of a base and cupola. Nevertheless, it still 
 remains a beautiful and typical example of French Renaissance 
 architecture and sculpture. The coquettish reliefs, indeed, are 
 not perhaps more lovely than those which adorn Jean Goujon's 
 portion of the Louvre ; but they are nearer to the eye, and the 
 scale enables one to judge of the entire effect more truthfully. 
 The other exquisite nymphs which we saw in the Renaissance 
 Sculpture at the Louvre, were originally part of the same 
 fountain. The pretty little square in which the fountain stands 
 is characteristic of the many democratic public gardens of 
 Paris. 
 
 Proceed diagonally across the square, and continue along the 
 North side of the Halles Centrales, till the east end of 
 
 5t. Eustacfie 
 
 with its characteristic French chevety comes in view before you. 
 At the Pointe St. Eustache, as you cross the roadway, look up 
 the vistas of un-Haussmannized Paris, again contrasting vividly 
 with the broad Rue de Turbigo, which runs hence to the Place 
 
204 PARIS [IV. 
 
 de la Rdpublique. Do not enter at the first door at which you 
 arrive— the one in the chevet — a rather good one — but continue 
 along the South side of the church, observing as you pass the 
 beautiful transept, with fine rose window, noble Renaissance 
 portal, and a stag's head with the crucifix (emblem of St. 
 Eustace) surmounting the gable. Go on round the corner to 
 the gaunt, bare, lumbering, and unimposing late Renaissance 
 or classical faqade. In this you see the worst aspect of the 
 decadent Renaissance architecture of Louis XIV — no saints, 
 no archways. The door to the R gives access to the interior. 
 In any other town but Paris, so splendid a building, rivalling 
 many cathedrals, would attract numerous visitors. Here, it is 
 hardly noticed. This is the church of the " Dames de la 
 Halle " or market-women, who may often be observed in it. 
 
 We have already seen in brief at Cluny the main elements of 
 the story of St. Eustace, the saint who was converted by the 
 apparition of the Christ between the horns of the stag he was pur- 
 suing. Though not a local martyr, St. Eustace early obtained 
 great consideration in Paris. But the first church here was 
 one to St. Agnes : look out for memorials of her throughout 
 the building. St. Eustace had practically supplanted her as 
 early as 1223 : his church, after many enlargements, was finally 
 pulled down under Frangois I*^"", and the present splendid 
 Renaissance edifice erected in its place in 1532 ; completed in 
 1640. It is a strangely picturesque and unique building. St. 
 Eustache, indeed, displays Renaissance architecture in a 
 transitional state, endeavouring vainly to free itself from the 
 traditions of the Gothic. In general plan, and in the combina- 
 tion of all its parts, it is in essence a Gothic cathedral ; but 
 its arches are round, and its detail and decorative work are all 
 conceived in the classical spirit of the Renaissance. If you 
 wish to see the difference between such a church and one in 
 which developed Renaissance methods have finally triumphed, 
 you must visit St. Sulpice. 
 
 Note three things about St.- Eustache: (i) it replaces a church 
 to St. Agnes, who is still one of its two patronesses ; (2) it 
 is the great musical church of Paris ; (3) it is the church 
 of the markets. 
 
 Immediately on entering, stand in the centre of the nave. 
 
IV.] THE NORTH BANK {RIVE DROITE) 205 
 
 and look up the church towards the choir and cheveL The 
 enormous size of the building will at once strii<e you. Notice, 
 too, the tall, round arches of the nave and aisles, the triforium 
 above them (best seen from the aisles), and, higher still, the 
 clerestory rising above the aisle-vaulting. The proportions 
 are admirable. Observe also the roof, essentially Gothic in 
 plan, though with an incongruous substitution of round for 
 pointed arches. But note that all these quasi-Gothic con- 
 structive features are combined with classical columns and 
 pilasters of the three great orders — Doric, Ionic, Corinthian 
 — superimposed, and with such Renaissance detail as masks, 
 cherubs, and other later decorative features. 
 
 Now walk up the R aisle. Everything in this church is, 
 of course, comparatively modern, but still rich in symbolism. 
 Most of the chapels have their names inscribed upon them 
 — an excellent feature. The first, containing Franciscan 
 Saints, has a good modern stained-glass window, representing 
 the Saints and Patrons of the Order — St. Francis, St. Louis, 
 etc. Observe the frescoes in the various chapels, and note 
 their applicability to the saints to whom they are dedicated. 
 I need not now enlarge upon this point. For example, the 
 chapel of the Souls in Purgatory has a relief of Christ bound 
 to the pillar — His purgatory— (a portion of it is preserved 
 here) and a fresco representing mourning souls below, with 
 triumphant ones in heaven. Observe from this point the 
 beautiful Renaissance detail of the aisles and of the vaulting 
 in the ambulatory, or passage behind the choir. Do not 
 overlook the chapels of St. Agnes (co-patroness) and St. Cecilia, 
 the inventress of the organ and patroness of music. The 
 transepts are very short, but are decorated with good rose- 
 windows and other excellent semi-Gothic detail. Walk round 
 the ambulatory, noticing as you go the various chapels with 
 their polychromatic decoration and their appropriate frescoes. 
 Thus, that of St. Anne contains a representation of the Saint 
 educating her daughter the Virgin. Note also on your L as 
 you go the delicate work of the choir-screen, and the excellent 
 vaulting and decoration of the lofty choir. The Lady Chapel 
 behind the choir is not wholly pleasing. It contains a good 
 1 8th century statue of the Virgin and Child by Pigalle. 
 
206 PARIS [IV. 
 
 Observe particularly in the North part of the ambulatory the 
 chapel of Ste. Genevieve, with scenes from her legend. The 
 chapel of St. Louis, next it, contains excellent modern frescoes 
 from his life, by Barrias, and a fine stained-glass window of 
 his education, with his mother, Blanche of Castille, looking 
 on, beneath a canopy marked with fleurs-de-lis and the three 
 castles of Castille. One fresco represents him taking the 
 Crown of Thorns to the Sainte Chapelle. Observe these little 
 historical reminiscences : they add interest. Pleasing reliefs 
 in the North transept of St. Cecilia and King David, repre- 
 senting music, for which this church has always been cele- 
 brated, especially on St. Cecilia's Day and Good Friday. They 
 stand for Psalms and Hymns — the Jewish and the Christian 
 psalmody. Notice, again, the figure of St. Agnes with her 
 iamb, between the doorways, a tribute to the earlier dedication 
 of the building. Above it, good stained-glass window of the 
 Annunciation, with traditional details. (Do not be content 
 to notice merely the points to which I call attention, but 
 observe for yourself as you go the other figures, with their 
 meaning and connection. To spell it all out is half the 
 pleasure.) Above the Holy Water vessel in this Transept is 
 a figure of Pope Alexander I, who first sanctioned the use 
 of Holy Water, accompanied by angels. Beneath it, the 
 baffled and disappointed demons, fleeing from the consecrated 
 water. The next chapel contains the relics of St. Eustace 
 and his children, martyrs. It is, perhaps, a little characteristic 
 of modern feeling that the half-mythical namesake saint of 
 the church should thus be relegated to a subordinate chapel 
 in the edifice originally erected to his honour. The pictures 
 are imitated from those in the Catacombs at Rome. Notice, 
 in particular, the fresco of St. Eustace kneeling before the 
 stag, which displays between its horns the miraculous image ; 
 also, the subsequent scenes of his legend (for which, see Mrs. 
 Jameson). Beautiful view from this point of the choir and 
 ambulatory. 
 
 Do not leave this interesting building without having ex- 
 amined all its details. It contains enough to occupy you for 
 several hours, and is rich in illustrations of modern Catholic 
 sentiment. Even the most tawdry bits of its modern church 
 
IV.] THE NORTH BANK {RIVE DROITE) 207 
 
 furniture become of interest when examined as parts of a 
 consistent whole, falling into their due place in a great system 
 of belief and the government of conduct. You have not 
 really understood a church till you have grasped this connec- 
 tion between its various members. Ask yourself always, 
 " Why is this here 1 " and though you may not always be 
 able to see, the longer you proceed to investigate in this spirit, 
 the more will the meaning of the whole come home to you. 
 For example, return to the S. Transept and observe the 
 figure of St. Gregory : he is the musical Father from whom 
 the Gregorian chants take their name, and as such deserves 
 commemoration in the musical church. 
 
 Quitting St. Eustache, you can continue westward a few 
 steps, and then turn down a short street on the left, which 
 leads you obliquely to a curious circular building, the Bourse 
 de Commerce. Skirt round this till you come to its ugly 
 faqade^ and then continue your way into the Rue du Louvre. 
 
 This short walk will have enabled you to take your bearings 
 in the heart of the old district north of the river. You can 
 prolong it a little, if you choose, through the town of Louis 
 XIV, by walking northward along the Rue du Louvre as far 
 as the new Post Office, and then turning to the left into the 
 little circular Place des Victoires with its clumsy rearing 
 equestrian statue of the Grand Monarch. The Place dates from 
 his reign, and was designed by Mansart. Originally known as 
 the Place Louis XIV, it was decorated by an earlier statue of the 
 king, destroyed in the Revolution. The Restoration replaced 
 it by the present ugly monument. A few steps to the N.-w. 
 stands the Church of Notre- Dame des Victoires, begun in 1656, 
 to commemorate the taking of La Rochelle, the Huguenot 
 stronghold. It is instructive to compare this building of the 
 worst period with the Mediaeval and Renaissance churches 
 you have just been examining. The Rue Notre-Dame des 
 Victoires will lead you hence up to the Bourse (adequately 
 viewed from outside), whence the brand-new Rue du 4 Sep- 
 tembre takes you straight back to the Opdra and the centre of 
 modern Paris. 
 
 I have only walked you here through a small part of this 
 older town ; but if you care to explore the interesting district, 
 
208 PARIS [IV. 
 
 rich in Renaissance and even Mediaeval buildings, which lies 
 to the east of the Hotel de Ville, you cannot do better than 
 take Mr. Augustus Hare's Paris as your guide — a valuable 
 book, especially rich in historical reminiscences of the Renais- 
 sance period, the epoch of Louis XIV, and the Great 
 Revolution. Mr. Hare will lead you to many forgotten nooks 
 of old Paris, which the modest dimensions of the present 
 handbook are insufficient to deal with. But I advise you only 
 to explore these less-known byways after you have examined 
 all the objects of first-rate importance here enumerated. 
 
 The Musee Carnavalet, also in this district, you had 
 better defer visiting till after you have seen the Ecole des 
 Beaux-Arts, in the St. Germain Quarter, south of the river. 
 It will be noticed later. 
 
 B. THE OUTER RING OF LOUIS XIV 
 
 A second, and doubtless to the reader by this time more 
 familiar walk, round the Great Boulevards, will suffice to 
 give a hasty conception of the Paris of Louis XIV and his 
 immediate successors. Even if you are already well acquain- 
 ted with the route, go over it once more, if only on the top 
 of an omnibus, at this stage of your investigation, in order 
 to take your bearings more fully. It must be borne in 
 mind for the purposes of this walk or ride that in the earlier 
 mediaeval period the district between the Boulevards and the 
 central core consisted, for the most part, of gardens and fields, 
 among which were interspersed a few rural monasteries and 
 suburban churches. These last have long since, of course, 
 become wholly imbedded in modern Paris, but I will note 
 as we pass a few earlier objects which it may be interesting 
 for those who have time to diverge and visit. 
 
 Start from the Luxor Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde 
 (noting here and elsewhere the Roman reminiscence of the 
 bronze ships of Paris on the gas-lamps— as you see them at 
 the Thermes), and walk up the Rue Royale,— the first portion 
 of the great ring of streets which girdles the city of Louis 
 XIV. The Rue St. Honor^, to your R, was, before the 
 construction of the Rue de Rivoli and the Champs Elysdes, 
 the chief road which led westward out of ancient Paris. The 
 
IV.] THE NORTH BANK {RIVE DROIT E) 209 
 
 Porte St. Honord stood on this site, where it crossed the 
 barrier by the modern Rue Royale. Beyond it, the street takes 
 the characteristic name of the Rue du Faubourg St. Honord ; 
 and all the other streets which cross the girdle similarly 
 change their name to that of the corresponding Faubourg as 
 they pass beyond it. These long straggling roads, lined with 
 houses on the outskirts (Faubourg St. Honore, Montmartre, 
 St. Denis, du Temple, etc.), have finally become the chief 
 residential quarters of the city at the present day. 
 
 The handsome classical building in front of us is the 
 Madeleine— (Church of St. Mary Magdalen)— the last stage 
 in the classical mania which substituted Graeco-Roman 
 temples for Christian churches and other edifices. (See 
 previous stages in St. Paul and St. Louis, the Sorbonne, the 
 Invalides, the Pantheon, etc.) Begun under Louis XV, it was 
 not completed till the Restoration. In style it follows the late 
 Roman variation on the Corinthian-Greek model. Notice, 
 however, as you approach, that even tiiis Grecian building 
 bears on its purely classical pediment the stereotyped Parisian 
 subject of the Last Judgment, with the Angel of the Last 
 Trump, and the good and wicked to R and L of the 
 Redeemer. Only, in this case, St. Mary Magdalen, under 
 whose invocation, as the inscription states, the church is 
 dedicated, kneels by the L side of Christ, imploring mercy 
 for the wicked. Compare this last term in the treatment of 
 this old conventional portal-relief with its naif beginnings 
 at Notre-Dame and St. Denis. It is also worth while to enter 
 and inspect the chapels, the paintings and sculpture in which 
 will reveal their dedications. (See also Baedeker.) 
 
 The Rue Royale forms the first part of the girdle of Louis 
 XIV. From the Madeleine onward, we enter that wider part 
 of this girdle which still distinctively bears the name of the 
 Boulevard. To our l. Baron Haussmann's quite modern 
 Bd. Malesherbes opens up a vista of the recent and un- 
 satisfactory Church of St. Augustin — a great ornate pseudo- 
 Romanesque building, unhappily accommodated to the space 
 at the architect's disposal. Proceeding along the Bd. de la 
 Madeleine, and then the Bd. des Capucines, we arrive in a 
 few minutes at the Place de I'Opdra, undoubtedly the central 
 
 o 
 
210 PARIS [IV. 
 
 nodal point of modern Paris. To our L stands the great 
 Opera House, erected at vast expense in the gaudy meretri- 
 cious style of the Second Empire, and decorated with good, 
 but too voluptuous modern sculpture. Two new streets 
 branch R and L of it. Walk round them, and so take 
 the measure of the building. To our R the Avenue de I* 
 Opera has been run diagonally across the older streets of 
 Louis XIV's town, towards the Palais Royal and the Theatre 
 FranQais. This is now one of the finest thoroughfares of 
 the existing town. Nevertheless, the old Boulevard, above all 
 in this part of its circuit, remains the centre of Parisian life, 
 thought, and movement. Especially is it the region of cafes 
 and theatres. Here also the older Rue de la Paix, one of 
 the earliest fine open thoroughfares in Paris, leads to the 
 irregular octagonal Place Vendome, laid out under Louis 
 XIV, and said to owe its canted corners to the king's own 
 personal initiative. [This Place is a good example of the best 
 domestic architecture of the Eighteenth Century. Its centre is 
 occupied by the great bronze column (Colonne Vendome) 
 originally erected by Napoleon to commemorate his victories. 
 It was pulled down by the Commune, but (the fragments having 
 been preserved) was re-erected after the triumph of the National 
 party. Round it in a long spiral run a series of reliefs, 
 suggested by those on Trajan's Column at Rome : but while 
 the Roman pillar was surrounded by a Forum of several 
 stories, with open porticoes from which the sculpture could 
 be inspected, the sculpture on Napoleon's is quite invisible, 
 except just at the base, owing to the lack of any similar 
 elevated platform from which to view it.] The other great 
 street diverging from the Place de I'Opera to the R, the 
 Rue du 4 Septcmbre, leads to the Bourse (uninteresting), and 
 is part of the modern arterial system. 
 
 Continuing along the line of Louis XIV's Boulevards, we 
 reach next the Bd. des Italiens, and then turn obtusely round 
 into the Bd. Montmartre. To our L lies the Faubourg of that 
 name, long since swallowed up by the engulfing city. At the 
 Rue St. Denis (the great north road of Paris), we arrive at one of 
 the debased classical triumphal arches (Porte St. Denis) which 
 Louis XIV erected in place of the ancient castellated gates. 
 
IV.] THE NORTH BANK {RIVE DROITE) 211 
 
 It is (more or less) decorated with contemporary reliefs repre- 
 senting his victories ; these, and the inscriptions, are worth 
 examining. Beyond the gate, the road to St. Denis, much 
 traversed in earlier times by pilgrims, takes the significant 
 name of Rue du Faubourg St. Denis. A little further on, 
 the modern trunk line of the (Haussmannesque) Bd. de Sebas- 
 topol, hewn straight through the heart of the earlier town, 
 intersects the old fortifications, leading R to the Cite, and L 
 to the Gare de I'Est, in which direction it is known as the Bd. 
 de Strasbourg. The next corner, the Rue St. Martin, which 
 similarly changes its name to that of its Faubourg as it crosses 
 the limit of the earlier town, is marked by a second of Louis 
 XIV's arches, the Porte St. Martin (not quite so ugly), whose 
 sculpture is again worthy of notice on historical grounds, if not 
 on artistic. [A little way down the Rue St. Martin to the R lies the 
 Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers (uninteresting internally) 
 which occupies the site of the former Cluniac Priory of St. 
 Martin-des-Champs, after which the street is still called. This 
 was one of the principal old monasteries in the belt outside the 
 girdling walls of Philippe Auguste, though included within 
 those of Etienne Marcel. It was founded as early as the nth 
 century. The Conservatoire itself, as an industrial exhibition, 
 is hardly worth a visit (except for technical purposes), but it 
 ought to be inspected for the sake of the old cliurch of the 
 monastery which it contains (enter it to view interior; open on 
 Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays only) as well as for the fine 
 Refectory of the 13th century, a beautiful (iothic hall, probably 
 erected by Pierre de Montereau, the architect of the Sainte 
 Chapellt, who also built the other Refectory, now destroyed, 
 at St. Germain-des-Pres in the southern Faubourg. A little 
 further on in the same street is the interesting Gothic church of 
 St. NicoIas=des=Champs, with rather picturesque Renais- 
 sance additions. It stood, when first built, far out in the 
 country. The fine west porch is of the 15th century. These 
 buildings are chiefly worth notice as enabling the visitor men- 
 tally to restore the outer ring of monasteries and churches 
 during the early mediaeval period, afterwards englobed in the 
 town of Louis XiV, and now in many cases adapted to alien 
 modern uses.] 
 
212 PARIS [IV. 
 
 Return to the main line of the Boulevards, which here become 
 distinctly shabbier and pass through a poorer district. This 
 part of Paris is destitute of immediate interest, but should be 
 traversed in order to give the visitor a just idea of the extent 
 and relations of the eighteenth century city. We arrive before 
 long at the Place de la Republique, formerly Place du ChMeau- 
 d'Eau, now adorned with a new bronze statue of the Republic. 
 From this Place several more new Boulevards in various direc- 
 tions pierce through the poorer and densely-populated regions 
 of eastern and north-eastern Paris. Along the main line, the 
 Bds. du Temple, des Filles du Calvaire, and Beaumarchais lead 
 hence through increasingly poorer-looking districts to the Place 
 de la Bastille, where stood the famous strong castle of that 
 name (Bastille St. y\ntoine), destroyed in the Revolution. Its 
 site is now occupied by the Colonne de Juillet, erected to 
 commemorate the Revolution of 1830. Hence the Rue St. 
 Antoine leads R in one line into the Rue de Rivoli near the 
 Hotel de Ville. Beyond the line of the Boul ards, L, it takes 
 the name of Rue du Faubourg St. Antoin.. This was the 
 region of the poorer and fiery revolutionists of 1789-93. 
 
 The district within the Boulevards in this direction was in 
 the Valois period the most fashionable part of Paris. It con- 
 tained the old royal palace of the Hotel St. Paul, together with 
 numerous other hotels of the French nobility. From the Place 
 de la Bastille, also, new Boulevards diverge in several directions. 
 You had better return to the centre of the town by the Rue St. 
 Antoine, where the third turning to the R will lead you direct 
 into the Place des Vosges, a curious belated relic of the Paris 
 of Henri IV. Its interesting architecture and quiet stranded 
 air will well repay you for the slight detour, and will suggest to 
 you the possibility of many similar agreeable walks in the same 
 district. Mr. Hare will prove a most efficient guide to this 
 quaint district, for those who have time to explore it thoroughly. 
 Remember always that the least important part of Paris, 
 historically speaking, is the western region which alone is 
 known to most passing strangers. 
 
V 
 
 THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN 
 
 (Luxembourg, etc.) 
 
 ['' I ^HE town on the North Side, we saw, was early siir- 
 L X rounded by a suburban belt of gardens and monas- 
 teries. A similar zone encircled the old University on the 
 South Bank. The wall of Philippe Auguste, you will re- 
 member, bent abruptly southward in order to enclose the 
 abbey of Ste. Genevieve ; but an almost more important 
 monastic establishment was left outside it a little to the west. 
 This was the gigantic abbey of St. Qermain=des-Pres, whose 
 very name betokens its original situation. This rich and 
 powerful community, whose building covered an enormous 
 area of ground on the Left Bank, and grew at last into a town 
 by itself, was originally founded by Childebert I as a thank- 
 offering for his victory over the Visigoths in Spain in 543. 
 Childebert, it may be remarked, was one of the most religious- 
 minded among the Frankish monarchs, — which is why we have 
 more than once met with his effigy in Gothic sculpture. He 
 was also one of those few Merovingian kings who especially 
 made his residence in Paris. On the portal of the other St. 
 Germain (I'Auxerrois), wliich has numerous points in common 
 with this one, we saw him represented with his wife Ultrogothe 
 and the earlier St. Germain, a naive way of expressing the fact 
 that the King and Queen first gave that church to the sainted 
 bishop. At the Louvre, too, we saw his statue from this very 
 monastery. Among the sacred objects which Childebert 
 brought back from Spain was the tunic of St. Vincent, the 
 patron saint of prisoners. When he was besieging Saragossa, 
 he saw the inhabitants carry this tunic in unarmed procession 
 round the walls ; which so convinced him of its value that he 
 
 813 
 
214 PARIS [v. 
 
 raised the siege, on condition that he might take the holy 
 object home with him. He also brought a large rich gold 
 cross, ornamented with precious stones, from Toledo, — a piece 
 of jeweller's work which might probably be compared with the 
 crowns of the Gothic kings preserved at Cluny. St. Qermain, 
 Bishop of Paris (who must not be confounded with his earlier 
 namesake of Auxerrc), recommended to the king the foundation 
 of a new church and abbey, in order fitly to receive these holy 
 relics. A church was therefore built in the garden belt outside 
 the wall, and was originally dedicated (as was natural) to the 
 Holy Cross and St. Vincent. The latter thus became one of 
 the local saints of Paris, through its possession of his tunic ; 
 and his effigy may often be seen, with or without that of his 
 brother deacon St. Stephen, on many of the older buildings ot 
 the city. We noticed him in particular on the portal of St. 
 Germain I'Auxerrois, and on the frescoes within, though it was 
 premature then to explain his presence. Note here that 
 possession of the body of a Saint (St. Denis, Ste. Genevieve) 
 or of some important relic (St. Vincent's tunic, St. Martin's 
 cloak at St. Severin) almost invariably gives rise to local 
 churches, and decides the cult of local patrons. 
 
 Later on, St. Germain of Paris having died, was buried in 
 turn in Childebert's church of St. Vincent. His body being 
 preserved here (as it still is), and working many miraculous 
 cures, it came about in time that St. Vincent and the Holy 
 Cross were almost forgotten, and the local bishop whose bones 
 were revered on the spot grew to be the acknowledged patron 
 of the mighty abbey which surrounded his shrine. Such of 
 the early Merovingian kings as were buried in Paris had their 
 tombs in this first church : their stone coffins may still be seen 
 at the Hotel Carnavalet. The abbey, which belonged to monks 
 of the Benedictine order, grew to be one of the most famous in 
 Europe : its name is still bestowed upon the whole of the 
 Faubourg (long since imbedded in the modern .town) of which 
 it forms the centre. It was to the South Bank what St. Denis 
 was to Northern Paris. 
 
 The existing church, of course (save for a few small frag- 
 ments), is of far later date than the age of Childebert. Most of 
 the Paris churches and monasteries suffered severely at the 
 
v.] THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN 215 
 
 hands of the Normans : even those which were not then burnt 
 down or sacked, were demoUshed and rebuilt in a more sump- 
 tuous style by the somewhat irreverent piety of later ages. 
 This, the present church of St. Germain-des-Pres, belongs for 
 the most part to the nth century. It is therefore older than 
 Notre-Dame or the Sainte Chapelle, and even as a whole than 
 the greater part of St. Denis. It exhibits throughout that 
 earlier Romanesque style which formed the transitional term 
 between classical architecture and the pointed arches of the 
 Gothic period. (What we call "Norman" in England is a 
 local modification of Romanesque.) Portions of the building, 
 however, show Gothic tendency ; and the upper part is pure 
 Pointed. Most of the Abbey has long since been swept away ; 
 a small part of the building still remains in the rear of the 
 existing church. St. Germain should be visited if only on 
 account of the fact that it is the earliest large ecclesiastical 
 building now standing in or near Paris. Flandrin's noble 
 modern frescoes have given it of comparatively recent years 
 another form of attractiveness. 
 
 During the Renaissance period, while many of the nobility 
 fixed their seats in the eastern and north-eastern part of Paris- 
 within-the-BouIevards on the Right Bank, not a few erected 
 houses for themselves in the open spaces of the Faubourg St. 
 Qermain. The most magnificent of these later buildings is 
 the Palais du Luxembourg, erected for Marie de Medicis, 
 after the death of Henri IV, by Jacques Debrosse, one of the 
 best French architects of the generation which succeeded that 
 of Jean Goujon and Philibert Delorme. It was built somewhat 
 after the style of the Pitti Palace at Florence, where Marie 
 was born, and it exhibits the second stage of French Renais- 
 sance architecture, when it was beginning to degenerate from 
 the purity, beauty, and originality of its tirst outburst, towards 
 the insipid classicism of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. It was 
 for this building that Rubens executed his great series of 
 pictures* from the life of Marie, now in the Louvre ; while 
 Lesueur painted his St. Bruno legends for a Carthusian 
 monastery within the grounds. The gardens which surround it 
 are interesting in their way as being the only specimen now 
 remaining in Paris of Renaissance methods of laying out ; 
 
21 6 PARIS [v. 
 
 most of the other palaces have gardens designed by Le Notre 
 in the formal style of Louis XIV. The Palace is now occupied 
 by the Senate : it is practically difficult of access, and the 
 interior contains so little of interest that it may well be omitted 
 save by those who can spend much time in being ushered round 
 almost empty rooms by perfunctory officials. But the exterior, 
 the gardens, and the Medici fountain should be visited by all 
 those who wish to form a consistent idea of Renaissance Paris. 
 
 In the same excursion may be easily combined a visit to St. 
 Sulpice, a church which occupies the site of an old foundation, 
 but which was entirely rebuilt from the ground in the age of 
 Louis XIV, and which is mainly interesting as the best example 
 of the cold, lifeless, and grandiose taste of that pompous period. 
 
 The Faubourg St. Qermain and the quarter about it, as 
 a whole, are still the region of the old noble families. The 
 western end of this Faubourg, especially about the Quai d'Orsay, 
 is given over to embassies and political machinery, particularly 
 that connected with foreign affairs. The South Bank is also 
 the district of the Legislature, in both its branches. The 
 Quartier Latin, however, has largely overflowed of recent years 
 into the Luxembourg district and that immediately behind it, 
 which are now to a great extent occupied by the students, 
 artists, and other Bohemian classes.] 
 
 Cross the river, if possible, by the Pont de la Concorde. 
 The classical building which fronts you proclaims itself legibly 
 on its very face as the Chambre des Deputes. But it has 
 borne in its time many other names. T\\\s facade towards the 
 river is of the age of the First Empire ; the main edifice, 
 however, is much older, being the Palais Bourbon, built in 
 1722 for the Duchesse de Bourbon. In 1790, it was confiscated, 
 and has ever since been the seat of one or other legislative 
 body, according to the Government of the moment. 
 
 You can go round to the back, as you pass, to inspect the 
 original /^zfrt^^, in the style of Louis XIV, facing the little Place 
 du Palais Bourbon. The interior is uninteresting, but has a 
 few good pictures, which should only be visited by those whose 
 time is unlimited. 
 
 The river front is on the Quai d'Orsay, the centre of modern 
 
V.J THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN 217 
 
 political and diplomatic Paris. The building to the R of the 
 Chamber is the official residence of its President ; still further 
 R, the Minist^re des Affaires ittrangeres. The broad thorough- 
 fare which opens obliquely south-eastward, L of the Chamber, 
 is the Boulevard St. Germain, which we have crossed before 
 in other parts of its semi-circle. It was Haussmannized in 
 a wide curve through the quiet streets of the Faubourg, and 
 the purlieus of the Quartier Latin, with ruthless regularity. 
 Many of the tranquil aristocratic roads characteristic of the 
 region lie R and L of it ; their type should be casually 
 noted as you pass them. Down the Rue de Lille stands the 
 German Embassy ; on the Boulevard itself, R, the Minist6re 
 de la Guerre, and further on, L, the Travaux Publics. Other 
 ministries and embassies cluster thickly behind, about the 
 diplomatic Rue de Grenelle and its neighbours. To the R, 
 again, the Boulevard Raspail, another very modern street, not 
 yet quite complete, runs southward through the heart of the 
 Luxembourg district. Continue straight along the Boulevard St. 
 Germain, till you reach the Place of the same name, with the 
 church of 5t. Qermain-des=Pres full in front of you. (It may 
 also be reached directly by the Rue Bonaparte ; but this other is 
 a more characteristic and instructive approach to the Abbey 
 Church which forms the centre of the quarter.) Observe how 
 the new Boulevard skirts its side, giving a clever effect of its 
 having always been there ; the front of the church is round the 
 corner in the Rue Bonaparte. 
 
 The exterior, with the houses still built against it in places, 
 though picturesque, has little minute architectural detail. The 
 massive tower has been so much renewed as to be practically 
 modern ; but the Romanesque arches near the top give it dis- 
 tinction and beauty. The mean and unworthy porch is of the 
 17th cent.; the inner portal, however (though its arch has been 
 Gothicised), belongs to the Romanesque church and is not 
 without interest. Observe the character of the pilasters and 
 capitals, with grotesque animals. Statues of St. Germain, of 
 Childebert and Ultrogothe (as at the other St. Germain) and ot 
 Clovis, etc., which once flanked the door, were destroyed at the 
 Revolution. In the tympanum are the unusual subjects of the 
 Eternal Father, blessing, and beneath Him a Romanesque relief 
 
2l8 PARIS [v. 
 
 of the Last Supper {not, as commonly, the Last Judgment). 
 
 The interior still preserves in most part its Romanesque 
 arches and architecture ; but the lower part of the nave is the 
 oldest portion (early 12th cent.) ; the choir is about a century 
 later. Most of the pillars have had their capitals so modernized 
 and gilt as to be of relatively little interest, while the decora- 
 tions, though good and effective, are in many cases of such a 
 sort as effectually to conceal the real antiquity of the building. 
 The church was used during the Great Revolution as a saltpetre 
 factory, and was restored and rc-decorated in polychrome a 
 little too freely under the Second Empire. A few capitals, 
 however, notably those of the Baptistery to the L as you enter 
 retain their antique carving and are worthy of notice ; while 
 even the modern gilt figures on those of the aisle are Roman- 
 esque in character and quaint in conception. (You can 
 examine some of the old ones which they replace in the garden 
 at Cluny.) 
 
 Walk round the church. The architecture of the ambulatory 
 and clioir» though later, is m a much more satisfactory condi- 
 tion than that of the main body. The arches of the first story 
 are mostly round, but pointed in the apse ; those of the clere- 
 story are entirely Gothic. The detail below is good Roman- 
 esque ; study it. Observe the handsome triforium, between the 
 two stories ; and more especially the interesting capitals of the 
 columns — relics of the original church of Childebert, built into 
 the later fabric. The choir, on the whole, is a fine specimen of 
 late 1 2th cent. work. The Lady Chapel, behind, is a modern 
 addition. 
 
 After having thus walked round the aisles and the back of 
 the choir to observe the architecture, return once more to the 
 doorway by which you entered and proceed up the nave, in 
 order to notice the admirable modern frescoes by Flandrin 
 (Second Empire). These are disposed in pairs, each contain- 
 ing subjects, supposed to be parallel, from the Old and New 
 Testaments. Note in these the constant survival of early 
 traditions, revivified by Flandrin in accordance with the art of 
 his own period. The subjects are as follows : — 
 
 Begin on the L. (i) The Annunciation (treated somewhat 
 in the traditional manner, the relative positions of the Madonna 
 
v.] THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN 219 
 
 and the Angel Gabriel being preserved); typified by the 
 Almighty appearing to Moses in the Burning Bush, as His first 
 Annunciation. (2) The Nativity, as the pledge of redemption ; 
 typified or rendered necessary by the Fall. (The New Testa- 
 ment scenes are of course the usual series ; those from the Old 
 Testament foreshadow them, for which reason they are placed 
 in the opposite from the chronological order.) (3) The Adoration 
 of the Magi (reminiscences of the conventional, entirely altered 
 by Oriental costumes and attitudes of submission) ; typified by 
 Balaam blessing Israel — a famous picture. (4) The Baptism in 
 Jordan (positions conventional, with the three angels to the L 
 as always) ; typified by the Passage of the Red Sea. (5) The 
 Institution of the Eucharist, very original in treatment; typified 
 by Melchisedec bringing forth bread and wine to Abraham. 
 Now return by the r side, beginning at the transept : — (6) 
 The Betrayal of Christ by Judas ; typified by the Sale of 
 Joseph. (7) The Crucifixion — a very noble picture ; typified 
 by the Offering of Isaac, full of pathos. (8) The Resurrection ; 
 typified by Jonah restored from the sea, the whale being with 
 great tact omitted. (9) The Keys given to Peter ; typified by 
 the Dispersion of the Nations at Babel. (A little thought is 
 sometimes required to connect these subjects, which are 
 occasionally, as in the last pair, rather to be regarded as 
 opposites than types — the one remedying the other. Thus, the 
 counterpart to the Dispersal at Babel is Christ's command to 
 preach the Gospel to all nations.) 
 
 Above this fine frieze of subject-pictures runs a course of 
 single figures, grouped in pairs, on either side of the windows 
 in the clerestory. They are Old Testament characters, from 
 Adam and Eve onward, ending with John the Baptist, as the 
 last of the prophets. But as all the characters have their 
 names legibly inscribed beside them, I need not enumerate 
 them ; all, however, should be observed, especially Adam and 
 Eve, Miriam, Deborah, and Judith. Hold your hat or a book 
 to cover the light from the windows, if the glare is too great, 
 and after a little while you will see them distinctly. 
 
 Now proceed again to the front of the choir. On either 
 side are other mural paintings, also by Flandrin : L, The 
 Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, very beautiful : R, The 
 
220 PARIS [v. 
 
 Bearing of the Cross. Round the choir, the Twelve Apostles : 
 by the pointed arches of the apse, the symbols of the 
 Evangelists— the angel, lion, bull, and eagle. Above all— an 
 interesting link with the earlier history of the church — are 
 the pious founders, Childebert and Ultrogothe ; the original 
 patron, St. Vincent, with his successor, St. Germain ; and 
 finally, Abbot Morard who rebuilt the church, substantially in 
 its present form, after the Norman invasion. He is thus 
 commemorated in the beautiful choir which represents the work 
 of his successor. Abbot Hugues, in the next century. 
 
 Before leaving, observe, architecturally speaking, how a 
 Romanesque church of this type leads up to the more 
 complex arrangement, with chevet and chapels, in Notre-Dame 
 and later Gothic churches. Note the simplicity and dignity 
 of the choir. Note also the peculiar character of the vaulting, 
 comparing it with the later type at Notre-Dame, and especially 
 with the reversion to much the same form in Renaissance 
 times at St. Etienne-du-Mont, and St. Eustache. In spite of 
 its newness, much of the modern decorative work is extremely 
 effective ; indeed, as a specimen of almost complete internal 
 decoration, this church, notwithstanding the cruel overlaying 
 of its early Romanesque sculpture by gold and paint, is 
 perhaps the most satisfactory of any in Paris, except the 
 Sainte Chapelle. I strongly advise you to sit down for some 
 time and inspect the capitals built into the aisle, and the 
 beautiful Merovingian pillars of the triforium, with an opera- 
 glass, at your leisure. 
 
 On quitting the church, walk round it for the view on every 
 side, which is picturesque and characteristic. Behind it, in 
 the Rue de I'Abbaye, stands an interesting portion of the 
 16th-century Abbot's Palace — the only remaining relic of 
 the vast conventual buildings, once enclosed for defence by a 
 wall and moat, and containing a large lay and clerical popula- 
 tion, like a Httle city. The sumptuous carved and gilded figure 
 of Childebert, the founder, in the Mediceval Sculpture Room 
 at the Louvre, came from the doorway of the old Refectory — 
 a magnificent work by Pierre de Montereau (the architect of 
 the Sainte Chapelle) — now wholly demolished. After you have 
 visited each church, you will often find it pleasant to look 
 
v.] THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN 221 
 
 out for such isolated works, divorced at present from their 
 surroundings, and placed at Cluny or elsewhere. They will 
 always gain new meaning for you by being thus identified as 
 belonging to such-and-such an original building. For instance, 
 in the Christian Antiquities Room at the Louvre, you will find 
 an interesting capital of a pillar belonging to the Merovingian 
 church of St. V'incent. 
 
 Now return to the Boulevard St. Germain, which a little 
 further on occupies the site of the old Abbey Prison, famous 
 as the scene of the massacres in September, 1792. Take the 
 Rue Bonaparte on the opposite side, and go straight on till 
 you reach the Place St. Sulpice, with its huge church in 
 front of you. The building replaces an earlier one to the same 
 saint : under Louis XIV, when the Faubourg St. Germain was 
 becoming the quarter of the nobles, it was rebuilt in a style of 
 ugly magnificence, befitting the maker of Versailles and 
 Marly. 
 
 St. Sulpice* a vast bare barn, is chiefly interesting, indeed, 
 as a gigantic specimen of the coldly classical type of church 
 built under Louis XIV, when Gothic was despised, and even 
 the Renaissance richness of St. Eustache and St. Etienne was 
 decried as barbaric. It is a painful monument of declining 
 taste. The exterior is chilly. The /a(ade, whose sole recom- 
 mendation nowadays is its size and its massivencss, is a 
 triumph of its kind ; it consists of two stories, with arcades 
 of Doric and Ionic pillars superimposed on one another, 
 and crowned with a pair of octagonal towers, only one of 
 which is completed. The scanty detail of the sculpture is 
 of the familiar character of the decadent period. But Fer- 
 gusson praises the general effect of the exterior. 
 
 The interior consists of a cruciform pseudo-classical nave, 
 with aisles, two bare single transepts, and a choir ending in 
 a circular apse, — all vast, gloomy, barren, and unimpressive. 
 The pillars and pilasters have Corinthian capitals, and most 
 of the sculpture betrays the evil influence of Bernini. The 
 holy water stoups, by the second pillars, however, are more 
 satisfactory : they consist of huge shells, presented by the 
 Republic of Venice to Francois P"", standing on bases by 
 Pigalle, — an effective piece of decorative work in this un- 
 
222 PARIS [v. 
 
 pleasing edifice. As a whole, this chilly interior stands in 
 marked contrast to the polychromatic richness of St. Germain- 
 dcs-Pres, and to the exquisite Gothic detail of Notre-Uame 
 and St. Germain-l'Auxerrois. The roof and false cupola 
 contrast very much to their disadvantage with the charming 
 Ren<aissance vaulting of St. Kticnne-du-Mont and St. Eustache. 
 Accept this visit as penance done to the age of Louis XIV. 
 Save historically, indeed, this barren church is almost devoid 
 of interest. Like everything of its age, it aims at grandeur : 
 it only succeeds in being gaunt and grandiose. The very 
 size is thrown away for want of effective vistas and groups 
 of pillars ; it looks smaller than it is, and sadly lacks 
 furnishing. 
 
 Several of the chapels around this disappointing church, 
 however, contain many good modern pictures : most of them 
 also bear the names of the saints to whom they are dedicated, 
 which largely aids the recognition of the symbolism. I enum- 
 erate a few of them for their interest in this matter. Right 
 aisle (i) St. Agnes. Jacob and the angel: Heliodorus expelled 
 from the Temple : by Delacroix. (2) Chapel of Souls in Pur- 
 gatory. Religion brings comfort to the dying ; benefit of 
 prayers for the dead : by Heim. (3) Chapel of St. Roch, the 
 plague-saint. He prays for the plague-stricken : he dies in 
 prison at Montpelier : by Abel de Pujol. (4) St. Maurice, the 
 soldier saint. His legend: by Vinchon. Left aisle. The 
 chapels here are chiefly dedicated to the newer humanitarian 
 saints of Catholicism, (i) St. Francois Xavier. He resuscitates 
 a dead man : miraculous cures at his burial : by Lafon. (2) 
 St. Francois de Sales. He preaches in Savoy : he gives to Stc. 
 J. F. Chantal the constitution of his Order of nuns : by Hesse. 
 (3) St. Paul. His conversion ; he preaches at Athens : by 
 Drolling. (4) St. Vincent de Paul. He founds the hospital for 
 foundlings, with the Sisters of Charity : he attends the death- 
 bed of Louis XIH : by Guillemot. Chapels of the choir: 
 L (i) St. John the Evangelist. His martyrdom : and his as- 
 sumption. (2) San Carlo Borromeo. He ministers during the 
 plague at Milan : he gives the sacrament to his uncle, Pius IV, 
 on his death-bed. (3) Uninteresting. (4) St. Louis the King. 
 He carries a dying man during the plague : he administers 
 
v.] THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN 223 
 
 justice under the oak of Vinccnnes. Lady Chapel, .1 miracle 
 of ugliness. Statue of the Virgin on clouds in a recess, by 
 I'ajon, lighted from above, and in execrable taste, — the worst 
 feature in this insipid and often vulgar building. Bad statues 
 and frescoes. The other choir chapels on the R side are dedi- 
 cated to the older patron saints of Paris, (i) St. Denis. His 
 preaching : his condemnation. (2) St. Martin. He divides his 
 cloak with the beggar : he resuscitates a dead man. (3) Ste. 
 Genevieve. She brings food from Troyes during the siege of 
 Paris : miracles wrought by her relics. (4) Our Lady. Her 
 Birth : her Presentation in the Temple, interesting as modern 
 examples of the treatment of these traditional subjects. Over 
 the door, N. or L side, her Death : s. or R side, her Assumption, 
 
 St. Sulpice has a reputation for good music. 
 
 The Fontaine St. Sulpice, in front of the church, is from 
 Visconti's designs, and has appropriate statues of the four great 
 French preachers — Bossuet, Fenelon, Massillon, and Flcchier. 
 The pulpit here is still famous for its oratory. 
 
 From St. Sulpice, the Rue Ferou, to the R of the fimide^ 
 leads you straight to the Luxembourg Palace. The long low 
 building almost directly opposite you as you emerge is the 
 
 ** Musee du Luxembourg, 
 
 containing the works of modern French painters. This, of 
 course, is one of the most important objects to be visited in 
 Paris ; but I do not give any detailed account of it here, be- 
 cause the pictures themselves are entirely modern, and chiefly 
 by living painters and sculptors, the various examples being 
 sent to the Louvre, or to provincial museums, within ten years 
 of the death of the artist. A visit to this Museum is therefore 
 indispensable to those who desire to form a just acquaintance 
 with contemporary art. But nothing in the Gallery demands 
 historical elucidation. The visitor should provide himself with 
 the Ofificial Catalogue, which will amply suffice for his needs in 
 this Gallery. I need hardly say that a proper inspection of it 
 cannot be combined in one day with the other objects men- 
 tioned in this Excursion. Devote to it at least one or two 
 separate mornings. 
 Turning to the L, as we leave the end of the Rue Ferou, the 
 
224 PARIS [v. 
 
 first building on our R is the official residence of the President 
 of the Senate ; the second is Marie de Medicis's 
 Palace of the Luxembourg, 
 
 now employed as the seat of the Senate. Walk along its 
 faqade^ the work of Jacques Debrosse, one of the ablest archi- 
 tects of the later classicizing Renaissance, in order to observe 
 the modified style of the age of Henri IV and Louis XIII, which 
 it still on the whole preserves, in spite of modern additions and 
 alterations. Note the gradual falling-off from the exquisitely 
 fanciful period of the earlier French Renaissance, which pro- 
 duced the best parts of the Louvre and St. Eustache ; and the 
 way this building lets us down gently to the bald classicism of 
 Louis XIV and Perrault. If you know Florence, observe also 
 the distinct reminiscences of the Pitti Palace. Continue 
 your walk along the whole of the faqade^ as far as the cor- 
 ner by the Odeon Theatre, — the subventioned theatre of the 
 students and the Quartier Latin. Then, turn into the garden, 
 and note the rest of the building, whose faqade towards this 
 side, though restored under Louis Philippe, more nearly repre- 
 sents Debrosse's architecture than does that towards the main 
 thoroughfare. You need not trouble about the interior: though 
 it contains a few good modern paintings. 
 
 The garden, however, is well worth a visit on its own 
 account, both for the sake of the typical manner in which it is 
 laid out, and especially for the handsome Fontaine de Medicis 
 by Debrosse, on the side next the Pantheon. The group of 
 sculpture in the middle represents Polyphemus surprising Acis 
 and Galatea. Go round to the back, to see the (modern) 
 Fountain of Leda, — that favourite subject of Renaissance 
 sculpture. The best way back from this Excursion is by the 
 Rue de Seine, which leads you past the Marchd St.-Germain. 
 
 Another building in this district to which, if possible, the 
 reader should pay at least one visit, is the Ecole des Beaux- 
 Arts in the Rue Bonaparte. This collection is interesting, 
 both because it contains a number of valuable fragments of 
 F'rench Renaissance work, especially architectural, and also 
 because of its Museum of Copies, including transcripts (mostly 
 very good) of the best pictures of various ages, many of which 
 are useful to the student of art-history for comparison with 
 
v.] THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN 225 
 
 originals in the Louvre and elsewhere. Everybody who has 
 not been to Rome, Venice, and Florence, should certainly try 
 to visit this Museum ; and even those who have made first- 
 hand acquaintance with the masterpieces of Italian art in their 
 native homes will find that it sometimes affords them oppor- 
 tunities for comparison of works widely scattered in the 
 originals, which can be better understood here in certain of 
 their aspects than in isolation. The building is open to the 
 public, free, from 12 to 4 on Sundays ; on week-days, non- 
 students are also admitted from 10 to 4 (except Mondays), on 
 application to the Concierge (small fee). I strongly advise 
 a Sunday visit, however, as you are then less hurried, and also 
 as the door on the Q^'''^' Malaquais is open on that day. This 
 building should, if possible, be made the object of a separate 
 excursion. It takes a long time to inspect it thoroughly. 
 
 Pass through the Tuileries Gardens, or across the Place du 
 Carrousel, and traverse the river by the Pont Royal or the Pont 
 du Carrousel. Tne second turn to the R, after the last-named 
 bridge, the Rue Bonaparte, will take you straight to the door of 
 the Ecole. The building occupies the site of the old Couvent 
 des Petits-Augustins ; the convent chapel and a few oth-ir 
 remains of the original works are embedded in it. Enter the 
 courtyard. Here, during the Great Revolution, the painter 
 Alexandre Lenoir founded his Musee des Monuments for the 
 accommodation of the tombs removed from St. Denis and ether 
 churches. To his indefatigable exertions almost alone we owe 
 the preservation of these priceless Medircval and Renaissance 
 relics. Under the Restoration, most of the monuments were 
 replaced in their original positions, and we shall visit several of 
 them later at St. Denis. To the R of the entrance in this First 
 Court is the beautiful doorway of the Chateau d*Anet— that 
 gem of Early French Renaissance architecture, which was 
 erected for Diane de Poitiers by Philibert Delorme and Jean 
 Goujon, by order of Henri II, in 1548 : many objects from the 
 same building we have already seen elsewhere. The portal is 
 now placed as the entrance to the old Abbey Chapel. The 
 end of this court is formed by part of the facade from the 
 Chdteau de Qaillon, erected for the Cardinal d'Amboise, 
 Minister of Louis XII, and one of the favourite residences of 
 
 P 
 
226 PARIS [v. 
 
 Francois I". It presents mixed Renaissance and Gothic 
 features, as did the sculpture of Michel Colombe from the same 
 building, which we saw at the Louvre. Both these imposing 
 works — the portal of Chateau d'Anet and \.\\\s facade — should 
 be compared with the Italian Renaissance doorway from Cre- 
 mona and the Gothic one from Valencia, which we saw in the 
 collection of sculpture at the Louvre. They are indispensable 
 to a full comprehension of the French Renaissance. The 
 Chateau de Gaillon was destroyed during the Revolution, and 
 many of its finest monuments are now at the Louvre. If you 
 have time, after seeing this Museum, go back and compare them. 
 
 The Second Court, beyond \.\\q facade, contains several frag- 
 ments of buildings and sculpture, among which notice the 
 capitals from the <?/<^/ church of Ste. Genevieve (Romanesque), 
 and a fine stone basin of the 12th cent., brought from St. 
 Denis. 
 
 Now, return to the First Court, and visit the former Chapel. 
 It contains plaster casts, adequately described for casual 
 visitors by the labels, as well as copies of paintings. These 
 plaster casts, especially those of the pulpit from Pisa, by Nicolo 
 Pisano, the first mediitval sculptor who tried to imitate the 
 antique, will enable you to piece out your conception of Italian 
 Renaissance sculpture, as formed at the Louvre. Do not des- 
 pise these casts : they are excellent for comparison. Among the 
 pictures, notice the copy of Mantegna's fresco of St. James 
 conducted to Martyrdom, from the church of the Eremitani at 
 Padua. The fresco itself is a work of Mantegna's first period, 
 and I select this copy for notice because it will help you to fill 
 in the idea you formed of that great painter from consideration 
 of his originals at the Louvre. Notice, for example, the strenu- 
 ous efforts at perspective and foreshortening ; the introduction 
 of decorated Renaissance architecture ; the love of reliefs and 
 ornament ; the classical armour ; and many other features 
 which display the native bent of Mantegna, but not as yet in 
 the maturity of his powers. Observe, again, the copy of Ghir- 
 landajo's exquisite Adoration of the Magi, with its numerous 
 portraits, disguised as the Three Kings, the Shepherds, and the 
 spectators, to which I have already called attention when 
 speaking of Luini's treatment of this subject in the Louvre. 
 
v.] THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN 227 
 
 I do not enlarge upon these mere copies, as the originals will 
 occupy us at Florence or Munich ; but the student who has 
 become interested in the evolution of art will find it a most 
 valuable study to trace the connection, first, between these 
 subjects and others like them in the Louvre, and, second, be- 
 tween these copies of works by various masters and the originals 
 by the same artists preserved in that collection. Compare, 
 and compare, and compare again ceaselessly. 
 
 The Inner Court, the Cour du Murier, leads to another 
 hall, the Salle de Melpomene, entered on Sundays direct 
 from the Quai Malaquais. This room also contains a large 
 number of copies wliich are valu.ible for study to those who 
 have not seen the originals, and whicli will often recall 
 forgotten facts in new connections to those who /lavc^ seen 
 them. I would call special attention, from the point of view 
 of this book, to the good copies of Raphael's and Perugino's 
 Marriage of the Virgin : as the originals are respectively at 
 Milan and Caen (two places sufficiently remote from one 
 another), the composition of the two can be better compared 
 here than under any other circumstances. As examples of 
 development, I shall notice them briefiy. Perugino's is, of 
 course, the older work. It was painted for a chapel in the 
 Cathedral at Perugia, where it still hung when Raphael painted 
 his imitation of it. First look carefully at both works, and 
 then read these remarks upon them. The Sposalizio or 
 Marriage of the Virgin, one of the set subjects in the old 
 series of the Life of Mary, and often used as an altar-piece, 
 consists traditionally of the following features. In the centre, 
 stands the High Priest, wearing his robes and ephod — or what 
 the particular painter takes for such : he joins the hands of 
 Joseph and the Madonna. Joseph stands always on the L 
 side of the picture, which Perugino has rightly assigned to 
 him ; though Raphael, already revolutionary, has reversed this 
 order. He holds in his hand a staff, which has budded into 
 lily flowers — the tradition (embodied in the Protevangelion) 
 being that the High Priest caused the various suitors for 
 Mary's hand to place their staffs in the Holy of Holies, as 
 had long before been done in the case of Aaron, intending 
 that he whose staff budded should become the husband of 
 
228 PARIS [V. 
 
 the Holy Virgin. Joseph's put forth leaves and flowers ; and so 
 this staff, either flowering or otherwise, is the usual symbol by 
 which you can recognise him in sacred art. Behind Joseph 
 stand the other disappointed suitors, one or more of whom 
 always breaks his staff in indignation. Behind Mary stand 
 the attendant maidens— the Virgins of the Lord — together 
 with Our Lady's mother, St. Anne, recognisable by her peculiar 
 head-dress and wimple. (Compare Lionardo in the Salon 
 Carre.) A temple always occupies the background. Perugino 
 took the main elements of this scene from earlier painters. 
 (You will find numerous examples in the churches and 
 galleries at Florence and elsewhere.) But he transformed it 
 in accordance with his peculiar genius and his views of art, 
 substituting a round or octagonal temple of Renaissance 
 architecture for the square Gothic building of earlier painters. 
 Such round buildings were the conventional representation 
 of the Temple at Jerusalem among Renaissance artists. The 
 pecuHar head-dress and the balanced position are also 
 characteristic of Perugino. How closely Raphael followed his 
 master on these points of composition you can see for yourself 
 by comparing the two copies. But you can also see how 
 thoroughly he transformed Perugino's spirit ; retaining the 
 form while altering the whole sentiment and feeling of the 
 figures. You see in it Perugino's conception, but Raphael's 
 treatment. I have called special attention to these two 
 pictures because they admirably illustrate the value and 
 importance of comparison in art. You cannot wholly under- 
 stand the Raphael without having seen the Perugino ; nor can 
 you wholly understand the Perugino without having seen the 
 Ghirlandajos and Fra Angelicos, and Taddeo Gaddis which 
 preceded it. Go from one to the other of these two pictures 
 and note the close resemblance even in the marble pavement, 
 the grouping of each component cluster, and the accessories 
 in the background. Nay, the more graceful attitude of the 
 suitor who breaks his staff in the Raphael is borrowed from a 
 minor figure in the background of the Perugino. It is only by 
 thus comparing work with work that we can arrive at a full 
 comprehension of early painting, and especially of the relations 
 between painter and painter. 
 
v.] THE FAUBOURG ST. GERMAIN 229 
 
 I will not call special attention to the various other copies 
 in this Museum. I will merely point out, as casting light on 
 subjects we have already considered, Verocchio's Baptism of 
 Christ, Perugino's group from the same subject, Raphael's 
 Entombment, Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi, and Ma- 
 donnas by Filippo Lippi, Giovanni Bellini, Correggio, and 
 Mantegna. Many of these can be compared here and 
 nowhere else. For those who are making a long stay in 
 Paris, a judicious use of this collection, in conjunction with 
 the Louvre, will cast unexpected light in many cases on works 
 in that Gallery which it has been impossible here to describe 
 in full detail. 
 
 The AmphitheMre, approached from the Second Court, 
 contains in its Vestibule a number of plaster casts, also 
 valuable for purposes of comparison. The transitional archaic 
 period of Greek sculpture, for instance, ill represented at the 
 Louvre, is here well exemplified by casts from the statues in 
 the pediment of the Temple of Athene at yEgina, now in 
 the Pinakothek at Munich. Compare these with the reliefs 
 from Thasos in the Salle de Phidias. Similarly, casts of the 
 Children of Niobe, belonging to the same school as the Venus 
 of Milo, are useful for comparison with that famous statue. 
 The Amphitheatre itself, behind the Vestibule, contains Paul 
 Delaroche's famous Hemicycle, one of that great painter's 
 most celebrated works. Do not think, because I do not specify, 
 that the other objects in this Museum are unworthy of notice. 
 Observe them for yourself, and return afterwards to the 
 L'ouvre time after time, comparing the types you have seen 
 here with originals of the same artists and variants of the 
 same subject in that collection. 
 
VI 
 
 ST. DENIS 
 
 I A BOUT six miles north of the origii^l Paris stands the 
 L/l. great Basilica of St. Denis — the only church in 
 Paris, and I think in France, called by that ancient name, 
 which carries us back at once to the days of the Roman 
 Empire, and in itself bears evidence to the antiquity of the 
 spot as a place of worship. Around it, a squalid modern 
 industrial town has slowly grown up ; but the nucleus of 
 the whole place, as the name itself shows, is the body and 
 shrine of the martyred bishop, St. Denis. Among the nu- 
 merous variants of his legend, the most accepted is that which 
 makes the apostle of Paris have carried his head to this 
 spot from Montmartre. (Others say he was beheaded in Paris 
 and walked to Montmartre, his body being afterwards trans- 
 lated to the Abbey ; while there are who see in his legend a 
 survival of the Dionysiac festival and sacrifice of the vine- 
 growers round Paris — Denis = Dionysius=^ Dionysus.) How- 
 ever that may be, a chapel was erected in 275 above the grave 
 of St. Denis, on the spot now occupied by the great Basilica ; 
 and later, Ste. Genevieve was instrumental in restoring it. 
 Dagobert I, one of the few Prankish kings who lived much in 
 Paris, built a "basilica" in place of the chapel (630), and 
 instituted by its side a Benedictine Abbey. The church and 
 monastery which possessed the actual body of the first bishop 
 and great martyr of Paris formed naturally the holiest site in the 
 neighbourhood of the city ; and even before Paris became the 
 capital of a kingdom, the abbots were persons of great importance 
 in the Prankish state. The desire to repose close to the grave 
 of a saint was habitual in early times, and even (with the 
 obvious alteration of words) ante-dated Christianity — every 
 wealthy Egyptian desiring in the same way to "sleep with 
 
VI.] ST. DENIS 23t 
 
 Osiris." Dagobert himself was buried in the church he 
 founded, beside the holy martyr ; and in later times this very 
 sacred spot became for the same reason the recognised burial- 
 place of the French kings. Dagobert's fane was actually 
 consecrated by the Redeemer Himself, who descended for the 
 purpose by night, with a great multitude of saints and angels. 
 
 The existing Basilica, though of far later date, is the oldest 
 church of any importance in the neighbourhood of Paris. It 
 was begun by Suger, abbot of the monastery, and sagacious 
 minister of Louis VI and VII, in 112 1. As yet, Paris itself had 
 no great church, Notre- Dame having been commenced nearly 
 50 years later. The earliest part of Suger's building is in the 
 Romanesque style ; it still retains the round Roman arch and 
 many other Roman constructive features. During the course 
 of the 50 years occupied in building the Basilica, however, the 
 Gothic style was developed ; the existing church therefore ex- 
 hibits both Romanesque and Gothic work, with transitional 
 features between the two, which add to its interest. Archi- 
 tecturally, then, bear in mind, it is in part Romanesque, 
 passing into Gothic. The interior is mostly pure Early Gothic. 
 
 The neighbourhood to Paris, the supremacy of the gre;it 
 saint, and the fact that St. Denis was especially the Royal 
 Abbey, all combined to give it great importance. Under Suger's 
 influence, Louis VI adopted the oriflamme or standard of St. 
 Denis as the royal banner of France. The Merovingian and 
 Carlovingian kings, to be sure — Germans rather than French — 
 had naturally been buried elsewhere, as at Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 Rheims, and Soissons (though even of them a few were interred 
 beside the great bishop martyr). But as soon as the Parisian 
 dynasty of the Capets came to the throne, tliey were almost 
 without exception buried at St. Denis. Hence the abbey came 
 to be regarded at last mainly as the mausoleum of French 
 royalty, and is still too often so regarded by tourists. But 
 though the exquisite Renaissance tombs of the House of Valois 
 would well deserve a visit on their own account, they are, at St. 
 Denis, but accessories to the great Basilica. Besides the actual 
 tombs, too, many monuments were erected here, in the 13th 
 cent, (by St. Louis) and afterwards, to earlier kings buried 
 elsewhere, some relic of whom, however, the abbey possessed 
 
232 PARIS [VI. 
 
 and thus honoured. Hence several of the existing tombs are of 
 far later date than the kings they commemorate ; those of the 
 Valois almost alone are truly contemporary. 
 
 At the Revolution, the Basilica suffered irreparable losses. 
 The very sacred reliquary containing the severed head of St. 
 Denis was destroyed, and the remains of the martyr and his 
 companions desecrated. The royal bones and bodies were also 
 disinterred and flung into trenches indiscriminately. The 
 tombs of the kings were condemned to destruction, and many 
 (chiefly in metal) were destroyed or melted down, but not a few 
 were saved with difficulty by the exertions of antiquaries, and 
 were placed in the Museum of Monuments at Paris (now the 
 Ecole des Beaux-Arts), of which Alexandre Lenoir was curator. 
 Here, they were greatly hacked about and mutilated, in order 
 to fit them to their new situations. At the Restoration, 
 however, they were sent back to St. Denis, together with many 
 other monuments which had no real place there ; but, being 
 housed in the crypt, they were further clipped to suit their fresh 
 surroundings. Finally, when the Basilica was restored under 
 Viollct-le-Duc, the tombs were replaced as nearly as possible in 
 their old positions ; but several intruders from elsewhere are 
 still interspersed among them. Louis XVI H brought back the 
 mingled bones of his ancestors from the common trench and 
 interred them in the crypt. 
 
 Remember, then, these things about St. Denis : (i) It is (or 
 was), first and above all things, the shrine of St. Denis and 
 his fellow-martyrs. (2) It contains the remnant of the 
 tombs of the French Icings. (3) It is older in part than almost 
 any other building we have yet examined. 
 
 As regards the tombs, again, bear in mind these facts. All 
 the oldest have perished ; there are none here that go back 
 much further than the age of St. Louis, though they often 
 represent personages of earlier periods or dynasties. The best 
 are those of the Renaissance period. These are greatly in- 
 fluenced by the magnificent tomb of Giangaleazzo Visconti at 
 the Certosa di Pavia, near Milan. Especially is this the case 
 with the noble monument of Louis XII, which closely imitates 
 the Italian work. Now, you must remember that Charles VIII 
 and Louis XII fought much in Italy, and were masters of Milan ; 
 
VI.] ST. DENIS 233 
 
 hence this tomb was familiar to them ; and their Italian experi- 
 ences had much to do with the French Renaissance. The 
 Cardinal d'Amboise, Louis's minister, built the Chateau de 
 Gaillon, and much of the artistic impulse of the time was due 
 to these two. Henceforth recollect that though Francois 1" is 
 the Prince of the Renaissance, Louis XII and his minister were 
 no mean forerunners. 
 
 The Basilica is open daily ; the royal tombs are shown to 
 parties every half-hour ; but the attendants hurry visitors 
 through with perfunctory haste, and no adequate time is given 
 to examine the monuments. Therefore, do not go to St. 
 Denis till after you have seen the Renaissance Sculpture at 
 the Louvre, which will have familiarised you with the style, and 
 will enable you better to grasp their chief points quickly. 
 Also, go in the morning, on a bright day: in the late after- 
 noon or on dark days you see hardly anything.] 
 
 Start from the Gare du Nord. About four trains run every 
 hour. There is also a tramway which starts from the Opera, 
 the Madeleine, or the Place du Chatelet, but the transit is long, 
 and the weary road runs endlessly through squalid suburbs, so 
 that the railway is far preferable. Start early. Take your 
 opera-glasses. 
 
 From the St. Denis station, take the road directly to the R as 
 far as the modern Parish Church, when a straight street in 
 front of you (a little to the L) leads directly to the Basilica. 
 On the L of the Place in front of the great church is the Hotel 
 de .Ville, on which it is interesting to notice, high up on the 
 front, the ancient royal war-cry of " Montjoye St. Denis ! " 
 
 Turn to the Basilica* The facade, of the age of Abbot 
 Suger, is very irregular. It consists of two lateral towers, and 
 a central portion, answering to the Nave. Only the south 
 tower is now complete; the other, once crowned by a spire, 
 was struck by lightning in 1837. Observe the inferiority in 
 unity of design to the fine faqade of Notre-Dame, the stories of 
 the towers not answering in level to those of the central por- 
 tion. We have here the same general features of two western 
 lowers and three recessed portals ; but Notre-Dame has im- 
 proved upon them with Gothic feeling. The lower arches are 
 
234 PARIS [VI. 
 
 round and Romanesque. The upper ones show in many cases 
 an incipient Gothic tendency. The rose window has been 
 converted into a clock. On either side of it, in medallions, are 
 the symbols of the four Evangelists. Observe the fine pillars 
 and Romanesque arcade of the one complete tower. Also, the 
 reliefs of kings of Israel and Judah in the blind arcade which 
 caps the third story in both towers. The coarse and ugly 
 battlements which spoil the front are part of the defensive wall 
 of the Abbey, erected during the English wars in the 14th 
 century. Ikhind them, a little way off, you can see the high 
 and pointed roof of the nave, crowned by the statue of the 
 patron, St. Denis. 
 
 Now, enter tlie enclosure and examine the three round- 
 arched portals. The Central Dooriuay has for its subject the 
 usual scene of the Last Judgment. The architecture of the 
 framework is still in the main that of the 13th cent. The 
 relief in the tympanum has been much restored, but still re- 
 tains its Romanesque character. In the centre is Christ, 
 enthroned, with angels. On His R hand, the blessed, with the 
 Angel of the Last Trump as elsewhere. On His L, the con- 
 demned, with the Angel bearing the sword, and thrusting the 
 wicked into Hell : all conventional features. The Latin in- 
 scriptions mean, "Come, ye blessed of iMy Father"; and 
 " Depart from Me, ye wicked." Beneath is the General Resur- 
 rection, souls rising (mostly naked) from the tomb. To R and 
 L of the doorway, below, are the frequent subjects of the Wise 
 and Foolish Virgins. Above, on the archway, figures of saints 
 and patriarchs, amongst whom is conspicuous King David. 
 Notice in the very centre or key of the archway, Christ receiv- 
 ing souls from angels. To His R, Abraham with three blessed 
 souls in his bosom (as at St. Germain I'Auxerrois). To His L, 
 devils seizing the condemned, whom they thrust into hell, while 
 angels struggle for them. Higher still, on the arch, angels 
 swinging a censer, and an angel displaying a medallion of the 
 lamb. This door formed the model on which those of Notre- 
 Dame, the Sainte Chapelle, St. Germain I'Auxerrois, and many 
 others in Paris of later date, were originally based. The actual 
 doors have naive bronze reliefs of the Passion, Resurrection, 
 and Ascension. Notice the quaint character of these reliefs, 
 
VI.] . ST. DENIS 235 
 
 and of the delicate decorative design which surrounds them, — 
 broken, in the case of the Supper at Emmaus, by the figure of a 
 monk, probably Abbot Suger, grasping a pillar. The Resurrec- 
 tion, with its sleeping Roman soldiers, and the Kiss of Judas, 
 with Peter sheathing his sword and Christ healing the ear of 
 Malchus, are also very typical. Do not fail to notice, either, 
 the beautiful decoration of the pilasters and their capitals. All 
 this is delicate and characteristic Romanesque tracery. 
 
 The other doors commemorate the History of St. Denis. 
 On the South Door is a much-restored and practically modern 
 relief of St. Denis in prison with Christ bringing him the last 
 s.icrament ; it has been largely made up by the aid of the old 
 French painting of the same subject in the Louvre. In front 
 are figures symbolical of his martyrdom— the executioner, etc. 
 On the sides, reliefs of the Months. On the North Door^ St. 
 Denis condemned and on his way to Monttnartre, with his two 
 companions, Rusticus and Eleutherius, chained ; they are ac- 
 companied in the sky by the Eternal Father and the heavenly 
 host. On the archway, interesting reliefs of the three martyrs, 
 with an angel supporting the chasse containing their relics. 
 On the sides, the signs of the Zodiac. 
 
 Walk round the North Side to observe the decorated flam- 
 boyant architecture of the chapels of the North Aisle (much 
 later) with the flying buttresses above them. Also, the North 
 Transept, with its rose window, and the peculiar radiating 
 chapels around the apse, which form a characteristic feature 
 of the Romanesque style. Observe these as well as you can 
 frorh the extreme end of the railing. Return to Transept. The 
 sculpture over the North Portal represents the Decapitation of 
 St. Denis. On the centre pier, a Madonna and Child. R and 
 L, Kings of Judah. 
 
 The South Side is inaccessible. It is enclosed by buildings 
 on the site of the old monastery (not ancient— age of Louis 
 XIV), now used as a place of education for daughters of Chcva- 
 hers de la Legion d'Honneur. 
 
 The interior is most beautiful. The first portion of the 
 church which we enter is a vestibule or Galilee under the 
 side towers and em of the Nave. Compare Durham. It is 
 of the age of Abbot Suger, but already exhibits pointed arches 
 
236 PARIS [vi. 
 
 in the upper part. The architecture is solid and massive, but 
 somewhat gloomy. 
 
 Descend a few steps into the Nave, which is surrounded by 
 single aisles, whose vaulting should be noticed. The architec- 
 ture of this part, now pure Early Oothic, is extremely lovely. 
 The triforium is delicate and graceful. The windows in the 
 clerestory above it, representing kings and queens, are almost 
 all modern. Notice the great height of the Nave, and the 
 unusual extent to which the triforium and clerestory project 
 above the noble vaulting of the aisles. Note that the tri- 
 forium itself opens directly to the air, and is supplied with 
 stained-glass windows, seen through its arches. Sit awhile 
 in this light and lofty Nave, in order to take in the beautiful 
 view up the church towards the choir and chevet. 
 
 Then walk up to the Barrier near the Transepts, where sit 
 again, in order to observe the Choir and Transepts with the 
 staircase which leads to the raised Ambulatory. Observe that 
 the transepts are simj)le. The ugly stained glass in the win- 
 dows of their clerestory contains illustrations of the reign of 
 Louis Philippe, with extremely unpicturesque costumes of the 
 period. The trousers are unspeakable. The architecture of 
 the Nave and Choir, with its light and airy arches and pillars, 
 is of the later 13th century. 
 
 The reason for this is that Suger's building was thoroughly 
 restored from 1230 onwards, in the pure pointed style of that 
 best period. The upper part of the Choir, and the whole of 
 the Nave and Transepts was then rebuilt— which accounts for 
 the gracefulness and airiness of its architecture when con- 
 trasted with the dark and heavy vestibule of the age of Suger. 
 
 Note from this point the arrangement of the Choir, which, 
 to those who do not know Italy, will be quite unfamiliar. As 
 at San Zeno in Verona, San Miniato in Florence, and many 
 other Romanesque churches, the Choir is raised by some 
 steps above the Nave and Transepts ; while the Crypt is 
 slightly depressed beneath them. In the Crypt, in such cases, 
 are the actual bodies of the saints buried there ; while the 
 Altar stands directly over their tombs in the Choir above it. 
 
 Look every way from this point at the tombs within sight, 
 at the Choir and Transepts, and at the steps of the Ambula- 
 
VI.] ST. DENIS 237 
 
 tory. Do not be in a hurry to enter. On the contrary, sit 
 awhile longer in the body of the Nave, outside the barrier, 
 and read what follows. 
 
 [The custodians hurry you so rapidly throii^'h the reserved 
 part of the church that it will be well before entering tlie 
 enclosure to glance through the succeeding notes, explanatory 
 of what you are about to see. The remarks to be read as you 
 go round the buildina^ I insert separately, in the briefest pos- 
 sible words, as aids to memory. 
 
 The tomb of Louis XII (d. 15 15) and his wife, Anne de 
 Bretagne (d. 1514), is the earliest of the great Renaissance 
 tombs in France, and the first in order in this Basilica. Long 
 believed to be of Italian workmanship, it is now known to be 
 the production of Jean Juste of Tours, unknown otherwise, 
 but supposed to be a Florentine. It is imitated from the Gian- 
 galeazzo Visconti, already mentioned, in the Certosa di Pavia. 
 This tomb, the first you see, struck the keynote for such works 
 of the Renaissance in France. It is a good and apparently 
 French imitation of the Italian original, and it fitly marks 
 Louis XII's place in the artistic movement. Remember his 
 statue by Lorenzo da iMugiano in the Louvre, and his con- 
 nection with Cardinal d'Amboise and the Chateau de Gaillon. 
 
 The next important monument is that of Dagobert I (d. 638), 
 the founder of the Abbey, probably erected in his honour, 
 as a sort of shrine, by St. Louis in the 13th cent. In order 
 to understand this tomb (which you are only allowed to see 
 across the whole breadth of the choir), it is necessary to know 
 the legend to which the mediaeval sculptures on the canopy 
 refer. When Dagobert died, demons tried to steal his soul ; 
 but he was rescued by St. Denis, to whom he had built this 
 abbey, assisted by St. Maurice and St. Martin of Tours — a 
 significant story, pointing the moral of how good a thing it is 
 to found a monastery. The narrative is told in three stages, 
 one above the other, (i) An anchorite, sleeping, is shown by 
 St. Denis in a dream that the king's soul is in danger ; to the 
 R, Dagobert stands in a little boat (like the boat of Charon) ; 
 demons seize him and take off his crown. (2) The three 
 saints come to the king^s rescue, attended by two angels, one 
 swinging a censer, the other holding a vase of holy water ; St. 
 
238 ' PARIS [VI. 
 
 Martin and St. Denis see the tortured soul ; the soldier St. 
 Maurice, sword in hand, attacks the demons. (3) The three 
 saints, attended by the an<;els, hold a sheet, on which the soul 
 of Dagobert stands, praying. The Hand of God appears in a 
 glory above, to lift him into heaven. These are on the canopy; 
 beneath, on the tomb itself, lies a modern restored recumbent 
 statue of Dagobert ; there are also erect figures of his son 
 Sigebert (restored), and his queen, Nantildc (original). 
 
 The tomb of Henri II (d. 1559) and his queen, Catherine 
 de Medicis (d. 1589) — the third of any importance — was exe- 
 cuted by the great sculptor, Germain Pilon, during the lifetime 
 of the latter. (It was he, too, you will remember, who made 
 the exquisite group of figures, now in the Louvre, to support 
 the urn which was to contain their hearts.) As in many con- 
 temporary tombs, the king and queen are represented alive 
 and kneeling, in bronze, above, and nude and dead in marble 
 on the tomb below. (We saw a similar tomb at the Louvre.) 
 A second monument, close by, to the same king and queen, 
 has recumbent marble figures on a bronze couch, — Catherine is 
 said in her devouter old age to have disapproved of the nudity 
 of the figures on the first tomb — but as it was usual to distri- 
 bute relics of French kings to various abbeys, such duplicate 
 monuments were once common. 
 
 The tomb of Fredegonde (d. 597) from St. Ciermain-des- 
 Pres, is a curious mosaic figure of marble and copper, almost 
 unique m character. It is not of the Queen's own age, but 
 was added to her shrine in the 12th century. Most of 
 these early kings and queens, founders and benefactors ot 
 monasteries, were either actually canonized or were treated as 
 saints by the monks whom they had benefited : and tombs in 
 their honour were repaired or reedified after the Norman in- 
 vasion and other misfortunes. 
 
 Two monuments of the cliildren of St. Louis, from other 
 abbeys, carried first to Lenoir's Museum, are now in this Basilica. 
 They are of enamelled copper, with repousse figures, executed 
 at Limoges. 
 
 The most costly, though not to my mind the most beautiful, 
 of the Renaissance tombs is that of Francois l®"" (d. 1547). On 
 the summit are kneeling figures of the King, his wife Claude, 
 
VI.] ST. DENIS 239 
 
 and their three children. The rehefs on the pedestal represent 
 the battles of Marignano and Cerisole. This tomb, like that of 
 Louis XII, is ukimately based on the Visconti monument in 
 the Certosa, but it exhibits a much later and more refined 
 development of French Renaissance sculpture than its pre- 
 decessor. It is by Germain Pilon, Philibert Delorme, and 
 (perhaps) Jean Goujon. The architectural plan is noble and 
 severe : but it lacks the more naive beauty of Jean Juste's 
 workmanship. 
 
 It was the curious custom to treat the bodies of French 
 Kings (who, as royal, were almost sacred) much as the relics of 
 the Saints were treated. Hence the head and heart were 
 often preserved separately and in different places from the 
 body to which they belonged. Francois I""" himself was 
 interred here : but an urn to hold his heart was placed in the 
 Abbaye des Hautes Bruyeres, near Rambouillet. This urn is a 
 fine Renaissance work by Pierre Bontemps. Taken to Lenoir's 
 Musee des Monuments at the Revolution, it was afterwards 
 placed beside the king's tomb in this Basilica. 
 
 Look out in the Apse for the Altar of St. Denis, and his 
 fellow-martyrs. Near it used once to hang the Oriflamme, 
 that very sacred banner which was only removed when a King 
 of France took the field in person. It was last used at Agin- 
 court. A reproduction now represents it. 
 
 The other monuments can be best observed by the brief 
 notes given as we pass them. The arrangements for seeing 
 them are quite as bad as those in our own cathedrals, and it 
 is impossible to get near enough to examine them properly. 
 Therefore, take your bearing:s from the Nave Ift/o/e you 
 enter, and try to understand the architecture of the choir as 
 far as possible before you pass the barriers. 
 
 Disregard the remarks made by the guide (who expects a 
 tip), and read these brief notes for yourself as you pass the 
 objects.] 
 
 Enter the enclosure. 
 
 North Aisle : L, several good mediiuval recumbent tombs, 
 mostly from other abbeys, named on placards. Read thtm. 
 
 Then, Tombs of the Family of St. Louis, recumbent, also 
 named : 13th and 14th cents. 
 
240 PARIS [VI. 
 
 **Tomb of Louis XII, and his wife Anne de Bretagne, by 
 Jean Juste of Tours. After the Certosa monument. Beneath, 
 Twelve Apostles ; four allegorical figures of Virtues: king and 
 queen, in centre, recumbent ; above, on canopy, king and 
 queen kneeling. On base, reliefs of his Italian victories. 
 
 R, column commemorating Henri III, by Barthelemy Prieur. 
 
 Stand by steps leading to raised Ambulatory, only point 
 of view for ** Tomb of Dagobert, on opposite side of choir, 
 13th cent. Legend of his soul, see above. Erect statues of 
 Sigebert, his son, and Nantilde, his queen. Insist on time to 
 view it with opera-glass. 
 
 L, **Tombof Henry II and Catherine de Medicis. King 
 and queen recumbent, in marble, below ; kneeling, in bronze, 
 above. At corners, the four cardinal virtues, bronze. Also 
 after Certosa. 
 
 Ascend steps to Ambulatory. 
 
 Below, monuments of the Valois family. 
 
 Above, L, second monument of Henri II and Catherine de 
 Medicis, recumbent marble on bronze mattress. Observe 
 monograms of H and D, as on Louvre. 
 
 Proceed round Ambulatory. Chapels to the L have stained- 
 glass windows of 12th and 13th cents. Interesting subjects, 
 which note in passing. ** Beautiful view across the church 
 as you pass the transepts. 
 
 In the centre of the apse of the Choir (above the tombs in 
 Crypt), is the Altar of St. Denis, with his fellow-martyrs, St. 
 Rusticus and St Eleutherius — modern imitation of the original 
 shrine, broken at the Revolution. During the neuTaine (nine 
 days after St. Denis' day — Oct. 9) the Reliquaries are exposed 
 in the Nave, near the barrier. On one side of the Altar is a 
 reproduction of the Oriflamme. 
 
 Beyond this Altar, continue along the South Side of the 
 Ambulatory, to the Sacristy. Modern paintings, here, relat- 
 ing to the History of the Abbey. Labels beneath describe 
 their subjects. 
 
 Adjoining it is the Treasury, containing only uninteresting 
 modern church utensils. 
 
 Beyond the Sacristy, Tomb of Predeg:onde, from St. 
 Germain-des-Pres. Hands, feet, and face probably once 
 painted. 
 
VI.] ST. DENIS ^ 241 
 
 Descend steps from ambulatory. 
 Descend to Crypt. 
 
 This, the oldest portion of the existing building, was erected 
 by Suger, to contain the Tombs of the Three Martyrs, buried 
 under their altar. Its architecture is the most interesting of all 
 in the Basilica. Notice the quaint Romanesque capitals of the 
 columns. In the centre, bones of the Royal Family, within the 
 grating. Neglect them, and observe the arches. 
 
 In the Crypt Chapels, uninteresting modern statues (Marie 
 Antoinette, Louis XVI, colossal figures for the Monument of 
 the Due de Berry, etc.). Neglect these also, and observe rather 
 the architecture and good fragments of glass in windows, 
 particularly a very naive Roasting of St. Lawrence. 
 
 Return to church. 
 
 Monument of Du Guesclin, 1380. 
 
 Louis de Sancerre, 1402. 
 
 Renee de Longueville, from the Church of the Cdlestins. 
 
 Blanche and Jean, children of St. Louis, enamelled copper, 
 Limoges ; from other abbeys. 
 
 **Fran^ois I^"*, his wife, Claude, and their three children, 
 above. On pedestal. Scenes from his battles ; High Renais- 
 sance work : Philibert Delorme, Germain Pilon, and Jean 
 Goujon. More stately, but less interesting than Louis XII. 
 
 **Urn, to contain heart of Frangois I*"^, from the nunnery of 
 Hautes Bruy^res. 
 
 Louis d'Orleans and Valentine of Milan, from the Church 
 of the Celestins. 
 
 Charles d'Etampes ; 1336, witli 24 small figures of saints. 
 
 Leave the enclosure and return to the church. I advise you 
 then to read this all over again, and finally, go round a second 
 time, to complete the picture. 
 
 The Abbey and Church are closely bound up at every turn 
 with French history. In Dagobert's building, in 754, Pope 
 Stephen II, flying from the Lombards, consecrated Charlemagne 
 and his brother Carloman. In the existing Basilica, St. Louis 
 took down the Oriflamme to set forth on his Crusade ; and 
 Joan of Arc hung up her armour as a votive offering after the 
 siege of Orleans. But indeed, St. Denis played an important 
 
 Q 
 
242 PARIS [VI. 
 
 part in all great ceremonials down to the Revolution, and its 
 name occurs on every page of old French history. 
 
 On your return to Paris, you may find this a convenient 
 moment to visit St. Vincent de Paul, which lies two minutes 
 away from the Gare de Nord. 
 
 After visiting St. Denis the reader will probably find it 
 desirable to examine certain objects from the Treasury of the 
 Basilica now preserved in the Louvre. They are mostly 
 contained in the Galerie d'ApoUon, in the glass case nearest the 
 window which looks out upon the Seine. (Position of cases 
 liable to alteration : if not here, look out for it elsewhere in 
 the same room.) The most important of these objects is an 
 antique Egyptian vase in porphyry, which Abbot Suger had 
 mounted in the 12th cent, in a silver-gilt frame, as an eagle. It 
 contains an inscription composed by the Abbot in Latin 
 hexameters, and implying that it was to be used for the service 
 of the altar. Near it is an antique Roman sardonyx vase, also 
 mounted as a jug by Suger in the 12th cent., and from the same 
 Treasury : its inscription says, " I, Suger, offer this vase to the 
 Lord." Also, another in rock-crystal, which has been similarly 
 treated : it bears the name of Alienor d'Aquitaine : she gave 
 it to Louis VII, who passed it on to Suger: a 12th cent, 
 inscription on the base records these facts, as well as its dedica- 
 tion to Sts. Rusticus and Eleutherius. The same case contains 
 a beautiful Carlovingian serpentine paten, which formed part 
 of the treasure of Dagobert's Abbey. Observe, close by, the 
 beautiful silver-gilt Madonna, characteristic French work of the 
 14th cent., offered by Ouecn Jeanne d'Evreux to the Abbey of 
 St. Denis, and bearing an easily-deciphered inscription in old 
 French. Note that the Madonna in this royal offering carries 
 in her hand the tleur-de-lis of France. Compare this work 
 mentally with the other early French Madonnas we have 
 already observed in the Mediicval Sculpture Room. 
 
 Among other objects in this same case observe the curious 
 double cross, with cover and lid to contain it ; where the inscrip- 
 tion above the head of the inner cross indicates the natural 
 origin of the doubling. Close inspection of this object will 
 
VI.] ST. DENIS 243 
 
 explain to you many little points in others. Several similar 
 Crucifixions, with Madonna and St. John and attendant 
 angels, are in the same room : compare them with it. To 
 the R is a good relief of the Maries at the Sepulchre ; a 
 double crucifix with St. John and the Madonna ; and a 
 reliquary fashioned to contain the arm of St. Louis of 
 Toulouse. Most of these objects are sufficiently explained 
 by the labels : the antique inscriptions, sometimes in Greek, 
 are easily legible. (Beautiful view out of window to l.) 
 
 The examination of this case will form a point of departure 
 for the visitor who cares to examine the minor art-works in 
 the Galerie d'Apollon and other rooms of the Louvre. I have 
 left them till now, for the sake of the peg on which to hang 
 them. I will therefore note here, in this connection, one or 
 two other things which may assist the reader in the examination 
 of the remainder, leaving him, as usual, to fill in the details of 
 the scheme by personal observation and comparison of objects. 
 
 Walk down the centre of the Galerie d'Apollon, on the side 
 towards the windows, passing the tawdry crown jewels, and the 
 many exquisite Classical or Renaissance works in the cabinet 
 beyond it, all of which you can afterwards examine at your 
 leisure. (Some of the antique busts in precious stones come 
 from Abbey Treasuries, where they were preserved and sancti- 
 fied during the Middle Ages.) But in the last case save one, 
 observe, near the centre, a very quaint little figure of St. Law- 
 rence, lying comfortably on his gridiron, and holding in his 
 hands a tiny reliquary, almost as big as himself— a finger with 
 a nail on it, intended for the reception of a bone of the Saint's 
 own little finger. This odd little reliquary, French 14th cent., 
 when compared with that for the arm of St. Louis of Toulouse, 
 will help you to understand many similar reliquaries, both here 
 and elsewhere. The martyr is put there as a mode of signi- 
 fying the fact — "This is a bone of St. Lawrence." Above it, 
 note again five charming crosiers, containing respectively 
 representations of the Madonna enthroned, the Annunciation, 
 the Coronation of the Virgin, again the Annunciation, and a 
 decorative design of great beauty. Note their date and place 
 of origin on the labels. When once your attention has been 
 called to the occurrence of such definite scenes in similar 
 
244 PARIS [VI. 
 
 objects, you will be able to recognise them at once for yourself 
 in many like situations. In the Annunciation to the L, observe 
 once more the very odd way in which the usual lily is carefully 
 obtruded between the angel Gabriel and Our Lady. Some 
 obvious barrier between the two was demanded by orthodoxy : 
 here, the decorative device by which the difficulty has been 
 surmounted is clever and effective. Between this crosier and 
 that of the Coronation, look again at a queer little reliquary, 
 held by the Madonna and Child, with a glass front for the 
 exhibition of the relic. Another Madonna, close by to the L, 
 similarly holds on her lap a charming little reliquary basin. 
 The same case contains several coffers and reliquaries in 
 champievd enamel, the most interesting of which is the Coffer 
 of St. Louis, with decorative designs showing Romanesque 
 tendencies. At the far end of the case, two charming silver- 
 gilt angels, 14th cent., also bearing reliquaries. Examine in 
 detail all the objects in this most interesting case. They will 
 help, I hope, to throw light upon others which you will see 
 elsewhere. 
 
 I do not intend to go at equal length through all the cases in 
 this interesting room ; but your visit to St. Denis ought now to 
 have put you in a fit frame of mind for comprehending the 
 meaning of most of these works by the light of the hints 
 already given. I will only therefore call special attention to 
 the beautiful decorative box, containing a book of the Gospels, 
 in French enamel-work and jewellery of the nth cent., in 
 the last window on the right, before you reach the Rotonde 
 d'Apollon. This valuable book-cover is also from the Abbey 
 Treasury of St. Denis. It exhibits the usual Crucifixion, with 
 the Madonna and St. John, and the adoring angels, together 
 with figures of the symbols of the Evangelists, whose names 
 are here conveniently attached to them. The next case, to the 
 R of this one, also contains champleve enamels of the 12th and 
 13th cents., all of which should similarly be examined. Note 
 among them, to the extreme R in the case, a very cjuaint 
 quatrefoil with St. Francis receiving the Stigmata ; a subject 
 with which you will already be familiar from Giotto's treatment, 
 and whose adaptation here to a decorative purpose is curious 
 and enlightening. Next to it, L, a Death of the Virgin. 
 
VI.] ^ ST. DENIS ' 245 
 
 Further on, two delicious little plaques — one, of Abraham and 
 Melchisedech, with St. Luke — (Abraham, as soldier, being 
 attired in the knightly costume of the Bayeux Tapestry) ; and 
 the other of the Offering of Isaac, with St. Mark; two of a 
 series of the Evangelists with Old Testament subjects. Above 
 these, the Emperor Ileraclius killing Chosroes, with cherubim. 
 Still higher, a most exquisite Adoration of the Magi. Also 
 Christ in Glory, in a mandorla, with the symbols of the Evan- 
 gelists ; and two closely similar Crucifixions, with a Madonna 
 and St. John, and adoring angels. Compare these with the 
 similar subject in the first case we visited. This frame also 
 contains three charming saints in Byzantine style, a good St. 
 Matthew, and a little King David holding a psalter. Do not 
 leave one of the objects in this window unidentified and 
 unexamined. 
 
 I notice all these decorative treatments here merely in order 
 to suggest to the reader the way in which the knowledge he 
 has gained of the fabric of St. Denis may be utilised to ex- 
 amine works of art from the great Abbey both here and at 
 Cluny. You will find it useful to visit both collections on your 
 return from such a church, in order to mentally replace in their 
 proper surroundings works now divorced from it. Some other 
 good objects from the same Treasury may also be seen at the 
 Bibliotheque Nationale. 
 
--^'..:. '.'*,■ 
 
 VII 
 THE OUTER RING, ETC. 
 
 FT^ARIS, outside the great Boulevards comprises l)y 
 L XT f^^ t^^ larger part of the existing city. Nevertheless, 
 it contains comparatively few objects of historical or artistic 
 importance, being almost entirely modern and merely resi- 
 dential. Walks and drives in this part of Paris are pleasing, 
 of course, as exhibiting the life of the great town, and they 
 embrace many points of passing interest, such as the Tro- 
 cad^ro, the Champs Elysecs, the Champ-de-Mars, the Place 
 de I'Etoile, the Arc de Triomphe, the Pare Monceau, the 
 church of the Sacre-Cceur on the height of Montmartre, etc., etc. 
 Most of these the visitor will find out for himself. They do not 
 need any explanation or elucidation. 
 
 Among the very few objects of historical interest in this 
 district, I would call special attention to the Maison de Fran= 
 ^ois !*''» on the Cours-la-Reine, at the first corner after you pass 
 the Palais de I'Industrie. This beautiful little gem of domestic 
 Renaissance architecture was erected for Francois I^"" at Moret, 
 near Fontainebleau, in 1527, probably as a gift for Diane de 
 Poitiers, the mistress of Henri II, though it is also asserted that 
 the king built it for his sister, Queen Margaret of Navarre. It 
 was taken down in i S26, and rebuilt on the present site. The style 
 recalls that of the Renaissance palaces of Venice. The delicate 
 and beautiful decorative work of the pilasters, etc., and the dainty 
 portrait medallions deserve inspection. Do not miss this 
 charming little building, which should be compared with Jean 
 Goujon's portion of the Louvre, and with the Renaissance 
 remains at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and elsewhere. 
 
 A collection to which a few hours maybe devoted, in the same 
 connection, by those who have time, is the Musee Carnavalet, 
 
 246 
 
VII.] THE OUTER RING, ETC. 247 
 
 which lies, however, ivithin the Boulevards. The building is a 
 fine Renaissance mansion, once the residence of Madame de 
 Sevigne. Many of the objects preserved here have a purely 
 sentimental and to say the truth somewhat childish interest, 
 consisting as they do of relics of the Great Revolution or other 
 historical events, which derive whatever value they happen to 
 possess from their sentimental connection only. But some of 
 the objects have real artistic and historical importance ; so 
 have the decorations by Jean Goujon. When you have seen 
 everything else enumerated here, you may give with advan- 
 tage a Thursday morning to this somewhat scratch collection. 
 The most important objects are those in the garden. 
 
 For the Champs Klysees, the Arc de Triomphe, and the other 
 buildings or promenades of wealthy, modern, western Paris, the 
 guidance of Baedeker is amply sufficient. 
 
 The buildings already enumerated and the objects noted in 
 them form the most important sights in Paris, and are as many 
 as the tourist is likely to find time for visiting during a stay 
 of some weeks. If, however, he can add a few days to his 
 sojourn, I give briefly some hints as to a list of other objects 
 worthy his notice — taking it for granted, of course, that he 
 will find his way to the Champs Elysees, the Bois de Boulogne, 
 the theatres, etc., by the light of nature, not unaided by 
 Baedeker. Amid the mass of information tendered in the 
 ordinary Guides, the visitor scarcely knows how to distinguish 
 the necessary from the optional. This short list may help him 
 in his selection. 
 
 In the old region on the South Side (between the river and 
 Cluny) are two churches worth inspection by the antiquarian : 
 (i) St. JuIien=le=Pauvre, the former chapel of the old Hotel 
 Dieu, which here occupied both banks, spreading to the spot 
 now covered by the statue of Charlemagne ; transitional ; 12th 
 cent.; and (2) St. Severin, dedicated to two local Gallic 
 saints, of the same name ; good flamboyant Gothic ; its 
 interesting portal commemorates St. Martin, part of whose 
 famous cloak was kept in a chapel here ; the ftK^ade was 
 brought from St. Pierre-aux-Boeufs, on the lie de la Cite, de- 
 
248 PARIS [VII. 
 
 molished in 1837 ; good modern reliefs on altar represent 
 episodes in the lives of the two saints — St. S^verin the Abbot 
 healing Clovis, and St. Sdverin the Hermit ordaining St. Cloud. 
 Altogether, a church to be visited and understood, rich in 
 historic interest. 
 
 Among churches of the later period, the domes and their 
 development are worthy of study, as illustrating the ideal of the 
 17th and i8th cents. The earliest was St. Paul et St. Louis 
 (originally Jesuit), 1627, with a massive and gaudy Louis XIV 
 doorway ; interior, florid and tawdry, after the Jesuit fashion. 
 Next comes the Sorbonne, 1635, interesting from its original 
 connection with St. Louis (his confessor, Robert de Sorbon, 
 founded the hostel, of which this is the far later church, for poor 
 theological students) ; it is the first important dome, and 
 contains an overrated monument to Richelieu by Lebrun, 
 executed by Girardon. If you have plenty of time, you may 
 visit it. Then the Invalides, 1705, now containing the tomb 
 of Napoleon. Lastly, the Pantheon, already described. If 
 visited in this order, they form an instructive series. Note the 
 gradual increase in classicism, which culminates in the 
 Madeleine. The earlier domes resemble those of the Rome of 
 Bernini : the later grow more and more Grecian in their sur- 
 roundings. The Institut (included here for its dome) and 
 Val-de-Qrace are sufficiently inspected with a glance in 
 passing. 
 
 The churches of the innermost Paris are mostly dedicated to 
 local saints ; those of the outer ring of Louis XIV to a some- 
 what wider circle of Catholic interest ; among them, St. Rocli, 
 the famous plague-saint, deserves a visit ; it is rococo and 
 vulgar, but representative. The churches in the outer ring are 
 of still broader dedication, often to newer saints of humanitarian 
 or doctrinal importance. Among these quite modern buildings, 
 St. Vincent-de-PauI ranks first, on account of its magnificent 
 frieze by Flandrin, running round the nave, and representing a 
 procession of saints and martyrs, suggested by the mosaics in 
 Sant' Apollinare Nuovo at Ravenna; this the visitor should on 
 no account omit ; it lies near the Gare du Nord, and is a good 
 example of the basilica style, successfully adapted to modern 
 needs, Baedeker will here efficiently serve you. But, though 
 
VII.] THE OUTER RING, ETC. 249 
 
 artistically fine, Flandrin's frescoes are not nearly so eftective as 
 the original mosaics in Theodoric's basilica. The other great 
 modern churches — St. Augustin, St. Ambroise, La Trinitd, 
 Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Ste. Clotilde, etc. — need only be visited 
 by those who have plenty of time, and who take an intelligent 
 interest in contemporary Catholicism. But, if you can manage 
 it, you should certainly mount the hill of Montmartre, the 
 most sacred site in Paris, both for the sake of the splendid view, 
 for the memories of St. Denis (the common legend says, 
 beheaded here ; a variant asserts, buried for the first time 
 before his translation to the Abbey of St. Denis), and 
 for the interesting modern Byzantine- Romanesque pile of 
 the Sacre-Coeur which now approaches completion. Close by 
 is the quaint old church of St. Pierre-de-Montmartre, and 
 behind it a curious belated Calvary. 
 
 Those whom this book may have interested in church-lore 
 will find very full details on all these subjects in Miss Beale's 
 " Churches of Paris." Another useful book is Lonergan's 
 " Historic Churches of Paris." With the key I have striven 
 to give, and the aid of these works, the visitor should be able 
 to unlock for himself the secrets of all the churches. 
 
 Two pretty little parks which deserve a passing visit are the 
 Pare Monceau, near the Ternes, and still more, the Buttes 
 Chaumont, in the heart of the poor district of La Villette 
 and Belleville, showing well what can be done by gardening 
 for the beautification of such squalid quarters. The Jardin 
 d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne, and the Jardin des 
 Plantes, at the extreme east end of the South Side are both 
 interesting, especially to the zoologist and botanist. The last- 
 named is best reached by a pleasant trip on one of the river 
 steamers. 
 
 Of collections, not here noted, the most important is the 
 Musee Quimet of Oriental art, near the Trocaddro. It should 
 be visited (if time permits) by all who are interested in Chinese, 
 Japanese, and Indian products. The Trocadero itself contains 
 a good collection of casts, valuable for the study of comparative 
 plastic development ; but they can only be used to effect by 
 persons who can afford several days at least to study them (in 
 
250 PARIS [VII. 
 
 other words, residents). The Ethnographical Museum in the 
 same building is good, but need only detain those who have 
 special knowledge in the subject. 
 
 To know what to avoid is almost as important as to know 
 what to visit. Under this category, I may say that no intel- 
 ligent person need trouble himself about Pcre-Lachaise and 
 the other cemeteries ; the Catacombs ; the various Halles or 
 Markets ; the interiors of the Conservatoire des Arts et 
 Metiers (except so far as above indicated), tlie Bourse, the 
 Banque de France, the Bibliotheque Nationale (unless, of 
 course, he is a student and wishes to read there), the Archives, 
 the Imprimerie Nationale, the various Courts and Public 
 Offices, the Gobelins Manufactory, the Siivres porcelain works, 
 the Institut, the Mint, the Invalides, the Ch.imber of Deputies, 
 the buildings in the Champ-de-Mars (except while the Salon 
 there is open), the Observatory, and so forth. In Paris pro- 
 per, I think I have enumerated above almost everything that 
 calls for special notice from any save specialists. 
 
 Three Excursions from Paris are absolutely indispensable 
 for any one who wishes to gain a clear idea of the Prance of 
 the Renaissance and the succeeding epoch. 
 
 The first, and by far the most important of these, is that to 
 Fontainebieau, a visit to which is necessary in order to 
 enable you properly to fill in the mental picture of the 
 change wrought by Francois I^"" and his successors in French 
 art and architecture. It is an inevitable complement to your 
 visits to the Louvre. This excursion, however, should only be 
 made after the visitor has thoroughly seen and digested the 
 Renaissance collections in the Louvre, and the Ecole des 
 Beaux-Arts, as well as the Tombs of the Kings at St. Denis. 
 Baedeker is an amply sufficient guide for this the most inter- 
 esting and instructive excursion that can be made from Paris. 
 One day suffices for a visit to the Chateau and a glimpse of 
 the Forest ; though a week can be pleasantly spent in this 
 charming region. After your return, you will do well to visit 
 the Renaissance Sculpture at the Louvre again. Many of the 
 works will gain fresh meaning for you after inspection of the 
 
VII.] THE OUTER RING, ETC, 25I 
 
 surroundings for which they were designed, and the architec- 
 ture which formed their natural setting. 
 
 The second excursion, also valuable from the point of view 
 of the study of the Renaissance, is that to St. Germain, 
 where the Chateau itself, and the exquisite view from the Ter- 
 race, are almost equally delightful. Those interested in pre- 
 historic arcliceology, too, should not miss seeing the very 
 valuable collection in the Museum installed in the Chateau, 
 probably the finest of its sort in the world, and rich in draw- 
 ings and other remains of the cave-men of the Dordogne. 
 
 The third excursion, in every respect less pleasing and in- 
 structive, is that to Versailles. This must be taken rather as 
 a duty than as a pleasure. Leave it for some enticing day in 
 summer. Neither as regards art or nature can the great cum- 
 brous palace and artificial domain of Louis XIV be compared 
 in beauty to the other two. The building is a cold, formal, 
 unimposing pile, filled with historic pictures of the dullest age, 
 or modern works of often painful mediocrity, whose very mass 
 and monotony makes most of them uninteresting. The 
 grounds and trees have been drilled into ranks with military 
 severity. The very fountains are aj^gressive. Nevertheless, a 
 visit to the palace and gardens is absolutely necessary in order 
 to enable the visitor to understand the France of the 17th 
 and i8th centuries, with its formal art and its artificial nature. 
 You will there begin more fully to understand the powdered 
 world of the du Barrys and the Pompadours, the alleys and 
 clipped trees of Le Notre's gardens, the atmosphere that sur- 
 rounds the affected pictures of Pjoucher, Vanloo, and Watteau. 
 Take it in this spirit, and face it manfully. Here, again, the 
 indications in Baedeker are amply sufficient by way of guid- 
 ance. 
 
 When you have seen these three, you need not trouble 
 yourself further with excursions from Paris, unless indeed you 
 have ample time at your disposal and desire country jaunts for 
 the sake of mere outing. But these three you omit at your 
 historical peril. 
 
 In conclusion, I would say in all humility, I am only too 
 conscious that I have but scratched in this book the surface of 
 
252 PARIS [VII. 
 
 Paris. Adequately to fill in the outline so sketched, for so 
 great and beautiful a city, so rich in historical and artistic 
 interest, would require a big book — and big books are not easy 
 to carry about with one, sight-seeing. Moreover, I reflect by 
 way of comfort, it is not good for us to be told everything ; 
 something must be left for the individual intelligence to have 
 the pleasure of discovering. All I have endeavoured to do 
 here is to su^^gest a method ; if I have succeeded in making 
 you take an interest in Medi.'eval and Renaissance Paris, if I 
 have stimulated in you a desire to learn more about it, I have 
 succeeded in my object. However imperfect this work may 
 be — and nobody can be more conscious of its imperfections 
 than its author — it will be justified if it arouses curiosity and 
 intelligent inspection of works of art or antiquity, in place of 
 mere listless and casual perambulation. 
 
 It is common in England to hear superior people sneer at 
 Paris as modern and meretricious. I often wonder whether 
 these people have ever really seen Paris at all — that beautiful, 
 wonderful, deeply interesting Paris, soine glimpse of which I 
 have endeavoured to give in this little volume. To such I 
 would say, when you are next at your favourite hotel in the 
 Avenue de I'Opera, take a few short walks to St. Germain-des- 
 Pr^s, the Place des Vosges, St. Etienne-du-Mont, St. Eustache, 
 and Cluny, and see whether you will not modify your opinion. 
 
 THE END. 
 
I N DEX 
 
 Ancient Sculpture, 154-168, 
 
 Antinous, 163. 
 
 Archseology, Prehistoric, 251. 
 
 Armour, 46. 
 
 Assyrian Antiquities, 189. 
 
 Boucher, in. 
 
 Boulevards, The, 197, 198, 208, 
 
 209. 
 Burgundian Art, 175, 177. 
 
 Canova, 188. 
 
 Carnavalet Museum, 247. 
 
 Carpaccio, 148, 149. 
 
 Carrousel, Place de, 69. 
 
 Caryatides, 167. 
 
 Cellini, 174. 
 
 Childebert, 65, 178, 213. 
 
 Christian Sculpture, Early, 193-196. 
 
 Cimabue, 74. 
 
 Classical Sculpture, 153-168. 
 
 Claude of Lorraine, 108, no. 
 
 Cljniac Priory, 211. 
 
 Cluny, The Museum, 37-55. 
 
 Colombe, Michel, 179, 225. 
 
 Copies, Museum of, 225-229. 
 
 Correggio, 85. 
 
 Dagobert, Tomb of, 237. 
 
 David, 112, 114. 
 
 Debrosse, Jacques, 215, 224. 
 
 Delacroix, 114. 
 
 DeUuoche, Paul, 109, 114, 229. 
 
 Delia Robbia, 48, 170, 171, 
 
 Diana of Gabii, The, 162. 
 
 Dieulafoy Collection of Persian 
 
 Antiquities, 190, 191. 
 Donatello, i6g, 170. 
 Drawings, Collection of, 192. 
 Dutch School of i\ainting, Tlie, 104, 
 
 105, 114. 
 
 l^bony carvings, 53. 
 
 l^cole des Beaux-Arts, The, 224- 
 
 229. 
 Egyptian Antiquities, 189. 
 
 Enamels, 49, 50, 244. 
 
 English School of Painting, The, 
 
 107. 
 Etruscan Antiquities, 192. 
 
 Faubourg St. Germain, The, 35, 
 
 213-229. 
 Flandrin, Frescoes by, 218-220, 
 
 248. 
 Flemish School of Painting, The, 
 
 100-106. 
 Fontainebleau, 250. 
 Fontaine des Innocents. 203. 
 Fontaine St. Sulpice, 223. 
 rVa Angelico, 78, 150. 
 Fragonard, in, 113. 
 Francois I., Tomb of, 238. 
 Frcddgonde, Tomb of, 238. 
 French School of Painting, The 
 
 l">arly, 99, 100, 108114. 
 French School of Painting, The 
 
 Modern, 107, 114, 115, 223. 
 French Sculjjture, 174-188. 
 Frescoes, 83, 144, 219. 
 
 German School of Painting, The, 
 
 ro6, 107. 
 German Sculpture, 181. 
 Ghirlandajo, 81, 151-153. 
 Ciiotto, 74. 
 
 Cioldsmith's VVork, 53, 193. 
 Goujoii, Jean, 67, 70, 167, 182 187, 
 
 203, 225, 247. 
 Greek Sculpture, 155-163. 
 (ireuzc, III, 113. 
 (juimet Museum, 249. 
 
 Hermaphrodite, 158, 168. 
 Holbein, 106, 107. 
 Hotel de Ville, The, 200. 
 
 lie de la Citd, The, 12, 13, 16-30. 
 Ingres, 84, 114. 
 Italian Pictures, 74 99. 
 
 Sculpture, 169-174. 
 
 Ivories, 52, 53, 192. 
 
 ro3 
 
254 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Labarum, The, 194. 
 Lebrun, Madame, no, 112. 
 Le Sueur, 109. 
 Limoges Enamels, 50. 
 Lionardo, 87, 89, 92. 
 Louvre, The, 15, 62-196, 242-245. 
 Luini, 83, 145-148. 
 Luxembourg Museum, 223. 
 Palace, 215, 224. 
 
 Madeleine, The, 209. 
 
 Madonnas, 131-143. 
 
 Maison de Francois I, 246. 
 
 Majolica, 170. 
 
 Mantegna, 80, 85, iib-124. 
 
 Massone, 124-126. 
 
 Medicis, Marie de, 102-104.. 
 
 Memling, Hans, 84, 85, loi. 
 
 Michael Angelo, 172. 
 
 Millet, 115. 
 
 Mino da Fiesole, 173, 174. 
 
 Mithra of the Capitol, The, 166, 167. 
 
 Moabite Stone, The, 189. 
 
 Mohammedan Potteries, 50. 
 
 Montmartre, 249. 
 
 Murillo, 89, 98. 
 
 Nike of Samothrace, The, y2>' 
 Notre Dame, 22-30. 
 
 Opera House, The, 210. 
 
 Paintings in the Louvre, 27-153. 
 Palais Hourbon, The, 216. 
 
 de Justice, The, 16-18. 
 
 Royal, The, 199. 
 
 Pantheon, The, 56-58. 
 Persian Antiquities, 191. 
 
 Pottery, 51. 
 
 Perugino, 75. 
 
 Phoenician Antiquities, 189. 
 
 Pilon, Germain, 18, 44, 183-186, 
 
 238, 239. 
 Place des Victoires, 207. 
 
 des Vosges, 212. 
 
 Pottery, 46-48, 192. 
 Poussin, N., 108, no. 
 Predella, 117. 
 Primitifs, .Salle des, 73 83. 
 Puvis de Chavannes, 58. 
 
 Quai d'Orsay, The, 217. 
 Quentin Matsys, loi. 
 
 Raphael, 85, 88, 95, 126-130, 227. 
 Reliquaries, 193, 242-245. 
 
 Renaissance Paris, 62-71. ' . 
 
 Sculpture, 168-187. 
 
 Rhodian Pottery, 50, 51. 
 Rive Droite, The, 197-212. 
 Rive Gauche, The, 34-61. 
 Roman Paris, 12, 35, 55. 
 Roman Sculpture, 163-167. 
 Romanesque Architecture, 215. 
 Rubens, 102-104, 106. 
 
 Sainte Chapelle, The, 19-22. 
 St. Denis, 13, 14. 
 
 Abbey of, 230-245. 
 
 St, Etienne-du-Mont, 56, 58-60. 
 
 St. Eustache, 203-207. 
 
 St. Genevieve, 13, 14, 15, 55. 
 
 St. Germain, 251. 
 
 St. Germain-des-Pres, 213-215, 217- 
 
 221. 
 St. Germain I'Auxerrois, 64-66. 
 St. Gervais, 201-203. 
 St. Meni, 202. 
 St. Sulpice, 221-223, 
 St. Vincent, 213. 
 St. Vincent de Paul, 248. 
 Salon Carrd, The, 84-90. 
 Salle Duchatel, The, 83, 84. 
 Salle de Pheidias, The, 157. 
 Sarcophagi, 158, 159, 194. 
 Sculpture at Cluny, 38-54. 
 
 in the Louvre, 72, 73, 153-188. 
 
 Sorbonne, The, 248. 
 
 Spanish .School of Painting, The, 
 
 97, 98. 
 Spanish Carving, 40. 
 Sposalizio, 227. 
 
 Tanagra Figures, 192. 
 Tapestry, 40, 42, 44, 48. 
 Thermes, The, 12, 35, 55. 
 Titian, 92, 93. 
 Trocadero, The, 249. 
 Troyon, 115. 
 Tuiieries, The, 199. 
 
 Van Dyck, 105. 
 Van Eyck, 87. 
 Vases, (ireek, 192. 
 Vendome Column, The, 210. 
 Venus of Aries, The, 161. 
 Venus of Milo, The, 159, 160. 
 Veronese, 86, 90. 
 Versailles, 251. 
 
 Watteau, in, 113. 
 
 Uutler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing VVork.s, Fromc, and Londou. 
 
NOTES 
 
'f 
 
 NOTES 
 
NOTES 
 
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