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diff --git a/34772.txt b/34772.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..edab01b --- /dev/null +++ b/34772.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6178 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Stained Glass Tours in France, by Charles +Hitchcock Sherrill + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Stained Glass Tours in France + + +Author: Charles Hitchcock Sherrill + + + +Release Date: December 28, 2010 [eBook #34772] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STAINED GLASS TOURS IN FRANCE*** + + +E-text prepared by D Alexander and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 34772-h.htm or 34772-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34772/34772-h/34772-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34772/34772-h.zip) + + + + + +STAINED GLASS TOURS IN FRANCE + +by + +CHARLES HITCHCOCK SHERRILL + + + + + + + +New York: John Lane Company, MCMVIII +London: John Lane, The Bodley Head + +Copyright, 1908, by +John Lane Company + + + + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF SAINTE CHAPELLE, PARIS. + _Built by St. Louis (Louis IX) 1248. Window surfaces pleasantly + broken up into "medallion" designs. Walls constructed almost + entirely of sheets of richly toned glass (see Page 26)._] + + + + + TO THAT REMORSELESS CRITIC + _MY WIFE_ + THIS BOOK IS + GRATEFULLY DEDICATED + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + INTRODUCTION 13 + THIRTEENTH CENTURY AND EARLIER 25 + THIRTEENTH CENTURY TOURS 37 + FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES 117 + FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURY TOURS 134 + SIXTEENTH CENTURY 197 + SIXTEENTH CENTURY TOURS 212 + ITINERARIES 295 + INDEX 297 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + SAINTE CHAPELLE, PARIS _Frontispiece_ + + PAGE + MEDALLION PANEL, LOUVRE 28 + MAP, THIRTEENTH CENTURY TOURS 40 + MEDALLION LANCET, TOURS 54 + CHARTRES TRANSEPTS 72 + THIRTEENTH CENTURY ROSE, LAON 104 + FIFTEENTH CENTURY "CANOPY," ST. LO 120 + MAP, FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES TOURS 136 + FIFTEENTH CENTURY "CANOPY," RIOM 158 + RENAISSANCE "PICTURE," MONTFORT L'AMAURY 200 + MAP, SIXTEENTH CENTURY TOURS 214 + RENAISSANCE ROSE, SENS 220 + CREATION WINDOW, TROYES 228 + CONSTABLE OF MONTMORENCY AND HIS SONS 270 + TREE OF JESSE, BEAUVAIS 282 + DEDICATION OF THE STE. CHAPELLE 292 + + + + +FOREWORD + + +The purpose of this book is a very simple one. It is to provide an +answer to the question, "Where does one find good stained glass in +France, and how can it most conveniently be seen?" All the books upon +this subject are more or less technical and are intended rather for the +student than the sightseer. During the six years that the writer has +been studying glass, he has so often been asked the above question, as +to finally conclude that an answer in the form of a simple touring +handbook might be of service. To that end he has put together notes +taken on sundry vacation trips. The reader should be indulgent, for the +writer is not an authority on glass--just a lawyer on a holiday. In +addition to the purpose already described, it is hoped that this little +book may also serve to lure forth into the charming French country some +who have hitherto neither heard nor cared much about glass, so that they +may see the wonderful beauty that the stained-glass window can alone +reveal. + + CHARLES HITCHCOCK SHERRILL. + 20, East 65th Street, New York, + Christmas, 1907. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The reason for the existence of a window is obvious. When the dwelling +ceased to be a cave and became a house, the need for a light aperture at +once arose. Neither the house nor the window concern us until long after +the house had been made thoroughly habitable, and its windows after much +evolution are finally filled with a sheet of translucent substance, +which, while excluding the weather, would admit the light. Our interest +does not begin until the wish to decorate the house naturally brought +about a desire to decorate the window. We will pass over the story of +the discovery of glass and its gradual improvement; nor will we pause to +consider the very earliest examples now extant, nor examine the steps +through which it must have passed to reach so advanced a stage as we +find in the twelfth century. This is a book to tell where to see +windows, and therefore it must not take up stained glass until a period +is reached when examples are sufficiently numerous and beautiful to +repay a visit to them. At what date then, shall we make our beginning? +There is practically nothing until we come to the charming remains of +the twelfth century; but because these latter are very few and those few +in churches which also contain glass of the next century, we shall +commence with the heading of "Thirteenth Century and Earlier." That +explains why we have selected this particular epoch as the starting +point of our investigations. Our windows will themselves disclose to us +that the Golden Age of French stained glass falls of itself into three +subdivisions--the first comprising the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, +the second the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the third the +sixteenth century. Of the second subdivision we shall find but few +examples, of the first more, and of the third most. + +No matter how far back we push our researches, we are sure to be +surprised at the advanced state of the art represented by any window +which attempts a picture. In fact, we shall happen upon no satisfactory +traces of the evolution which must have led up to even the crudest and +oldest story-window. We are forced, therefore, to conclude that this +evolution must have occurred in another art, and the result there +evolved transferred into this one. This conclusion is much strengthened +when we read that St. Sophia, built by Justinian during the sixth +century in Constantinople, contained not only glass mosaics on the +walls, but also in its windows. Here we have the key to the puzzle. The +many artists who were then occupied in designing mosaics, worked out +their pictures in little pieces of glass on the wall until they had +developed along that line as far as possible. Then they doubtless +bethought themselves that these glass mosaics would be even more +effective if they could devise a means of illuminating their picture by +letting the light shine through the colour. To accomplish this they +contrived to hold the morsels of glass securely in place, first by +wooden or stucco frames, and later by long ribbons of lead having +channels on each side to retain the edges of the glass. This form of +mosaic so held up to the light became a stained-glass window. Thus we +easily understand that when the idea arrived of taking the mosaic +picture off the wall and putting it into the embrasure of the window, +the art of making that picture out of bits of glass had already been +fully developed. + +We shall avoid the technicalities of glass making, as they do not suit +our holiday mood. Nor is there good reason why we should discuss any use +of glass save that which is required in the construction of our windows. +Let us, however, in passing, refer to the very curious fact that a +severe blow was dealt to all other sorts of glassware when the artists +turned their attention to the making of windows. Glassware had +constantly improved in design and colour up to the time (early in the +twelfth century) when the great interest in windows sprang up. This new +taste seemed to at once throw all other developments of this material +into a comatose condition which lasted on through the five centuries +composing the Golden Age of the window. This observation receives a +peculiar confirmation when we notice that, at the end of the sixteenth +century, stained glass suddenly lost its vogue at the same time that +glassware sprang into renewed favour through the artistic skill and +inventive genius of the Venetians. Indeed, the decadence of stained +glass seemed to be the signal for the revival of hollow glassware. To +revert for a moment to the time when window making caused a halt in the +improvement of hollowware, it is interesting to note that glass making +then left its former haunts and betook itself to the forests, where +it lurked until the stained-glass window having shot its bolt, +hollowware again engaged the attention of the artists and was once more +manufactured nearer to the homes of its purchasers. During this period +of partial seclusion the glass produced was of a peculiar quality called +in English "forest glass" and in French "verre de fougere" (referring to +the wild fern or bracken which was burnt to provide the necessary +alkali). The two names combine to explain to us that wood and not coal +was used by the glass-blower and also that his alkali had to be gotten +in an unusual way. The toughness of this "forest glass" was admirably +suited to the requirements of the window-maker. + +As this book will be confined to an examination of French stained glass, +it is appropriate to cite Theophilus, who when in the twelfth century +he wrote his celebrated Latin treatise on this general subject, stated +that the art was a French one. This makes it all the more important +that we trace its beginnings in France, as well as inquire whence came +the influence which so strongly marked them. This inquiry will reveal +that it was to Byzantium that the early glaziers were indebted for +their quaint style of drawing. In early glass we will observe the +constrained, ungainly poses of the bodies, arms and legs, as well as +the staring-eyed, ill-proportioned heads, not only in the medallion +type of windows, but also in the larger figures glaring down from the +clerestories. Very interesting conclusions may be reached if we place +side by side three figures, one taken from thirteenth century glass, +another from a Limoges enamel made any time from the tenth to the +thirteenth century, and the third from the famous mosaics of St. Mark's +in Venice. We have selected an enamel from Limoges because that was the +only locality in which a continued as well as a renowned cult of +enamelling existed in France during the centuries named, while the +reason for choosing St. Mark's is that it is one of the finest extant +examples of Byzantine art. Notice the same constraint in the drawing +of all these three figures, the same awkward pulling of garment folds +to delineate the form, and the same quaint morsel of conventional +architecture about the top (which last, by the way, indicated that the +personage below was a high dignitary of either church or state). The +resemblance is too striking to be merely a coincidence, especially as +each of these figures used in the comparison is typical of hundreds of +others. This very resemblance hints at its own explanation. The dates of +the figures show the order in which these peculiarities of style must +have been transmitted. The Byzantine mosaics of St. Mark's are much the +oldest; then came the Limoges enamels, and lastly the stained glass +windows. Thus we learn not only where our windows originated in France, +but also whence came the designs that the Limoges enamellers taught the +glazier. Abbe Texier, in his "Essai Historique et Descriptif sur les +Argentiers et les Emailleurs de Limoges" (1841), says that French +stained glass began in the neighbourhood of Limoges, whose highly +vaunted school of enamellers were strongly influenced by the Byzantine +types of the Venetian school and that therefore it was but natural that +the glass artist should also have yielded to the Byzantine influence. As +showing how this influence reached Limoges, he states that in 979 a +Venetian colony settled there for the purpose of trading in spices and +other commodities of the East, conveyed from Egypt by way of Marseilles. +Winston says that the Venetian Doge Orseolo I came to sojourn in France +in 978 and that the erection of the Church of St. Front, Perigueux +(near Limoges), is ascribed to him. James Ferguson, in his Illustrated +Handbook of Architecture, tells us that the Venetians (as the great +carriers and merchants of the Levant) were in constant communication +with Byzantium. These facts provide a ready explanation of why these +same pronounced Byzantine types can be remarked first in the mosaics of +St. Mark's, next in the enamels of Limoges and lastly on the stained +glass windows of the thirteenth century. The older the glass, the more +closely does the drawing follow these models; the attitudes are more +constrained and awkward, and the folds of the garment are more tightly +drawn around the figures, nor does the artist allow himself any freedom +from the traditions of that school. Later on the drawing becomes more +graceful and the lines are freer. Anyone who desires to go thoroughly +into the technical side of this art will find a most exhaustive and +scholarly book in Lewis F. Day's "Windows of Stained Glass" (1897). The +best book in French is Oliver Merson's excellent "Vitraux" (1895). + +Let us now postpone any further consideration of the general subject +until after we, with our own eyes, have seen enough windows to have +collected material for discussion. This brings us to the selection of +towns, and the consideration of routes. + +We have referred to how naturally stained glass divides itself into +three epochs, viz.: + + 1. Thirteenth century and earlier. + 2. Fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. + 3. Sixteenth century. + +Visits to the glass of these epochs will be, for convenience, subdivided +into the following tours: + +EPOCH I + + (_a_) Bourges, Poitiers, Tours, Angers, Le Mans, Chartres. + (_b_) Auxerre, Sens, Troyes, Chalons, Rheims. + (_c_) Soissons, Laon, St. Quentin, Amiens. + +EPOCH II + + (_a_) Evreux, Rouen. + (_b_) Bourges, Moulins, Riom, Clermont-Ferrand, Eymoutiers, Limoges, + Poitiers, Angers, Le Mans (Alencon), Sees, Verneuil, Chartres. + +Also separate visit to Quimper. + +EPOCH III + + (_a_) Vincennes, Sens, Troyes, Chalons. + (_b_) Montfort l'Amaury, Conches, Pont-Audemer, Caudebec, Rouen + (Grand-Andely, Elbeuf, Pont de l'Arche). + (_c_) Ecouen, Montmorency, Chantilly (St. Quentin), Beauvais. + +Also separate visits to Bourg, Auch and Champigny-sur-Veude. + +At the back of the book will be found a table showing distances by road, +and also the usual index. + +It must be admitted that even in so delightful a country as France, +one's wanderings gain an added zest if guided by a more definite purpose +than is the slave of the red-backed Baedeker, intent upon exhausting the +sights of every place visited. This admitted, we have then to consider +not only the stranger on his first visit to France, but also the +experienced traveller who already knows the beauties of its roads and +the lazy charm of its historic towns. If our reader is of the latter +sort he will especially hail some new quest as a reason for revisiting +old scenes in search of charms heretofore unseen or unappreciated. It +was especially him that the writer had in mind when putting together the +rambling notes covering six years of glass study. He knows what varied +forms of beauty await those who are sufficiently energetic to escape +from the ultra-modern charms of Paris, that fascinator of foreigners. He +knows the quaint villages, the perfect roads, the ancient castles, the +magnificent cathedrals that are waiting to be explored. To him we will +tell the story of a wonderful beauty where light lies imprisoned in +colour--a beauty which can be seen nowhere so well as in France. What if +you have already visited every nook and corner of this picturesque land? +Come out again with us and add another to the many reasons for your love +of France. Take up the modern equivalent of the pilgrim's staff and +shell and fare forth, being well assured that your eyes will be opened +to the appreciation of something which, to be loved, has only to be +wisely seen--the window of stained glass. + + + + +THIRTEENTH CENTURY AND EARLIER + + +Before spending any time in studying the subject of stained glass +windows, let us go and see some good ones. One of the safest ways to +learn how to appreciate any art is to look at fine examples of it. +Of stained glass this is particularly true, because no method of +reproduction, even colour photography, can give any idea of the unique +result there obtained by combining light with colour. No flat tints can +ever produce the effect of warmth and translucence that is yielded by +colour illuminated through and through by the rays of the sun. We will +assume that we are in Paris. Fortunately for our purpose there are +easily accessible two splendid specimens of early glass, one the glazing +of the Ste. Chapelle and the other the rose windows high up in the +western facade and in the transept ends of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. +The former is the most perfect instance of a thirteenth century chapel +preserving intact its original glazing, while the rose in the northern +transept of Notre Dame is probably the finest one of its period in the +world. Thus we make an excellent beginning and our interest is at once +stimulated to see more. Observe the difference in the placing of these +windows, as well as in the points from which we view them, as it will +prove peculiarly useful in disclosing how they should be set in order to +best reveal their beauties. Every tourist that visits Paris goes, as a +matter of course, to the Ste. Chapelle, that net of Gothic in which lies +enmeshed such treasures of colour and light. This sparkling marvel lies +modestly nestled among the law courts, whose plainer modern buildings +serve but to accentuate its wonderful beauty. We shall not be long in +learning who was its founder, for the golden fleur de lis of France and +castles of Castile strewed over its walls of glass mutely remind us that +it was built by the good Louis IX and that with him was associated his +mother, Queen Blanche of Castile. No king of France so loved and +befriended our gentle art as St. Louis. In many another French window +this same combination of heraldic emblems will demonstrate how +diligently these two royalties (or others in their honour) strove to +introduce and spread the luminous beauty of this craft. This fragile +chef d'oeuvre was constructed by order of its royal patron to provide +a sanctuary worthy to contain the sacred relics acquired by him in the +Holy Land. No effort or expense was spared to fit it for its high +purpose. By reason of its royal founder as well as of its object, we can +be sure that in the Ste. Chapelle we have an example of the best taste +of the thirteenth century. St. Louis laid the first stone in 1245, and +so expeditiously was the work carried on that it was finished and +consecrated April 25, 1248, and we read that all its wealth of glass was +installed before the consecration. + +Although we shall refrain from technical words as much as possible, we +can see at a glance why these were called "medallion" windows. Each +subject treated is enclosed in a narrow round framing of colour, thus +breaking up the entire surface into medallions. It prevented confusion +of subjects and at the same time gave a balance to their treatment. + +It is a good omen for the future of our combined sightseeing and study +that we can begin with something so complete and charming as the perfect +Ste. Chapelle. And yet, although it is glowingly, mystically lovely with +a beauty attributable chiefly to its glass, other thirteenth century +churches will teach us to notice that here it is the interior that is +benefited and not the windows. So small is the edifice that we cannot +stand far enough away from the glass to let it develop the glittering +glow that refraction of the rays of light lends to the glazing of the +thirteenth century, but which no other period can show us. In order to +fully realise what we have lost by being too near the windows, take the +short stroll that brings you to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Enter its +great gloom, go forward until you are opposite the rose window in the +north transept, and look up. If you have in you any poetry, any +sensuous sympathy with colour and light, you will receive an artistic +thrill so strong as to at once elevate you to membership in our +Brotherhood of Glass Lovers. Our pilgrim staring up at the great rose +window will note the splendid purplish glow that comes from it. Now he +will realise that he missed this gorgeous jewelled gleam at the Ste. +Chapelle, and for the reason that he was too close to the glass. After +he has grown accustomed to this new feature, he will begin to notice +some of the causes for it. The effect is undoubtedly glowing purple, and +yet it is not produced by purple glass. It results from the merging of +the reds and blues, rendered possible, nay, assisted by the smallness +of the pieces of the glass, and this observation also explains why this +same effect was not obtained in later periods when the glass fragments +become so large that the colours remain distinct and do not run into +each other. Because we are too near the Ste. Chapelle glass we remember +it as red and blue, but the memory of the Notre Dame windows, which can +be viewed from a proper distance, is a splendid purple. + + [Illustration: 13TH CENTURY MEDALLION, MUSEE DU LOUVRE. + _Window surface broken up into medallions, each enclosing a + little scene. The black outlines of the picture are provided by + the leaden strips which hold together the pieces of glass. Paint + is used only to mark the features, folds in the garments, etc. + Here the lead lines assist the picture--later they mar it._] + +It is to be hoped that you have had the good fortune to first visit +these two buildings on a rainy or grey day. That is the sort of weather +for a glass pilgrim to be abroad and stirring, for his windows will be +lighted to the same extent all around the church. If it is a sunny day, +the windows towards the sun will seem thin in colour, whilst those on +the shady side will be thick and flatly toned. He may assure himself +that he is mistaken, and that the difference in effect is caused by the +strong glare of the sun on the one side, and on the other side the lack +of it--we repeat that he may assure himself of this, but he will get the +wrong effect, notwithstanding. Make a mental note of this point and when +you go glass hunting, join the farmers in praying for rain! + +We must seek elsewhere than in Paris to find what this mosaic of tiny +morsels of different hued glass can accomplish in the small chapels +surrounding the choir of a great cathedral. We shall learn what a +glorifying curtain of subdued colour it will provide and how when viewed +from the nave of the church these chapels become gleaming caverns, +forming a semi-circular background for the well-lighted choir in their +midst. Even whilst we are drinking in the great beauty of this +splendidly impressive half-circle of chapels, we must realise that +delightful as is this method of subduing and beautifying the light, it +would be most unwise to use this same style of glass in the clerestory +above. Not only would the choir be too dark, but, besides, we would lose +the contrast of light against gloom that renders it so impressive in its +dignity. This observation introduces another type of glazing for which +we shall seek in vain after this century. If we demand more light from +our clerestory and at the same time insist on coloured glass, then we +must use fewer strips of light-obscuring lead, which means fewer and +larger pieces of glass. Thus we will obtain more illumination than is +yielded by the heavily-leaded windows below. Now we begin to understand +that the light of the medallion window is sombre because so much of its +surface is occupied by the great quantity of lead required to bind +together its small pieces of glass. These numerous lead lines serve a +very artistic purpose, for, by breaking the refraction of the rays of +light passing through the small bits of glass and diffusing them, they +have much to do with blending the colours and producing the delightful +jewelled effect that we at once noticed in Notre Dame. We have purposely +used the phrase "much to do," because it is only one of several causes. +The quality of the glass itself had a great share in that result. It is +quite different from that found later on, for it was, as yet, quite +imperfect, and no two pieces had the same thickness or were surfaced +alike. This very unevenness assisted in breaking up the light rays. +Another cause for its brilliancy was that its translucence was not +obscured by paint. A piece of glass was yellow or blue because its +colour was introduced while it was being made in the pot and therefore +was diffused throughout the mass. For this reason it was called "pot +metal glass." We shall find that later on they discovered how to tint +the surface of glass by the invention first of staining and later by +enamelling, both of which had a marked effect and will be spoken of at +the proper time. One of the results of colouring glass in the pot was +that generally the tone would not be equal throughout; for instance, a +piece of blue glass would not be evenly blue in all its parts. This +difference in the shading of each piece, as well as the unevenness of +its surface, produced a brilliancy which the more perfect methods that +came later could never hope to achieve. The freedom from surface paint +made possible a limpidity of colour which by contrast makes later +painted or enamelled windows seem almost dull. During the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries the only paint used was a brown pigment, which +served to delineate features and sometimes to accentuate the folds of +garments, etc. We must also remember that as the artist worked with +small pieces of glass and therefore used a great many lead lines, all +the outlines needed by his picture could be put in with leads, and hence +it was only natural that he became very expert in drawing with them. The +result of his skill in this particular is surprisingly attractive and we +shall sorely miss it later, when less and less attention was paid to the +drawing and decorative value of the leads because of the increased +desire for large pieces of glass with pictures painted upon them. In +fact, so far from early traditions did they of the sixteenth century +stray, that we shall see strips of lead running right across an arm or a +face! Their value from an artistic standpoint seemed at that time nearly +forgotten, and instead of being used to beautify the drawing, they were +only tolerated as a part of the machinery necessary to support the glass +in its framework. Before leaving the subject of paint upon glass, it is +well to remark that although we may admire the brilliancy of these early +windows and may rejoice that the artist had not yet learned to obscure +his colour, nevertheless, if we were examining windows in Italy, that +land of everlasting sunshine, we might find a little painting upon the +surface a genuine relief to the eye. There is such a thing as too much +sunshine. Geography must be considered in criticising glass. + +We promised to avoid as much as possible the study of the technical, but +it must be admitted that we have drifted into it, and that our attempt +to learn why clerestory windows differ from the lower ones, has brought +with it an exposition of the technique of the thirteenth century. To +briefly recapitulate, it consists of-- + + (_a_) Small pieces of glass. + (_b_) Obviously requiring a great many lead lines to bind them + together. + (_c_) Glass that is uneven in surface and in the distribution + of its colour. + (_d_) Glass coloured throughout the mass (pot metal glass). + (_e_) Glass that is practically unobscured by paint. + +But let us get up to our clerestory windows. It has been instructive +arriving there, but now let us see what had to be done to admit more +light through these upper embrasures. In the first place it was clear +that there had to be less leading, which meant larger pieces of glass. +For this purpose there was devised a conventional style of decoration +giving a most pleasing result. This consisted of a series of large +figures of saints, kings, or other great personages. Unfortunately we +cannot see this sort of clerestory window in Paris, but a visit to +Bourges or Rheims or Chartres will soon convince you how splendidly they +serve their purpose. At Notre Dame, in the choir clerestory, one sees +only a poor imitation of the destroyed old windows; owing to the paint +upon the glass, the yellows are dull and the reds are thick and muddy. + +When you have seen one of these rows of huge figures, the reason for the +device becomes clear. The folds of garments of such size permitted the +use of large sheets of glass, and as little lead and no paint were +needed, the light was not obscured. The drawing of the folds, etc., was +executed by the leads which, in any event, were required for structural +reasons. So large are some of these figures that often we shall find +that their eyes were not drawn with pigment, but were separately leaded +in. This would not have been agreeable in the lower range of windows, +but high up in the air, far above the observer's head, it produced the +effect desired. Nor was this the only trick indulged in by the artist. +Sometimes he permitted himself very odd uses of colour. You will notice +that during this century he generally employed brown glass instead of +white for flesh tints. Of course he did not have what we call white +glass--that was a perfection not yet reached, but he might have used +pink. No, he preferred brown; and when you have seen the glorious rows +of clerestory figures looking down upon you at Rheims or Chartres, you +will know that he was right. His colours were so rich and strong that +white glass in the faces would have been too sharp a contrast and would +have spoilt the harmony of tones. Nor was this the only strange choice +of tints. You will be startled to read that blue is used for the hair of +the Christ in a Crucifixion scene, and yet so cleverly was it worked in +that many an observer of the splendid east window of Poitiers Cathedral +has gone away without noticing that the hair is blue or that the cross +is bright red! The effect of the picture was achieved, proof that the +artist knew and developed the possibilities existing in his materials. +That certainly always has been and always will be one of the great tests +of artistic ability. + +While in Notre Dame notice another method of glazing prevalent in that +century and which also had for its raison d'etre the need for light in +the upper windows. This is what is called "grisaille," a panel of +greenish-grey glass, sometimes surrounded by a border of the same tone, +sometimes by one of gayer tints, but always, during this period, a +broad border. Back in the twelfth century, where we first find these +windows, the borders are wider still. Their small pieces of glass are +held together by leads arranged in conventional designs, often in what +is called strap work, _i.e._, the seeming interlacing of straps in a +sort of basket pattern, very simple and agreeable. The light comes +through in a cool, silvery tone which blends well with the stone +structure about it. In Notre Dame we see examples of these windows, some +with grisaille borders, and also a few with coloured ones, but on our +travels we shall find much better types at Bourges, at +Chalons-sur-Marne, and elsewhere. + +As a result of our sightseeing we will learn that the best of the early +glaziers realised that to compensate for the dim light yielded by the +medallion windows below, it was necessary to have better illumination +from above. Of course this combination in perfection was not often +accomplished, but we generally find that if the artist did not himself +take care to admit sufficient light, somebody that came later corrected +the error. Often we find that the monks, to obtain more light in the +choir, removed the coloured panels and substituted plain glass. In +several instances, notably at Amiens, they attempted to sanctify their +vandalism by destroying only so much stained glass in a window as to +leave a large white cross upon it. When we come to the next century we +shall see what this vandalism in favour of better-lighted church +interiors is going to produce. + +For the sake of clearness let us review the steps by which we have +reached our conclusions. First we saw that the thirteenth century window +has far more charm in its colour than in its drawing, which, although +generally true of all glass, is never so emphatically true as during +this period. While examining the colour composition, we have learnt how +a window is constructed, and that in turn has taught us why it is best +to view it from a little distance. The next step was to conclude that +therefore this style of glass was not well adapted to domestic +architecture or for small buildings. Further, we have remarked the odd +style of drawing then in vogue which, traced back, proves but one of the +many imprints which Byzantine art left upon those times. + +More time might at this point be profitably devoted to study, but this +little volume is not intended for a text-book. Its chief object is to +persuade you to go about France and see for yourself its wonderful +windows. It is to be hoped that even this small amount of research will +prove useful in increasing your enjoyment of the glass. Let us now +consider how many and which towns we will visit, and also how we can +most satisfactorily group them together so as to provide convenient +trips. + + + + +THIRTEENTH CENTURY PILGRIMAGES + + +The glass we have seen in Paris gives but a hint of the richness of this +period exemplified elsewhere in France. How much or how little we shall +see depends upon the reader. If he has time or inclination for but one +example, he should visit Chartres. In giving this advice we solemnly +warn him that if he has even a faint idea of seeing more than one, then +he should defer Chartres until the last. It so far surpasses the others +that they must be seen before it or they will suffer by comparison. If +the reader can only visit a few towns, then he will doubtless wish to +consider what else they contain besides glass, as these other features +may influence him in making his selection. For example, if he is +interested in tapestry it is clear that he will prefer Rheims and Angers +to other churches equally important in their glass, but lacking such +additional attractions. Then, too, nearness to Paris may decide him in +favour of one cathedral instead of another requiring a longer journey. +With each of our towns we will mention any such extra inducement as +tapestry, paintings, etc. At the back will be found a table of +distances, not only from Paris, but also from each town to the next. If +the reader has plenty of time, we suggest three pilgrimages. If his time +is in any way limited, he can either take one or more of them, or else +make such adjustment of them as best suits his convenience. It must, +of course, be understood that there is some thirteenth century glass +which will not be visited by us, but any one who has followed these +itineraries will have seen all of the best. When we reflect how fragile +is a glass window, it is really marvellous that we shall find so much of +this easily destroyed beauty after the stress of centuries. Only a few +churches can show anything like a complete series of windows, and fewer +still a series all glazed during the same period. Chartres, that +treasure-house of glass, is the nearest approach to a perfectly complete +example. Le Mans, perhaps, is next. Bourges is splendid in its +thirteenth century glory, but there the hypercritical may find that the +fifteenth century glazing of the nave chapels interferes with the +earlier effect. The clerestory of Rheims Cathedral boasts row on row of +gorgeous kings and bishops, but there we look in vain for the medallion +windows to give us the usual glowing chapels below. These differences +are not mentioned to criticise, but to point out that we shall find a +variety and not a monotony of beauty. Now for the three itineraries: + + (_a_) Our first tour is the longest, starts at the point most + distant from Paris, and then works back to that city. We begin + at Bourges, 4-1/4 hours by railway, 227 kilometres by road. From + Bourges we go to Poitiers, then to Tours, to Angers, to Le Mans, + and end at Chartres. Chartres is only 1-1/4 hours from Paris, 88 + kilometres by road. + + (_b_) Before starting on the second tour we must consult + time-tables in order to make connections for Auxerre, which is + 35 minutes beyond La Roche, a station on the main line to Lyons + and the south. If we could take a through train from Paris, the + journey would be under three hours. By automobile it is 168 + kilometres, leaving Paris by the road to Fontainebleau. From + Auxerre we come back to Sens, then to Troyes, to + Chalons-sur-Marne, and lastly to Rheims, two hours from Paris + (145 kilometres). If the time or inclination of the pilgrim + makes it expedient that this trip be shortened, then, if he is a + railway traveller, let him begin by Troyes and come around by + Chalons and Rheims. If, on the other hand, he is travelling by + automobile, he might as well see Sens just before Troyes, + because by road Sens is not much off the line from Paris to + Troyes and is well worth that small detour. The railway journey, + however, between Sens and Troyes is a tedious one of more than + two hours, because it is a branch line where there are no + expresses. + + (_c_) The last tour is most convenient to Paris, and although + clearly secondary in importance as a glass pilgrimage, the + scenery is so very attractive that it will particularly appeal + to the automobilist and bicyclist. We begin by visiting + Soissons, an hour and a quarter by train (95 kilometres by + road), then Laon, next St. Quentin and last Amiens, an hour and + a quarter by train (131 kilometres) from Paris. If he is "en + automobile," the pilgrim may return to Paris by way of Beauvais, + for it is not much out of his way. If, however, he is travelling + by railway, then he should omit Beauvais, for he will find only + exasperatingly slow trains from Amiens to Beauvais. The + thirteenth century glass there is unimportant, and, besides, we + shall later visit it for that of the sixteenth century. + +If the reader intends to take all of these three tours he should begin +with (_c_), then take (_b_), and lastly (_a_). If he can take but two, +then begin with (_b_) and end with (_a_). If there is time but for one, +(_a_) is the best. The automobilist may unfold his maps and prepare a +combination trip if he likes, for that is one of the licensed joys of +automobiling. The old-fashioned traveller by railway will, however, find +the order here set out the most convenient one. + +There is a splendid series of medallion windows around the choir chapels +of the Cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand, but it is too far out of our way +to be properly included in any of the above tours. Rouen, too, has fine +medallion work of this period in its cathedral, but the later glass +there is so much more interesting that we will not include it in these +groups. Both these towns will be visited later in their appropriate +order, and we shall then have an opportunity to enjoy their delightful +thirteenth century windows. + +[Illustration: 13TH CENTURY TOURS. + + (_a_) _Bourges_, _Poitiers_, _Tours_,_ Angers_, _Le Mans_, _Chartres_. + (_b_) _Auxerre_, _Sens_, _Troyes_, _Chalons_, _Rheims_. + (_c_) _Soissons_, _Laon_, _St. Quentin_, _Amiens_. + (_For table of distances, see Page 295._)] + + +BOURGES + +The writer will never forget his first impression of Bourges Cathedral, +as, mounted on a bicycle, he approached it over the rolling country that +lies to the east towards Nevers. For a long time it seemed a great rock +rising from the plain, which steadily grew larger and larger until, all +at once, it took on the outlines of a huge cathedral. Fantastic as it +may seem in the telling, this vast bulk looming up against the sky +exactly symbolised for him the word "Bourges." To fully appreciate this +great church one should approach it this way and let it grow before +one's eyes. This is true of but few cathedrals, among which there is an +easily recalled instance in England. No one ever realises all the soft +grey beauty of Ely unless, thanks to his slow progress down the river +Ouse, he has seen it gradually arise from the green setting of fen +lands. Perhaps one reason why Bourges, when viewed from a distance, does +not immediately disclose itself to be a cathedral is because one sees no +perpendicular lines. On one side the great tower so tapers as to seem to +slant inward, while on the other side the flying buttresses present an +even greater divergence from the perpendicular. All this increases the +rock-like appearance and defers the realisation that it is architecture +and not nature until one is so near as to perceive some of the details. +In one respect Bourges is like the town of Amiens, in that nearly all +its architectural beauty is centred in the cathedral and seems to have +been content to bourgeon and blossom there. Bourges has, however, one +advantage in possessing a wonderful "house that Jack built," the +fifteenth century palace of Jacques Coeur, a rich merchant and banker +whose wealth was the cause of his final overthrow and banishment on a +trumped-up charge of debasing the coinage. Even the fact that he had +lent money freely to Charles VII did not save him. Later on (page 151) +we shall consider the cathedral's fifteenth century glass, and we shall +then examine the splendid window given by Jacques Coeur, perhaps the +finest that period can show. Chief among the charms of the cathedral's +exterior are the splendid five-portalled west front, and the lace-like +garment of flying buttresses that gracefully hangs about its sides and +east end. The great apse is built upon the remains of the old Roman +walls, which so elevates it above the neighbouring houses as to provide +a clear view of the flying buttresses. Unfortunately, the west front +does not fare so well. There is hardly a cathedral in Europe so shut in +on the west by adjoining buildings. They huddle so closely about it that +one has no opportunity to stand off and properly observe the elaborate +carvings and other architectural features that unite to make the beauty +of this famous facade. From the way in which each succeeding story +decreases in size, it is easy to see why the big northern tower appeared +to slant inward when viewed from a distance. Like one of the cathedral +towers at Rouen, it is named the Tour du Beurre because it was built +with money received from the sale of indulgences to eat butter during +Lent. + +Most Americans have, during the day-dreams of their childhood, conjured +up a mental picture of the vast interior of an ancient cathedral, and of +the mysteriously impressive gloom that would some day there meet their +eyes. It is doubtful if any other church more completely realises this +fancy of our childhood. As one enters the great building he receives an +impression never to be forgotten. A feeling of vastness lays hold upon +one even more strongly than at Beauvais and Amiens, both of which are +actually loftier. Here the seeming height is increased by the five rows +of windows, one above the other. This addition to the usual allotment of +three tiers (lower arches, triforium and clerestory) gives an unusual +number of light apertures. While there are no transepts, their absence +leaves unbroken the lines of the side walls and thus increases the +apparent size of the interior. And what a wealth of thirteenth century +glass! It gleams and glows and glistens on every side, near at hand and +far off in the soft richness of the choir chapels. We find it everywhere +except in the nave chapels, which were glazed in the fifteenth century. +Perhaps if it were not for the increased light which these later panels +admit, we might find the church too much darkened by its sombre earlier +glass. It is clear, however, that care was taken even from the first to +sufficiently illumine the nave, because it possesses a fine series of +thirteenth century grisaille windows, enriched and enlivened by broad +borders of colour. The noble chapels that encircle the choir show us the +effect of mosaic medallions at their best. Above in the clerestory, +"like watchmen on a leaguered wall," are stationed a glorious row of +large figures which are not to be surpassed anywhere. The richness of +their costumes, of the backgrounds, even of the borders, is most +sumptuous. We have already noted the absence of the transepts. On our +travels we shall notice that the north and south ends of transepts +generally contain great rose windows. To compensate the glass artist for +their absence here, the architect gave him an opportunity to glaze an +elaborate series of forty-five small ones. They extend all around the +interior, no two alike, and must be seen for one to appreciate how +greatly they add to the interest and charm of the cathedral. It is +contended by some that Bourges provides the finest field for the study +of thirteenth century glass, but in this opinion we cannot agree, +although gladly admitting everything else claimed for it by its +staunchest adherents. Our reason for preferring Chartres is that it has +more windows, and that they are practically all of the same period, so +that the eye does not there find the distraction caused here by the +fifteenth century glazing of the nave chapels. We prefer to rank the +first four in the following order of excellence: Chartres, Bourges, +Rheims, and Le Mans. It will be interesting to learn whether or not the +reader agrees with us. At any rate he should see them, and now that we +have enticed him so far away from Paris, he will find it as easy to +return by the route that includes them as by any other. + + +POITIERS + +Among the many beauties of France must certainly be accounted its +"cities built upon a hill." There are a goodly number of them and their +lofty position has tended to preserve them from change more than cities +so placed that their expansion into suburbs was easier. Without doubt +there is something fascinating, something irresistibly dominating about +a town that looks down upon us. Fortunate it is for us lovers of the +picturesque, whom, alas, the uses of modern convenience have made +"dwellers in the plain," that during mediaeval times the vital need of +safety forced its citizens to seek the refuge of heights! No one can +question the right of quaint old Poitiers to be as haughty as hill towns +have always been--nay, haughtier. Think of the days when through the +House of Plantagenet she gave rulers to England--when these same kings +governed not only England but also the whole western half of France! We +do not always remember what a long strip of territory was ruled by the +Angevin dynasty, stretching all the way from the Pyrenees across the +Channel and up to Scotland. One of the greatest encounters that marked +the long and bitter struggle between the English and French was the +Battle of Poitiers, when in 1356 the English under the Black Prince +defeated and took prisoner John the Good of France and slew 11,000 +Frenchmen. It was, indeed, a bloody baptism when our hill town stood +sponsor to such a conflict of warring nations. + +There are few cities in France which more richly repay a visit than this +rather out-of-the-way place, and fewer still which have so many varied +inducements to offer. The architectural remains are not only interesting +but differ materially in character and epoch. The situation of the city +is most striking. It is perched on the top of a flat-iron shaped hill +upon the point of which the picturesque Jardin de Blossac smiles down +upon the winding river Clain. It is not in this book that you should +look for a description of the wonderful triple interpenetrated chimney +of the Palais de Justice, nor the fourth century church of St. Jean, nor +the ivory-like carvings on the facade of Notre Dame de la Garde. Hie +thee to a guide-book for these, and the like of them, and let us to our +quest! In all glass of this period, nay, of any period or any century, +we shall never find a more splendid window than the Crucifixion at the +east end of the cathedral. In our introduction we said that glass should +not be studied from written description, but that it must be seen. Of +this window this observation is even more true than of any other. Its +breadth and size indicate that it dates from early in the century. The +harmony and the beauty of its colours are beyond words to describe. +Indeed, so ingeniously are they combined to produce their effect, that +the detail is apt to escape the observer. Even after spending some time +before it he may be surprised to learn that the cross is ruby-red and +that the hair of the Saviour is blue. If he had read this in a book it +would have been impossible to convince him that the result could be one +of such great beauty. Unfortunately for the many excellent medallion +windows in this cathedral, there are also a great number of uncoloured +ones. It does not take us long to decide that a medallion window should +never be lighted from within, because that enables one to see the +cumbersome machinery used to produce its effect. One should never become +aware of the numerous small pieces of unevenly surfaced glass and the +vast complexity of leads which in combination produce such glorious +results, but only when the light comes from without. Not only do these +white panes reveal these ugly details, but by their glare they +effectually extinguish the warm glow which we are accustomed to expect +from the richly-coloured mosaics of the medallions. Near the west end +there is a good deal of fine strapwork grisaille evidently put there to +light that end of the church in contrast to the dimmer light which must +have prevailed at the east end when all the medallions were still in +place. Even if there were not many fine thirteenth century panels in +this cathedral, and even if the town itself were not full of many +interesting sights, still we would have been amply repaid for our visit +by the Crucifixion window, the chef d'oeuvre of its time. + +Near the cathedral is the church of St. Radegonde. This long narrow +edifice has no transepts, nor, indeed, the usual division into choir and +nave, and yet it boasts of a rose window, and a fine one, too, over its +northern portal. The colour is really delightful and contains much of +the brilliant blue for which Poitiers is famous. Its chief interest is +that instead of having its figures broken up so as to monotonously +radiate from the centre (which is generally true of rose windows) they +are, so to speak, right side up, and all participate in forming the +picture of the "Last Judgment." There is some thirteenth century glass +on the southern side of this church, but not so well preserved or so +good. The windows on the northern side between the north portal and the +east end are of the next century and will be considered later (page +172). We may say, however, in passing, that they are unique in that they +have bright figures distributed upon a grisaille background which is +surrounded by a border of rich colour. + + +TOURS + +Of all the great battles which have marked the world's history there are +few, if any, which so distinctly stand out from the centuries as the +Battle of Tours. It was this bloody victory which in 732 rolled back the +world-conquering Saracens and determined that Europe should be Christian +and not Moslem. On that epoch-making day, the bloody axe of Charles +Martel graved deep his name on the annals of France. But Tours has many +another claim to historic renown. Touraine, the province of which +it is the capital, is strewed with magnificent chateaux, whose very +elaboration and beauty testify to how greatly French royalty and +nobility loved its temperate climate. On our way from Poitiers to +Tours, we shall pass through several charming little valleys and find +attractive, though quiet, scenery, during most of the journey. The +immediate surroundings of Tours are not pleasing. It impresses one as a +dull, grey city seated demurely beside the sands that so ungracefully +border most of the lower part of the river Loire. There is little to +recall the echoes of the great battle and less still to remind one of +the delightful mediaeval residences which are such an attractive feature +throughout the rest of Touraine. + +Although the cathedral was under construction all the way from the +twelfth century to the sixteenth, its various styles are so combined as +to make it an interesting building. It does not, however, seem to merit +the enthusiastic praise lavished upon it by Henry IV and many another of +its admirers. The chief objection to the interior is that it appears +oppressively narrow. The explanation of this cramped effect is that the +architect did not avail himself of the usual device of slightly +increasing its width as the walls rose. This was generally done +elsewhere and served to correct the contracted appearance which +perspective tends to give as one looks up from the floor. This +architectural trick is an old one, for we know that the Greeks used it +not only in shaping the sides of their columns, but also to preserve the +appearance of straightness in the chief horizontal lines of their +buildings. In the absence of this device the walls seem to crowd +together above us, thus accentuating the unpleasant narrowness of the +nave. + +The fine rosaces in the ends of the transepts contain fourteenth century +glass, and the western rose with its gallery of eight lancets below, +excellent Renaissance glazing. The chief glory of the interior, however, +is the fine medallion panels all through the choir, not only in the +chapels, but also, and most unusually, in the fifteen large lights of +the clerestory. These clerestory medallions date from the latter part of +the century, and their lateness is evidenced in a number of ways, among +others, by the fact that the medallions are oval instead of round and +also that they extend to the edge of the embrasure, leaving little or no +room for the border. This can also be observed in the easternmost choir +windows of Coutances Cathedral. We have noted before that the choir +clerestory at this time was generally given over to large figures of +kings, bishops, etc., in order to secure more light than medallions +would admit. In the Tours clerestory the fifth window on the right and +the fifth on the left (just above the great altar) show an attempt to +correct the darkening effect of the medallions by alternating with them +horizontal stripes of grisaille. Notice that in the easternmost +embrasure the three medallions of the second tier, when considered +together, form a picture of The Last Supper. This is a more elaborate +exposition of the same idea exemplified by the Annunciation at the east +end of the Clermont-Ferrand clerestory. A quaint touch is observable in +the two medallions which show little figures of donors, each holding up +in his two hands a model of his gift window. One of these is in the +left-hand lower corner of the window just left of the eastern one, and +the other in the right-hand corner of the sixth on the right. Some of +the Tours choir chapels are glazed in white, which combined with the +pierced triforium, serves to correct the lack of light caused by the +unusual treatment of the clerestory. + + [Illustration: 13TH CENTURY MEDALLION LANCET, TOURS. + _The shapes of the medallions vary widely. Difficult to + distinguish the little pictures, although we are near the + windows; the early glazier valued the colour effect of his + window more than the legends. Later his picture becomes larger, + and of great importance._] + + +ANGERS + +A bad name dies hard and often lingers years after it is no longer +deserved. A striking example of this is found in the now unjust +appellation, "Black Angers." Black it may have been in the days when its +streets were dirty and narrow, but black it is no longer. Black it may +have seemed to the townspeople when their humble dwellings were frowned +down upon by the seventeen gloomy towers of its haughty thirteenth +century castle. Now the towers of the castle are razed, the walls that +girdled the city are tumbled into the great moat to form broad +boulevards, and altogether it is as agreeable a place as was ever +vilified by an outgrown name. Its most important edifice, St. Maurice +Cathedral, is not only a perfect treasure-house of glass, but is also +the depository of a profusion of admirable tapestries. Those interested +in the latter will find here (even more than at Rheims) what an added +inducement they provide for the sightseer. All around the nave are +suspended the series of the Apocalypse (as they are called), while on +the walls of the transepts are yet others dating from the fourteenth to +the eighteenth centuries. Nor are these all, for packed away in chests +are many more, which upon the occasion of certain church festivals are +brought out to hang in a row around the outside of the cathedral. In +fact, it is only on these festival days that one learns that the +interior wall space is insufficient to display half of the church's +possessions. Having set out this additional reason for visiting St. +Maurice Cathedral, let us now turn to its chief charm, the splendid +twelfth and thirteenth century glazing. We shall find the nave windows +filled with the largest and best preserved collection of twelfth century +glass that exists. They are very wide and high, characteristic of that +early period. In the choir there are fourteen excellent examples of the +thirteenth century medallion type, and there are others in the +transepts. We shall not now speak of the two great fifteenth century +rose windows, nor of the very large canopy ones which adorn the +transepts, nor of the few sixteenth century panels. It is proper to say +here, however, that they are excellent examples of those later periods, +thus rendering this cathedral one of the best in which to compare glass +styles all the way from the twelfth century to the sixteenth. The chief +glory of the edifice, however, consists of those which date from the +early mosaic period. So few and so unsatisfactory are the remains +elsewhere found of twelfth century glass, and so excellent are they +here, that it is to this church that one should come to study it. It is +a most fortunate coincidence for the student that the same interior +also contains many of the best types of the thirteenth century, because +this very contiguity enables him to conveniently contrast them with +those of the twelfth. The finer distinctions between their traits are +much more noticeable to him where the examples are side by side than +they would be if he had to carry the picture in his mind from one place +to another. He will at once notice that the earlier borders are much +wider than the later ones; some of those in the nave occupy nearly +one-fourth of the window space on each side, or in other words, if +brought together, the borders would fill nearly half of the entire width +of the embrasure. He will also observe that the figures in the earlier +ones are made of larger pieces of glass and have the draperies more +tightly drawn about them. It is very significant that the pieces of +glass are larger in the earlier windows: note this carefully, because in +many books we are told that the later artist of the thirteenth century +had no choice but to content himself with the small morsels of glass, as +he had no others. Thus they would have us believe that his wonderful +jewelled glow was merely the lucky result of having nothing but small +fragments at his disposal. Even so brief a study of twelfth century +glass as to show that the pieces then used were uniformly larger than +those of the thirteenth or jewel period, is enough to demonstrate that +the later artist deliberately used the smaller bits even with the added +trouble of more leading. He did so for the very purpose of obtaining the +sparkle and sheen that was never achieved before nor since, and +therefore he should receive due credit for his results. A close +examination of both the choir and nave windows will yield us many quaint +and interesting details. The first on the left contains a large Virgin +placed upon a panel occupying all of the window that is not given over +to a wide grisaille border. Six small medallions are arranged about this +panel, half of each on the panel and half protruding over the border. +One of these small medallions is placed at each corner and one in the +middle of the two long sides, like the pockets on a pool table. The +charming elaboration and colour work of the twelfth century borders +throughout the nave cannot fail to be noticed. + +The set of thirteenth century windows placed about the choir have some +gorgeous blues and brilliant rubies. The fifth, counting from the left +side, proves to be a Tree of Jesse window, a sort of pictorially +genealogical tree which we will frequently encounter on our travels. In +this case the treatment is unusual, as the vine, winding up throughout +the window from the loins of Jesse in the lowest medallion, not only +distributes its historical personages over the central panes, but also +up and down the borders as well. The very wide embrasures of this +church give us an excellent opportunity of studying the colours of this +period. + +While we are in Angers we must visit the church of St. Serge. As we are +now seeking early glass the chief interest of this small interior +consists of the five grisaille windows of the twelfth century which, +with their graceful design of pale brownish strapwork picked out and +accentuated by points of colour, leave little to be desired in their +soft beauty. They are to be found in the choir, and are considered by +most authorities to be the best type of twelfth century grisaille work +that exists. During a later pilgrimage we shall come again to this +church to inspect the attractive fifteenth century canopy windows which +decorate the nave clerestory (see page 175). + + +LE MANS + +The great personages in the windows of St. Julien Cathedral looked down +upon a portentous spectacle on that day in the year 1133, when Henry I +of England stood holding in his arms his little grandson, Henry +Plantagenet, to be baptised by the Bishop of Le Mans. The vast throng +that gathered for this ceremony, both within and without the newly +completed cathedral, little thought that the helpless babe would one day +become not only Henry II, King of England, but also the ruler of the +mighty Angevin empire, which included all of England and the western +half of France. They could not have foreseen that this little one would +cause the House of Plantagenet to take its place in history as one of +the greatest of royal houses. Strange sights have these splendid old +windows gazed down upon, but never have they tempered the glare of the +sun for the christening of a babe who so widely outgrew the place of his +birth. In one way or another this cathedral has been connected with many +a royal family. In its archives we read that when in November, 1217, it +was decided to extend the choir over the Gallo-Roman wall, not only was +the consent of King Philip Augustus necessary, but also that of Queen +Berengaria, the widow of Richard Coeur de Lion. This double approval +was needed, since Philip Augustus, although overlord, had given Le Mans +to Queen Berengaria in settlement of her claims upon certain Norman +towns which he had captured. Perched upon a hill rising from the river +Sarthe the cathedral soars into the air from its lofty site as boldly as +befits the chief sanctuary of an embattled city boasting of more than +twenty sieges. Impressive as it is from the river, it is still more so +from the little plain which lies just below it inside the town. There is +hardly a cathedral whose east end is so beautifully revealed as is St. +Julien's from this viewpoint. We cannot help but be deeply impressed as +it swings out clear against the sky, girdled by its thirteen chapels, +hung about by its innumerable flying buttresses and to us rendered +specially alluring by the great area of window space filled with the +many lead lines and heavy iron saddle-bars which we have learnt to know +mean glazing of the thirteenth century. The view of the east end of an +elaborate Gothic church is always fascinating, but in this instance its +height above us, the great number of chapels and the unobstructed view +make it unique. The nave was constructed too early to be greatly +elaborated, but if compensation is needed, it is fully provided by the +thoroughly mediaeval feeling which awaits one on entering the little +square just before its west entrance. The opposite side of the square is +occupied by Le Grabatoire, an ancient dwelling built in the first half +of the sixteenth century and in an admirable state of preservation. The +traveller in France generally finds that buildings which surround an old +cathedral are so much more recent in construction that they provide a +jarring contrast. Here at Le Mans, on the contrary, its immediate +surroundings thoroughly imbue us with the spirit of the middle ages and +we are in a proper frame of mind to enter the portal and appreciate the +Old World beauty inside. The interior amply fulfills the promises of the +exterior. The luminous glory of the broad surfaces of the glass that +seem suspended about the lofty choir is something long to be remembered. +This is not the place to speak of the transepts because they were glazed +in the fifteenth century; they are very fine, especially the one to the +north. Oddly enough, the south end of the south transept has no window +at all; its large wall space serves as a back for the organ (see page +178). Let us begin our investigations with the nave. Its triforium is a +graceful gallery, but is not pierced, while the clerestory above it +contains only modern glass, and therefore they will not long detain us. +In the west front is one broad window of the round arched Norman type, +obviously of the period which we are now considering. Within a wide +border are square panels representing scenes from the life of St. +Julien, after whom the edifice is named. Although this window is very +broad, even for its early type, it is nevertheless not large enough to +appear alone in the great west wall, and as a result, it narrows the +appearance of the nave. When we move up into the choir and look back, +this effect becomes all the more noticeable, while the nave is even +further dwarfed by the fact that the architect, taking advantage of the +greater height of the transepts, placed a clerestory window just above +the point where the ridge pole of the nave joins the crossing. Thus the +lone west window and the clerestory opening just above the nave roof +combine to lower and contract that oldest part of the church. But to +return to the nave windows; all the lower range are small and all modern +except eight, the three western ones on each side and those over the two +smaller west entrances. Of these eight all but two are medallions. One +of them (the third from the west on the north side) is of interest +because it has a border consisting of four little panels on each side +enclosing figures. This sort of border is extremely rare, except in Tree +of Jesse windows, where the personages are sometimes used in this way to +help make up the border. An instance of this may be seen in the central +panel of the second triforium window on the south side of the choir and +it may also be noticed in the fifth window on the left in the east end +of Angers Cathedral. We have just said that all but two of these lower +nave lights are filled with medallions--of these two (the second and +third on the south side), one might write a book. The writer prefers the +second window to any other in France. It was made some time between 1093 +and 1120 and represents the "Ascension." As this book is not written to +describe glass, but only to persuade the reader to view it, we will +content ourselves by saying "go and see." The blue and the ruby +backgrounds have a limpidity of colour that cannot be rivaled. Of the +third window it is fair to say that some of the panes were brought from +other embrasures of this church. The upper panel, enclosing a bust of +Christ, with the drapery of blue and a blue halo upon a background of +ruby sprinkled with blue stars, is most delightful. These two are indeed +treasures and are all that were left by the ravages of the great fire +which in 1120 destroyed the earlier church. Passing from the nave to the +choir we are at once struck by the grandiose effect there caused by the +loftier sweep of its lines. The choir chapels have lost nearly all their +original glazing, but fortunately that little gem, the Lady Chapel, +still has all its eleven windows filled with medallions. These +encircling chapels not only give great width to the choir, but still +further width is added by the fact that the ambulatory is double. The +first triforium that goes around above us is not pierced, but just +above it we find the spacious embrasures of the second triforium. These +latter are the largest of their kind the writer has ever seen; in fact, +they are large enough to be placed in the clerestory of most cathedrals. +Not satisfied with these, the architect has still further increased the +lighting of the choir and given greater scope for the glazier by placing +above this second triforium the lofty windows of the true clerestory, +those toward the west of six lancets each, and those toward the east of +two. All the panels of this great curtain of light are glazed in the +mosaic style, but the pieces of glass used are noticeably larger than we +have been accustomed to find in the medallion treatment. As a result, +the amount of leading is reduced and a great deal more colour meets our +eye, colour whose individual tones we can recognise, and not the sort, +which, conflicting with other colour, produces a confused purple. At St. +Julien Cathedral we get a richer tone from the medallions than we find +anywhere else, but this gain in richness is partially offset by losing +some of the sparkling gleam which would have resulted from smaller bits +of glass set in more leads. Perhaps some of our readers will agree with +Viollet-le-Duc and other great architects and writers, in regarding this +choir a finer monument of the thirteenth century than that of Bourges or +Chartres. If the nave of Le Mans Cathedral were as splendidly glazed as +the other parts of that edifice, we might have to reconsider our +opinion that Chartres affords the best chance for the student of that +early period to pursue his researches. + + +CHARTRES + +Across the rolling grain-covered plain of La Beauce winds a long +depression worn by the river Eure. Along the side of this depression we +find Chartres, sloping gently up from the little river that bathes its +feet and proudly lifting into the air the grey and green bulk of its +cathedral, culminating in the two finest spires in France. Its light +stone and the softly-shaded tiles of the roof combine to give us a +delicious impression of delicate greenish grey. This softness of tone +outside gives no hint of the minster gloom within, athwart which shimmer +the rich dark rays slanting through the jewelled windows. Nowhere can +there be found such a contrast between the exterior and interior of a +cathedral. This marked difference serves but to distinguish and +accentuate the special charms of each, and together they make our memory +of the cathedral a most precious possession of our mental picture +gallery. + +As the pilgrim enters Chartres Cathedral, there is an impressive moment +at hand for him, for he is penetrating the Holy of Holies of stained +glass. Not only is it the most delightful expression of the thirteenth +century, but also of any century, and we speak not only of France, but +of all Europe. + +One is almost staggered by the wealth and profusion of windows--174--and +nearly all of the thirteenth century. In the west front the use of +slightly larger pieces and the wonderful limpidity confirms the fact +that the lovely rose showing the Last Judgment, as well as its three +attendant lancets below, are of the twelfth century; the rest of the +interior was glazed in the next century. + +Notwithstanding all that has been written of this wonderful glass, more +still remains hidden away in its pregnant mystery, that mystery that +lays hold upon all who view it, be he poet, or unromantic follower of +one of the homely trades whose guilds have added so generously to the +tale of windows. Nor have revelations of this mystery been made alike to +all. What one man has spelt out from it may remain incomprehensible to +another. The obvious fact to one mind seems to another but a quaint +conceit. Lasteyrie, when he told his story in 1841, felt that there was +a marvellous symbolism about the change in the strength of the light, +brighter as it approached the cross formed by the transepts and then +growing darker as one withdrew further from that Christian emblem of +spiritual illumination. To him this thought was full of great charm and +some of us may agree in his poetic conception. Others may feel that the +brilliancy of the remote west windows seems to refute rather than +support his theory. It is certain, however, that the revelation of +harmony comes to us all alike. It is related that a certain lad thought +himself listening to music from the glass itself when the organ +commenced playing during the time he was gazing raptly up at one of the +great rose windows. This harmony of colours, this melodious flowing of +tone into tone, is a glimpse vouchsafed to us all into the solemn +mystery that dwells within this enchanted bower of light. + +James Russell Lowell says: + + "I gaze round on the windows, pride of France! + Each the bright gift of some mechanic guild, + Who loved their city and thought gold well spent + To make her beautiful with piety." + +If Rheims is to be known as the cathedral of kings, or Amiens +characterised as the Bible in stone, then Chartres must be styled the +chief sanctuary of the mediaeval guilds. We have spoken of the splendid +array of royalties around the clerestory of Rheims, and how they and the +many coronations of which they are reminiscent fully justify the proud +title of "Royal Rheims." Against this wealth of royal reminiscence +Chartres can show but one coronation, that of Henry IV. So far was he +from being disgruntled by the long siege necessitated by the stubborn +defence of its burghers, that he elected to be crowned in their +cathedral, partly, we feel sure, to show the approval of a warrior king +for their fighting qualities. No, it is not a long array of kings that +are set about to guard its windows and bear witness to their power and +beneficence. At Chartres, more than anywhere in France, the Middle Ages +seem to have bequeathed to us the great heartbeat of their middle +classes. Here we see about us the sturdy workers of the city, the guilds +of its industrious burghers. True, the great rose windows of the +transepts show us the royalty and chivalry of the kingdom, but somehow +they seem decorative and not dominating as they do at Rheims. Nor are +our friends of the guilds here present by any man's let or by virtue of +kingly condescension. At Laon there are statues of oxen in the cathedral +towers, put there in kindly remembrance of their services in dragging up +the great stones from the plain far below; but at Chartres it is no +kindly remembrance that has disposed about the nave and elsewhere the +glass histories of guild upon guild. They are in the place because they +are of the place, nor is there any attempt to disguise the homely +occupations of the donors. In other towns we occasionally find a panel +bearing a statement that it was presented by some company of craftsmen, +but the subject is almost always a scriptural one and throws no light +upon the work-a-day existence of the members. Here it is very different, +for so proud were the honest workmen of the crafts which they plied, +that they took infinite pains to have their windows set out scenes +descriptive of the work and life of the association which gave it. The +history of the Chartres guilds is well worth delving into, and one finds +a luminous index provided by the long series of panels around the lower +part of the nave. The glass speaks eloquently of how well organised +and how rich were the middle classes of Chartres, and nowhere else can +anything like so complete or interesting a set be seen. Goldsmiths, +cobblers, vintners, tanners, moneychangers--so the list goes on until it +swells into a total of nearly forty, and of each there is provided some +little group depicting the service performed for the community by that +particular trade. Several of the guilds gave more than one window, nor +are they confined to the nave aisles, some having strayed so far as +the choir clerestory. But for all that the windows here speak more +eloquently than elsewhere of the sturdy craftsmen--the bourgeoisie that +formed the backbone of old France--we must not forget that they also +bear witness to the gallantry and generosity of the knightly and titled +classes. To glass lovers this cathedral has a peculiar interest in +the fact that St. Louis was baptised within its walls. May we not be +permitted the delusion that to the undeveloped faculties of the royal +babe the wonderful harmony of these windows came as a lullaby, and that +the echo of this lullaby finally grew into the great love for stained +glass which he later developed? Of this love we have found many traces, +all leading up to its ultimate expression in the Ste. Chapelle of Paris. +And where more appropriately could a French king, who loved glass, have +been christened? Where else would he have had about him on his beloved +windows such an array of his subjects, representing not only the +highest, but also those of humbler rank, a bodyguard of four thousand +figures of nobles, gentry, burghers and craftsmen? Nor are these figures +content but to decorate, for some of them by their grouping serve to +narrate for us nearly forty legends. A splendid proof of how much he +loved this cathedral, so often revisited by him, is afforded by his +splendid gift, the Rose of France, as they call the great window in the +north transept. Here are the familiar combination of the French fleur +de lis and the castles of Castile showing that Louis and his mother, +Blanche of Castile, joined in this royal gift. In splendid reds, +lemon-yellows and browns it tells the story of the glorification of +the Virgin, thus repeating what we see in the carvings of the northern +porch. The gorgeous five tall pointed windows below aid it to produce a +glorious ensemble. Nor is it only in this quarter that we see traces of +the nobler classes, for was not the south transept end decorated in +similar wise with scenes showing the glorification of Christ, the gift +of Dreux and Bretagne? Again we find the windows inside repeating what +is shown by the carvings in the porch outside. The five tall pointed +lancets under this rose are especially noteworthy, for the two which, on +either side, flank the middle one containing Christ are each filled with +an Evangelist carried on the shoulders of a Prophet, a very physical way +of depicting the power of prophecy. + + [Illustration: CROSSING AND SOUTH TRANSEPT, CHARTRES. (13TH CENTURY.) + _No photograph can even hint at the wealth of deep, warm colour + that fills these windows. The early date of those in the right + foreground indicated by their broad borders. Below the Rose, + four of the lancets show Evangelists borne on the shoulders of + Prophets._] + +This is not the place to tell of the wonderful carvings that abound +within and without this great temple, and are especially delightful +around the stone screen that separates the choir from the ambulatory; +nor shall we take upon us to speak in detail of the subterranean chapel +to the Virgin who bore a Child, the pagan legends concerning whom "the +memory of man runneth not to the contrary." For us they are but +accessories to the wonderful whole which provides so magnificent a +casket for the preservation and exposition of the most splendid heritage +of windows that has come down to us. + +Although completely outclassed by the cathedral's greater glory, the +glazing of the church of St. Pierre is not only pleasing to the eye, but +also provides a very complete and well-preserved demonstration of how +the transition was effected from the light-obstructing mosaic medallions +to the overlighted interiors of the fourteenth century (see page 188). + + +AUXERRE + +Our memories of architecture are generally those of form and not of +colour. To this rule there are, however, a few exceptions, and of these +the cathedral of St. Etienne at Auxerre is one of the most noteworthy. +One remembers it chiefly for its rich brown colour, partly due to the +tint of the stone and partly to the terra-cotta tiles which cover its +roof. The deeper hue of the tiles calls out all the warmth in the +shading of the stone and they together make a mellow brown picture, +especially attractive if seen for the first time in the tones which it +takes on towards twilight, when the low rays of the sun perform for it +the same service that they do for the interior of the Corpus Christi +quadrangle at Oxford. Another cathedral whose colour lingers in our +memory is Chartres, where the dull green tiles of the roof tone into the +greyish stone of the building, accentuating and enriching it, and +leaving with us a distinct impression of a soft-hued grey church. A very +picturesque city is Auxerre, sloping up from the river, with its three +chief churches rising watchfully above the monotonous level of the +house-tops like huge rocks anchoring the city more firmly to its +foundations. Not so bulkily impressive but equally noticeable is the +quaint old bell tower, which, from its great height, rings out every now +and again reminders of the flight of time. + +The proportions of the cathedral interior are very harmoniously +adjusted. The noticeable features are that the ambulatory is lower than +the nave, and that the Lady Chapel at the east end is square instead of +being rounded. In view of the geographical location of Auxerre one would +expect to find glass of the more florid Burgundian type; but instead it +is clearly of the Champagne school. There is a quantity of good +sixteenth century glazing and we would especially call the visitor's +attention to the fine blues, which he should not fail to notice. The +windows we have come to see, however, are to be found in the chapels and +the upper lights of the choir. Henri Villeneuve in 1220 caused to be +placed in the choir clerestory the great row of fifteen, each consisting +of two bays surmounted by a small rose. This arrangement is very +graceful and gives an agreeable grouping. The colouring and drawing of +the large figures with which they are filled testify to the good taste +of their donor. Nor are the windows in the clerestory any more worthy of +notice than the twenty-nine which we shall find below surrounding the +choir and filling the choir chapels--almost all complete and containing +fine types of the medallion style. The three nearest the transepts on +each side and one or two others are glazed in white, the result of +well-meaning sacrilege on the part of the monks seeking to secure more +light. Fortunately their hands were stayed, so that enough of the old +panels are left to give us the jewelled gleam which we are seeking. +There is an unique arrangement in some of the embrasures of Auxerre +which we must not fail to note. It provides an early example of the use +of grisaille to increase the illumination of the interior. In several +instances the coloured figure or panel has two borders, the one next it +being of grisaille and the outside one of rich colour. Possibly the +contrast will strike us as being too marked. We shall find that in the +next century this combination is carried to such an extreme as to become +positively disagreeable, but here at Auxerre it is so skillfully +employed that it is not at all unpleasant. In any event, it is far +better than white panes used for the same purpose. + + +SENS + +In these days of telephones, telegrams, express trains, automobiles, +newspapers and printed books, it is difficult for us to realize that in +mediaeval times thought traveled but slowly, and that two cities a few +leagues apart were much more widely separated than they would now be if +divided by the ocean. To-day a piece of news, an invention, some new +artistic method, is flashed around the world and at once meets the eye +of millions of readers. All this excites no comment. When, however, we +notice that in some mediaeval period a novelty in one country very +shortly thereafter appeared and was used in a neighbouring one, we are +forced to conclude that there must have been some very unusual +occurrence to have so far set at naught the difficulty of news +transmission to which we have just referred. The history of the middle +ages does not contain a stranger example of such a rapid spread of +something novel than that presented by the story of how and of why +William of Sens (who, in building the Cathedral of Sens, constructed the +first thoroughly Gothic church) came to have the honour of introducing +Gothic architecture into England by a call to rebuild Canterbury +Cathedral. It so happened that just as he was completing his great work +and disclosing to the world the new beauty of Gothic architecture, Pope +Alexander III, exiled from Rome, took up his residence at Sens +(September 30, 1163, till April 11, 1165). It is recorded that on the +19th of April, 1164, surrounded by a gorgeous array of cardinals and +bishops gathered there in attendance upon the papal residence, he +consecrated the altar of the Holy Virgin in the cathedral then rapidly +approaching completion. Where the Pope was, there also was the centre +of the Christian world, and thither of course repaired the clergy from +all parts of Europe. These distinguished pilgrims were witnesses +of William's first bold attempt at the pointed arch, the chief +characteristic of his great cathedral. To see was to admire. Its beauty +was so striking that they could not fail to remember and recount it when +they returned to their home towns, thus stimulating other architects to +copy this new architecture. Never before nor since had a builder so well +timed a gathering of admiring ecclesiastics. Among those who came, and +saw, and remembered, was Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, +himself an exile from his see. He dwelt four years at Sens (1166-70) and +what he saw there impelled him to invite William of Sens in preference +to all the English architects to rebuild the Cathedral of Canterbury. It +would seem strange even now, and a thing worthy of comment, if a French +architect were chosen to construct an important English church, but how +much more extraordinary was it that Thomas a Becket should have taken +this step in 1174, after the disastrous fire which destroyed the earlier +church on the site of the present Cathedral of Canterbury. William +succeeded in completing the choir as it stands to-day, but it cost him +his life, for as he was superintending the finishing touches of his +great work, he fell from a high scaffold and received injuries from +which he died. Through this introduction of the young French Gothic into +England he exercised a noteworthy influence upon the beginnings of +ecclesiastical Gothic in that country. We have told this story here +because we know the architect and the glazier worked hand in hand. This +association grows more interdependent as the Gothic blossoms into +decoration and as more wall space is devoted to windows. It is fair to +assume that the stained glass style then prevailing in France must have +accompanied its sister, Gothic architecture, upon the latter's invasion +of England, and an examination of the early medallions at Canterbury +tends to confirm this theory. Since a Becket was having the new Gothic +of Sens copied, why not also its admirable glazing? In any event we know +that French glass was well known and much admired by the English, and +later we shall recount several instances of its being brought to glaze +English churches, and even requirements made in English contracts that +French and not domestic glass should be provided. While it is true that +the early glass of Sens Cathedral is not so abundant as that of the +sixteenth century, we have come here at this time because nothing finer +is known than the few medallion windows which remain to us along the +north wall of the choir. They date from the end of the twelfth century +and are large, strong in tone, and in excellent preservation. The +clerestory lights of the choir are filled with attractive examples of +grisaille enlivened by large geometric figures in points of red, blue, +etc. These designs are constructed with slender lines and without too +much colour, so that plenty of soft silvery light is admitted to +illuminate the choir below. So well lighted is it from the clerestory +above that we are forced to conclude that all the chapel embrasures +below must at one time have been filled with the gloom-producing +medallions. It is unfortunate that the original set of medallions below +is not complete, because if it were, we would now be able to see, thanks +to the charming grisaille in the clerestory, a perfect combination of +the well-lighted choir surrounded by the sombre gleam of its protecting +chapels. Such a combination is rare. At Tours, at Troyes, even at +Bourges, we find ourselves wishing that we had a little more light from +above to set off by contrast the dark splendour of the jewelled caverns +below. The clerestory at Sens shows us just the luminous effect which +we have sought elsewhere, but, alas! our coloured dusk below, which +should go hand in hand with it, has been almost entirely dissipated. As +a result we are left with an impression of too bright an interior. The +minster gloom with all its dignity is gone! We shall return later to +Sens to see its splendid glass of the sixteenth century (see page 218). + + +TROYES + +Of all the French schools of glass which at one time or another gained +renown, none ever surpassed that of Champagne. Not only do we know this +from the pages of history, but it is easily proved by the innumerable +examples found in the many churches of Troyes, the ancient capital of +that province. The fame of the glass artists of Champagne not only began +early but lasted long. In fact, in its capital, the perfected methods of +the sixteenth century became so firmly established that their style and +vigour lasted far over into the seventeenth century, which was not +generally true elsewhere. Troyes has always enjoyed prominence and that, +too, along different lines; "Troy weight" testifies to the wide fame of +its jewellers. In our travels we shall observe that most towns have but +one or two churches whose windows repay a visit. Troyes and Rouen are +the marked exceptions to this rule, for in each we shall find many well +worth examining and a great wealth of glass. Then, too, both these +cities provide facilities for studying the art from the earliest to the +latest period of its golden age. We will postpone consideration of Rouen +until we take up the sixteenth century because its thirteenth century +glass is unimportant. This is not true of Troyes, for if by some sudden +calamity all its splendid Renaissance windows were destroyed, we would +still most heartily recommend that our pilgrim visit the city to see the +early glass in the cathedral and in the fairy-like church of St. Urbain. +These two buildings alone provide the best of reasons for including +Troyes in this tour. The story of the foundation of that architectural +eggshell, St. Urbain, is very interesting. In 1261 there became Pope a +certain Jacques Pantaleon, a native of Troyes. After his elevation to +the pontificate he remembered his humble beginnings, and so far from +being ashamed that his father had been a small shopkeeper, he bought +the ground whereon his father's shop had stood, as well as some of +the neighbouring buildings, and erected, about 1263, one of the +most delightful and airy examples of fragile grace in all Gothic +architecture. The walls seem literally to be constructed of glass, so +slender are the stone uprights between the windows, and so wholly is +this little church uplifted and upheld by the innumerable flying +buttresses that stretch away from its roof and delicate sides like the +supporting guy ropes of a tent. At the Ste. Chapelle in Paris we noticed +that although medallion panels give a splendid dark warmth, they do not +admit light enough for a small structure. Perhaps in St. Urbain we shall +feel there is too much light. The medallions of the period are there, +but only in small numbers and imbedded in large fields of silvery +grisaille. The lower half of the clerestory windows is in grisaille and +it is only in the upper half that we find coloured figures. While it is +true that we lose the silvery hue that simple grisaille generally +yields, still, in exchange, we receive a low-toned glow that is +delightful. The proportion of glass surface to wall space is here so +great that if the grisaille had not been warmed by touches of colour, +there would really have been a glare, though the embrasures contain no +white glass. The more we study the subject the clearer it becomes that +the glazier thoroughly understood and appreciated the possibilities of +the medium in which he worked. + +As we pass from St. Urbain to the larger and more impressive Cathedral +of St. Pierre, we shall notice that although the artist felt the +necessity for the lighter treatment in the dainty chapel-like church, he +found it more appropriate in the larger edifice to so glaze his windows +as to fill the place with the more solemn and dignified light suited to +its greater size. The choir of the cathedral provides an unusually +complete and satisfying example of this period, not only in its girdle +of chapels, but also above in the gorgeous row of thirteen clerestory +windows from which ferocious-looking figures stare down upon us from +glittering eyes leaded into Byzantine faces. Splendid as they are, we +feel that a little more light should have been admitted, and this +thought must also have struck the glazier, because he resorted to a +trick in the choir chapels to better illumine the eastern part of the +structure. If you will step into one of these chapels you will find that +in most of them he has substituted grisaille for the medallions in the +lancet on either hand nearest the choir. When you stood in the choir +ambulatory, this device escaped you because the arch which provides the +entrance to the chapel conceals these two nearest lancets. The result of +the trick is that two side-lights, properly softened by the grisaille, +are thrown into the chapel. If white panes had been used, they would +have illuminated the inner side of the medallion panels, thus revealing +their ugly machinery of leads, and, worse still, effectually destroying +their power to transmit a combination of colour and glow. Ample +illumination has been furnished this cathedral by its pierced triforium +and the great expanse of its clerestory, but, thanks to the remarkably +warm tone of the glass, we do not find it anywhere overlighted. Even the +later glass which adorns the nave and transepts and which we will +discuss farther on, is so unusually strong in colour that we avoid that +sharpness of contrast between thirteenth and fifteenth century work to +be seen at Bourges. Decidedly, St. Pierre is one of the most beautiful +interiors in France for the glass lover, and he should not fail to see +what the best examples of the Champagne school has done for this church, +the charm of which lays hold upon him directly he enters it (see page +222). + + +CHALONS-SUR-MARNE + +Certain travellers and most tourists think they can, from studying maps +and reading books, obtain a very fair impression of a town before they +visit it, and that the chief result of their visit will be to fill in +sundry local details. If people of that ilk desire to remain high in +their own estimation, they had best omit Chalons from their travels. Let +us assume that one of these aforesaid folk plans a visit to Chalons. He +will probably begin by studying the map, which shows a city seemingly +drawn out along both sides of a long, straight street. His practised +mind will conclude this the proper method to enter the town and that he +can easily find his way about. Step number two will be the consultation +of histories. Here he will fall upon the account of the great Battle of +Chalons, in which Attila, the "Scourge of God," met in 451 his final +check, the combined army of Romans, Franks and Visigoths there putting a +bloody end to his dream of an anti-Christian empire erected upon the +crumbling remains of "the power that once was Rome's." Anyone who has +noticed how surprisingly few decisive victories have been followed by +widespread or lasting results must have remarked that the Battle of +Chalons stands out prominently as an exception to this rule. So much for +what the maps and the histories have disclosed to our experienced +tourist. He is doomed to a bitter disappointment. To-day in this quiet +little city of yellowish-grey houses he will find nothing reminiscent of +that old-time victory. Not only will his dip into history thus prove to +have been in vain, but what is more, the street plan has given him a +very wrong idea of a really very pretty place. The writer himself well +remembers how the map misled him. He remarked thereon the long straight +street; therefore, on emerging from the railway station, he proceeded up +this tiresome thoroughfare, which he found equipped with the usual +provincial tram-line, both trying to tie the older part of the town to +the distant railway station that bears its name. As a disappointment +this first impression of Chalons was a pronounced success! Don't fall +into the same error. This was the wrong way to enter the town, but there +is also a right way, especially for one who believes in first +impressions. + +If you want to be in a mood to enjoy the glass, branch off to the right +when you reach the canal (which is not far from the station), and you +will come into a park called the Jard, one of the prettiest combinations +of green trees and water to be found in any provincial French city. On +a later visit the writer stumbled upon this park, with the result that +instead of a mental picture of an ugly town built on both sides of an +ugly street, he carried away pleasantly revised memories not only of the +charming Jard, but also of several little water-courses meandering +through the town, affording lovely vistas every now and again in most +unexpected ways. It seems certain that these streams feel equally +bitterly about the ugly street, because as soon as they come near it, +they promptly hide their heads and pass under it, carefully keeping out +of sight in small tunnels. Wait until you see the street, and you won't +blame the streams. Now that you have by means of the woody refreshment +of the green Jard purified your perceptions from the taint of railway +dirt, let us enter the cathedral. We shall find the glass more +interesting and instructive than impressive, but to this general +observation we must make an exception on behalf of the thirteenth +century windows in the clerestory behind and above the altar; they +undeniably leave little to be desired. The blue of their backgrounds +combines excellently with the tones of the figures. In one of the panels +which shows the Crucifixion, we can readily discern that the bars +supporting it at the back (called saddle bars) have been moved to one +side so as not to interfere with the two figures on either side of the +cross. This displacement of the saddle bars to leave undisturbed the +drawing of an important personage was quite usual at that time. Later +on the glazier seemed to have no objection to the intrusion of the iron +bars, just as he grew to disregard the running of his leads across +faces, arms, etc. This church also boasts of a fine rose window in the +north transept, which is rendered even more effective by the gallery of +lancets beneath it. The especial interest of the cathedral to a student +of glass is undoubtedly its grisaille windows, some plain and some +banded across by highly-coloured panels of the medallion type. This +latter arrangement we find along the north wall of the nave, while those +containing grisaille alone are in the triforium and clerestory. In the +case of the banded ones we shall notice that it is only the middle third +of each which has the highly-coloured panels, all the rest being +grisaille, doubtless for the purpose of giving plenty of light to the +nave. Although a most interesting arrangement, the effect is not that of +great beauty. Some of the narrow triforium panels have a border of plain +grisaille surrounding the central panel of colour work in which there +are no figures; this is quite unusual. A study of the use of colour with +grisaille in that century is not complete without a visit to Chalons, +but this having been said we must admit that notwithstanding the +splendid panels in the choir clerestory and the fine rose window in the +north transept, there are several more inspiring places for one wishing +to learn how greatly thirteenth century glass can beautify a religious +interior. Some of the finest and most valuable twelfth and thirteenth +century panels have been removed from the cathedral, and are now the +property of the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, in Paris. Unfortunately they +are not always on exhibition. On the south side of the nave is a fine +series of Renaissance windows, but these, together with the grey and +gold figure panels of St. Alpin, and the excellent coloured ones of the +fine church of Notre Dame, will be discussed in our sixteenth century +pilgrimages (see page 233). + + +RHEIMS + +Royal Rheims! In this title, "apt alliteration's artful aid" not only +appeals to our ear, but is also fully justified by history. In its +splendid cathedral were crowned almost all the kings of France, the +sacred oil used in the ceremony having been, saith the old legend, +brought from heaven by a dove for the baptism in 496 of Clovis, King of +the Franks, and thereafter preserved in a sacred vessel locked away in +the tomb of St. Remi. Because of this having been for so many years, nay +centuries, the place of royal consecration, what more appropriate +decoration could have been devised for the great clerestory embrasures +than the series of the first thirty-six kings of France, each window +containing in its lower half the archbishop that consecrated the king +above him! All these seventy-two figures are seated, because convention +demanded this if the personage represented was dead. Down upon us from +their lofty station about the nave clerestory gleam these long rows of +the royalties and ecclesiastical dignitaries of France, a marvellous +exemplification of what colour in glass can accomplish. An echoing gleam +comes to us from the clerestory of the choir; but there the figures are +those of great bishops, not only of Rheims, but also of other cities in +its diocese, like Laon, Soissons, etc. At first thought it may seem bad +English to speak of a gleam of light as an echo of another gleam, but +before you criticise the expression, stand patiently for awhile in this +great house of God, looking up at these splendid windows; perhaps there +will at last come over you a feeling that in all this noble harmony of +colour, this blending of soft tones, there is--there must be--some dim +harmony of music. One never receives this peculiar impression except +from glass of the thirteenth century; later glass lacks the depth and +vibration of tone, even though it gains added brilliancy. Especially +splendid is the effect of the kings dominating the nave below. Those +near the transepts have a deep blue background, whilst a few close to +the west end have behind and around them a soft, rich red. There is no +other place where such sombre depth of hue can be seen in a clerestory +glazed during the thirteenth century. At Bourges they are magnificent, +but their beauty is of a different and brighter sort. Here at Rheims, +although raised high in the air, they yield the same dusky glow that +elsewhere we usually find in the medallion panels of the choir chapels +below. So wonderful are the windows above you that there is a fair +chance that you would have left the cathedral without noticing that +below there are no medallion windows at all; in fact, that practically +none of its lower panes are glazed in colour. This is owing to the +almost incredible folly of the monks of Rheims who, in the years +1739-68, removed the coloured glass from the lower embrasures to admit +more light. During the two years following October, 1755, they committed +the same act of vandalism in the church of St. Remi. The cathedral has +three fine rose windows, of which the western one with its bright-hued +gallery of kings below it is far the best. The north rose window is +good, although we miss the qualities which the north rose of Notre Dame +at Paris has taught us to expect. The south rose contains glass of the +sixteenth century and therefore seems pale and out of place amidst the +older glories. The west rosace should be seen toward sunset so as to get +the rays of the sun passing directly through it. Earlier in the day it +is almost gloomy in tone. There has been much discussion as to the +interpretation of the figures in the gallery of kings below, but now it +seems settled that it represents the coronation of the converted pagan +Clovis, King of the Franks. The windows of the transepts are glazed with +grisaille of a very greenish tone and somewhat darker than that +generally found at this time. Among them we observe one of the series of +bishops which has apparently crept away from its fellows in the choir +and come around the corner into the south transept. Although the bishop +series lacks, to some extent, the crude, almost savage glory of the +nave's stern array of kings, they are more carefully made. As in the +king windows, here also we find an upper and a lower row of personages, +but in addition, a feature very much out of the ordinary and which +should be remarked. Instead of placing two bishops below to balance the +two above, there is but one bishop below in each window, while the space +adjoining him is occupied by a fanciful representation of his cathedral. +There is no attempt to accurately portray the building, although the +glass artist might as well have done so, for he has gone to the pains of +making no two of these little cathedral pictures alike. So minutely has +he gone into detail that each has a tiny rose window and each rose is +markedly different from the others. The idea is a quaint one and shows +the artist to have been fertile in ideas. So dark are the faces of the +bishops as to make them look in one or two cases as though they were +wearing masks. This effect is heightened by the fact that the eyes are +glazed in lighter hues. + +In the midst of all this gorgeous and sparkling colour, what a splendid +picture may we not conjure up of the scene on the 17th day of July, +1429, when Charles VII, led in by Joan of Arc, had here the kingly crown +placed upon his brow. With what vast satisfaction must the grand old +kings have gleamed and glowed in sombre delight that their glorious +cathedral was once more French, once more fulfilling its centuries-old +duty of consecrating a French king, and especially that all this had +been effected by a staunch French maid, than whom patriotism has never +had a more worthy exemplar. It was but common justice that during the +act of coronation of the king to whom she had restored not only a +throne, but also a united people, she stood at the foot of the altar +holding aloft her victorious standard. A chronicler of the time truly +said that having shared in all the hardships she richly deserved to +share in the honours. + +Not only in the cathedral do we glass hunters find justification for the +title "Royal Rheims." Once more we shall see a row of French kings, this +time in the small nave clerestory lights of the old church of St. Remi. +In manner similar to that employed at the cathedral we also find bishops +adorning the choir clerestory. Fine as these two series are, and +valuable, too (because they are earlier), we must confess that they do +not produce the effect which the wonderful depth of colour gave us at +the cathedral. The choir clerestory embrasures are really too small to +afford room for the two rows of bishops one above the other. The choir +chapel windows are partly modern, and partly old with too much +restoration, so that the effect is not coherent. We must, however, +remark a fine Crucifixion in the middle of the east end. It is +undoubtedly twelfth century and, although technically well worthy of +observation, lacks the beauty which we have a right to expect from that +period. The glass in the large, round Romanesque embrasures at the west +end, although copied on old models, is modern and very thin in colour. A +careful look at the nave clerestory will reveal that in order to +complete the set of seated kings a novel method was adopted. Many of the +original panels were divided in two at the middle, the upper half being +used in one embrasure and the lower half in another, the missing half in +each case being supplied by modern glass made to imitate the old. This +reads as though the effect would be bad, but on the contrary, it is +fairly good and, at all events, the designs are in accordance with the +original drawings. + +Besides its glass, Rheims has another great attraction for the traveller +in its wealth of tapestry. A magnificent series of ten presented in 1530 +by Robert de Lenoncourt hangs in the transepts of St. Remi, whilst in +the cathedral we shall find around the nave walls another series of +fourteen given in the same year by the same donor. The cathedral is also +adorned with other tapestries which, although perhaps not of such +engrossing interest as the Lenoncourt series, are nevertheless +treasures. As glass viewers it is well to observe that the rich +decoration provided by these splendid hangings prevents us from noticing +the otherwise obnoxious glare from the uncoloured windows just over +them. We mention this here because as between two interesting glass +towns some of our readers might incline to one where tapestries can be +seen in addition to the glass. The Cathedral of Angers provides also the +same double inducement. + + +SOISSONS + +During the two tours just concluded we have visited all the most +important treasure-houses of thirteenth century glass. + +There is, however, a very agreeable secondary tour. Regarded as a glass +pilgrimage, it is not to be compared with the two which we have +finished, but this must not be taken to mean that the glass will not be +worth inspection. Besides, most of the windows to be seen are of the +period, thus making it an essentially thirteenth century pilgrimage. To +one in whom the love of glass and devotion to the gentle sport of +automobiling is about equal, this trip will be much more attractive than +the last two. The scenery through which he will pass and the history +that will be recalled will add very much to the charm of this itinerary +and it is therefore particularly recommended to the automobilist and +especially to the exercise-loving bicyclist. The distances between the +towns are not great and the landscape is varied and delightful. +Beginning with Soissons, our road lies through the picturesque mediaeval +stronghold of Coucy-le-Chateau to the high-perched hill city of Laon, +then over the plain at its foot to battleworn St. Quentin, and lastly +across the rolling country to the splendid Cathedral of Amiens. Amiens +is on the line of the Paris-London expresses, so we have excellent train +service back to Paris. + +We will let the traveller find his way as best he may from Paris to +Soissons and will join him there. He will soon observe that there has +departed from Soissons the ancient glory which was hers when under +Clovis, the great king of the Franks, she became the capital of his +strong province of Neustria. To-day we find a quiet provincial city +of only about 13,000 inhabitants, where the chief movement and life +seems to centre in the barracks. One noticeable feature of the town +is the really fine west front, all that remains of the Abbey of St. +Jean-des-Vignes, for nine years the home of the exiled Thomas a Becket. +Even from its present denuded state of desolate loneliness one realises +how splendid the complete building must have been, and the now empty and +staring rose window above the central portal makes us sigh for the +stained glass that must once have adorned that huge opening. + +Soissons is one of the towns which benefited by the great love felt by +St. Louis and his mother, Blanche of Castile, for stained glass. The +northern rose of the cathedral is a proof of their beneficence, and is +an excellent example of its type. The central pane is occupied by a +figure of the Virgin Mary, and circling round her are the medallion +panels which are so much more satisfactory than the spokes-of-a-wheel +treatment so popular in the next century. Around the outside of the +medallions is a double border of panels containing the arms of the royal +benefactress, a field of red bearing the golden castles of Castile. As +for the rest of the interior, so much of its original glazing has been +destroyed that the effect of glow is entirely dissipated. The nave has +lost its coloured panels, and only fragments remain in the western rose. +The large lancets about the east end of the choir clerestory are most +decorative, and further, they provide an opportunity of testing our +ability to judge glass. At first sight we are convinced that they are of +true thirteenth century mosaic work, and might continue to think so, if +they were not betrayed by the comparison afforded by the two genuine +medallion lancets just below them in the Lady Chapel. Even then we may +remain undecided, which indecision is justified when we learn their +history. They were repaired and restored in 1816, much of the old glass +being retained and the old designs carefully followed. This explains not +only why they lack the depth of tone seen in the complete medallions +below them, but also why they were so deceptive until this touchstone of +comparison was applied. Notice the Adam and Eve window to the right, as +the design is very unusual. In the six scenes there depicted, one above +the other, Adam and Eve are of course nude, and appear always she on +the left side and he on the right of each little scene, with some other +personage or object between them in the middle. As a result we have a +perpendicular column of Eves on one side and of Adams on the other, the +light glass used to make the flesh colour forming a secondary border for +the window. The southern transept is an architectural freak, because +instead of a rose window it has a rounded end like the apse chapel +generally found at the eastern extremity of a church. As a novelty it is +agreeable, but it deprives the glazier of one of his rose windows. + + +LAON + +Those proceeding upon this pilgrimage by automobile or bicycle, will +find a treat awaiting them between Soissons and Laon. The road lies +through Coucy-le-Chateau, the impressive and well-preserved ruin of a +massive mediaeval fortress. The huge round towers at its corners, +connected by walls thirty-five feet thick, frown down from their rocky +perch upon a pleasant valley below. Snuggled up against these protecting +walls is the little town, which we enter by a narrow gateway crowded in +between two great solemn towers. On we go through the narrow old streets +and out another well-defended portal and off on our journey. When first +we espy Laon we are far off on the rolling plain which surrounds its +base. It looms high in the air, the four towers of its cathedral peering +out above the encircling houses, all seeming to keep watch over the +tiring zigzags by means of which the road lazily climbs the height. A +city built upon a hill always possesses a fascination, more especially +when it has a history as long and interesting as this one. The lofty +situation makes the town seem to hold itself aloof and lends it a +certain proud mystery which impels us to seek to know more of it--to +penetrate its reserve. Laon is even more picturesque and striking than +most French hill towns, because the height upon which it stands rises +abruptly from a great plain. None of the height is lost and thus all the +beauty is saved. After observing how remote it is upon its long, narrow +hilltop, one can well understand why the later Carlovingian kings +selected this stronghold for their capital. In those early times there +was no artillery to endanger their loftily secure repose. The cathedral, +which is a really fine one, presents us with some of those familiarly +quaint touches that prove Gothic architecture to have been so close to +the heart of its times. Perched aloft among the open spaces that +interpenetrate its light towers, are life-size statues of oxen, in +kindly memory of the beasts of burden that hauled up from the plain +below the great stones used in the building. Within the cathedral, +although there is but little glass, it is all of this period and, +besides, is so grouped as to do itself the greatest credit possible. All +we shall find is a rose filled with medallions in the north transept and +another and far finer one in the square eastern end, below which are +ranged three gorgeous lancets of imposing dimensions. The northern rose +contains scenes representing the sciences as understood and practised in +the thirteenth century. One's memory of this rose is blue with hints of +green, while of the eastern series it is reddish purple. The centre +of the splendid eastern rose is occupied by a figure of the Virgin Mary +between John the Baptist and Isaiah, and around this group are two +circles of medallions, the inner one of twelve containing the Apostles, +and the outer, of twenty-four, the Elders of the Apocalypse. This +concentration of all the old glass in these two quarters has the +satisfactory result that anyone standing at the crossing and looking +either into the north transept or into the choir, sees nothing but the +splendid richness of mosaic medallions, and is not distracted by the +sight of any other style of glazing. The placing of this fine glass more +than compensates for its limited amount. After this sweeping praise, we +may indulge ourselves in one mild criticism: the glass in the east end +would seem richer still if it were not so much illuminated from within +by the white glazed windows along the sides of the choir. If this were +toned down, even by modern glass, it would cause a decided improvement. +At St. Quentin, we are more than reconciled to the presence of modern +glass in the chapels around the choir, because it so modifies the light +as to permit the thirteenth century panels in the choir clerestory to +sparkle and gleam as they should. The north rose at Laon is of rare +construction; the stone framework is so cumbersome, and the amount of +glazed surface so modest, as to almost destroy the appearance of a +rosace, and to substitute therefor that of a series of holes let +into a wall. Also notice that the east rose is glazed flush with the +stonework, thus presenting a level surface on the inside, while just +below, in marked contrast, the three lancets are deeply recessed within. +This method of constructing a rose is unusual; another example is the +west rose at Mantes. The square eastern end, instead of the usual +rounded apse, is believed to be one of the many results seen throughout +this diocese of the influence exerted by a twelfth century English +bishop. Whatever the reason for this square apse, it admirably suits the +rest of the edifice. + + [Illustration: 13TH CENTURY ROSE AND LANCETS, LAON. + _Medallions are admirably suited to rounded apertures in Rose, + and assist in producing effect of huge blossom; later the lines + radiated more from the centre and tended toward a wheel + effect._] + +Before leaving this delightful hilltop, we must not fail to take a +stroll around the boulevards which have been constructed upon the +overturned walls. The views from this promenade out over the great +plain below linger long in one's memory. + + +ST. QUENTIN + +A few miles from Madrid lies the famous palace of the Escorial, built +upon a ground plan following as closely as possible the shape of a +gridiron. It was erected by King Philip II in pious memory of his famous +victory at St. Quentin on St. Lawrence's Day, 1557. St. Lawrence +achieved martyrdom by being roasted alive on a gridiron, hence +the selection of that humble utensil as a design for the royal +thank-offering. There are few more interesting monuments to commemorate +a victory, and one would hardly expect to hear that a battle won in +northern France is commemorated by a palace far to the south across the +Pyrenees. Many a time in history did St. Quentin make herself famous by +her stout defences, but none ever won her so much fame as this defeat +which, by delaying the Spanish forces, enabled the French armies to +assemble behind her and save Paris. It was a great victory for Philip, +but it cost him the possession of the French capital. + +As we stood upon the lofty heights at Laon, we looked far out over a +wide plain, across which, forty-five kilometres to the northwest, lies +St. Quentin. The quiet streets of this well-to-do city afford little to +remind us of the mediaeval strife that so often raged through them. We +hear no sounds that recall to us the angry noises of besiegers without, +which so often carried dismay to the stout hearts of its burghers. +Unlike Laon, its situation and its buildings now present little to +recall the picture of the past. The huge barn-like exterior of its great +church is quite different from those we have been seeing. Even its +triple-tiered flying buttresses have so short a span as to entirely miss +the decorating possibilities which we have a right to expect. It lacks +the lightness and grace of the true Gothic; in fact, to tell the truth, +it looms up big and bulky, more like an Italian church than the +beautiful French ones. But when we have once passed inside, we are +provided with a most agreeable surprise, for it is much more attractive +than many whose external promise has been greater. There are two sets of +transepts, one beyond the other, which unusual feature not only enhances +the charm of the interior, but also causes its beauty to reveal itself +in a more leisurely fashion. But to the glass! In the choir clerestory +are seven double windows, of which the lancets each hold two great +dignitaries, one above the other. The small rosaces above, which serve +to tie together these pairs of lancets, are very pleasing, nor should +we fail to note the handsome wide borders of the lancets themselves, +plentifully besprinkled with fleur de lis. We must particularly +appreciate the service performed by the modern glass around the choir +chapels in so subduing the light as to permit these splendid lancets to +receive all their illumination from without and therefore to disclose, +undiminished in any way, that warm glow that makes them so delightful. +The hideous polychrome painting of the interior also assists in this +fruitful modification of the light, but this is the only possible +apology for its presence! The oldest glass here is that which fills the +two side windows of the Lady Chapel. Each has twenty medallions, those +on the left showing Old Testament scenes, and those on the right, +episodes from the life of the Virgin. One of the large transepts has a +moderately-sized rose window which does not as usual contain figures, +but, instead, is filled with designs in colour. The absence of the +figures does not spoil the effect; in fact, the story depicted in glass +of this period is nothing like so important as the colour scheme. The +details of the legend are generally elaborately worked out, often in +quaint episodes, but upon this the beauty of the window does not depend. +Indeed, it is not until we are at such a distance that we can no longer +distinguish the little figures that the charm of the glass begins to lay +hold upon us. The reason we do not find more thirteenth century panels +here is because the older part of the church was reconstructed during +the reign of Louis XI. Furthermore, when we consider the many sieges to +which the town has been subjected, as well as the great fire of October +14, 1669, it seems strange that even this much of so fragile a treasure +has survived. In this connection it is interesting to learn that in +1557, Philip II instructed his artillery to avoid hitting the great +church. This very appreciation of art and respect for religion perhaps +explains why, as soon as he had captured the city, he so promptly +confiscated the church's gorgeous tapestries to be used later in +decorating the Escorial! In 1766 an attempt was made to negotiate for +them so that they could be restored to their original home, but the +Spaniards replied that they could not part with so glorious a trophy. +Nor was the ravaging hand of the warrior the only hostile force to which +the unfortunate edifice was subjected. January 25, 1572, during a +tempest, one of the great choir windows was blown in, and on Easter Day, +1582, the same fate befell the great window of the first northern +transept, this time with fatal results, for in falling it killed four +priests. The old glass in the nave clerestory was removed by the +monks in 1747 to secure more light, which form of vandalism was, +unfortunately, only too common. We must not leave without commenting +upon what a delightful monument of fifteenth century Gothic is afforded +by the south end of the easterly transepts. Below is a chapel shut in by +a light stone screen of admirable design; above it the stretch of wall +is relieved with gracefully carved patterns, while higher still appear +four large lancets surmounted by a rosace, all excellently glazed. The +lancets have richly coloured single figures below canopies of such size +that their pinnacles occupy more than half the height of the embrasures. +The only criticism possible of the otherwise satisfactory adjustment of +the various portions of this south wall is that the rose is too high up +and too small to balance the splendid lancets below it. Of sixteenth +century glass there are two fine examples in the north end of this same +pair of transepts, but we will postpone further reference to them until +later on (see page 269). + +Before leaving the town, one should visit the Salle Syndicale in the +Hotel de Ville in order to see the fine Francois Premier fireplace, and +the double arched ceiling with its quaint corbels. The windows of this +room formerly contained a long series of sixteenth century scenes from +the life and labours of Hercules, but a Prussian shell destroyed all but +five of them. + +When he leaves St. Quentin, bound for Amiens, the traveller by railway +is quite as well off as the automobilist or the bicyclist. Up to this +stage of our journey the two latter have had a decided advantage, but +now the country has less attractions to offer and the road is one of +those straight Routes Nationales whose only apology for their monotony +is that they save distance. + + +AMIENS + +At Amiens there is not much glass, and yet the student will not have +wasted his time, for he will there see one of the finest cathedrals in +Europe, and will furthermore be able to note what the lack of coloured +glass means, in this way learning to value it even more highly than +before. If a visit to this great church renders us no other service than +this, we shall all agree that it is no small one. We shall never again +question that a magnificent ecclesiastical interior is not only vastly +improved, but actually needs its light tempered by stained glass. Our +pilgrim has long ere this learnt that he cannot always rely on +guide-books to tell him whether or not fine windows are to be found in +certain towns, and therefore we may serve a useful purpose and save some +reader a disappointing trip by setting out the facts. The cathedral owes +its chief beauty to the extraordinary detail and amount of sculpture +to be found without and within. So complete are the scriptural events +chronicled upon its west front that Ruskin has given it the title of the +"Bible in Stone." Nor are the carvings which are to be found inside in +any way inferior to those which fascinate us without. The stone screen +which runs around the ambulatory would alone repay much study, but the +most notable display of the carver's art is the little army of nearly +four thousand figures upon the choir stalls. Notwithstanding this wealth +of sculpture, we are struck by the bareness of the lofty interior. We +long for a touch of mystery and cannot but feel that in the glare of +light streaming through the immensely tall uncoloured windows everything +is too clearly revealed and there is lacking the softness which would +add so much to the beauty of the carvings. What a change there would be +for the better if we could wave a wand and by some fairy power will back +into the windows their ancient glories. Everything is too stately and +cold, too sharply outlined; in fact, far too much denuded of the +mysterious charm, the awe-inspiring gloom which lays hold upon us at +Chartres or Bourges. + +Although but little of its glass has survived, it is almost all of the +thirteenth century, and some is very good. In one of the choir chapels +to the left is an interesting Tree of Jesse in the medallion style. The +left window of the easternmost chapel has a charming blue background +and a novel use of small white birds in its border. Above us in the +easternmost window of the clerestory (the only one in the clerestory +that has survived intact) another unique feature catches the eye--its +four slender lancets contain some very decorative lettering introduced +into the design. This lettering is glazed in white on a blue background +and its legend when deciphered sets out that those three windows were +given by Bernard d'Abbeville, Bishop of Amiens, in the year 1269. In +contrast to these meagre remains of glass, there are also to be seen +three fine rose windows which are completely glazed. They all have +quaint names, that in the west facade being called the "Rose of the +Sea"; that in the north the "Rose of the Winds"; that in the south the +"Rose of Heaven." This poetic and quaintly familiar method of naming +windows is not unknown elsewhere; it is also found at Chartres. The huge +western rose, thirty-eight feet in diameter, although dating from 1241, +has lost its original glass and was reglazed in the sixteenth century. +There are no figures in the north rose, but instead a mosaic of colour; +we have noticed a similar arrangement at St. Quentin. In the south rose, +red predominates, but with it there is also considerable green. If the +reader decides to visit Amiens, notwithstanding the small amount of +glass to be seen there, he will surely conclude that the day has not +been wasted, for he will not leave that splendid interior without a +truer appreciation of the great service which the glass artist rendered +to the architect, as well as a sigh for the fragile beauty which is no +longer there. + + + + +FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES + + +Nowhere in art can there be found so abrupt a change of style as that +which marks in stained glass the arrival of the fourteenth century. So +noticeable is the difference between the windows of the thirteenth and +those of the fourteenth centuries that it can be seen at a glance. Not +only were the new styles very distinctive, but they were also very +enduring, for even when the fifteenth century arrived it did little but +elaborate the ideas introduced by the fourteenth, and for that reason we +should consider them together as forming one epoch. The new results +which we now find are not only in effect, but also in light and in +placing of figures. This transformation took place within a few years +and was, therefore, as sudden in point of time as it was in treatment, +which latter is so marked that it excites our curiosity as to its +causes. It is safe to assume that we have here happened upon not only +one novelty but a coincidence of several, as otherwise the change +would have been much less abrupt. Most of the new elements which in +combination so suddenly produced such a sweeping change can be studied +from the glass which has survived to these modern days, but of one +we can now only read: this was the demand for domestic glass, and +unfortunately but few examples of it are left to us. The old chroniclers +tell us of many private houses and buildings devoted to civil uses +having their windows glazed in colour, a form of luxury hitherto found +only in religious edifices. We know that it then began to be widely +used, especially in Paris, but it did not survive the turbulence of +those times. The effect of this novel use on glass styles was very +marked. Obviously it was not practicable to employ the same sort of +glass in the smaller rooms of a dwelling house that we have seen so +effective in the larger interiors of religious edifices. We notice that +beautiful as is the thirteenth century Ste. Chapelle, its "dim religious +light" is unsuited for any building devoted to secular uses. No, the +medallion window with its deep-toned panes and profusion of leads would +not serve for civil or domestic purposes, nor, on the other hand, could +we bring down the big personages from the clerestories of cathedrals; +they were most impressive when seen from the distance which their lofty +situation necessitated, but they were much too crude and coarse in their +workmanship to be lowered to the level of the observer's eye. For this +new demand of domestic architecture it was obvious that something must +be devised which would give more light. One method of effecting it was +using coloured figures on a soft grisaille background, but this has +only to be seen to be found unsatisfactory. Some examples of this exist +in the north side of Ste. Radegonde at Poitiers. They are interesting, +but the figures start out from the light background so violently as to +plainly make them unsuitable in small interiors. Plain grisaille was not +rich enough to be used in a fine private house. As a compromise between +these two methods they arrived at the use of a border of greyish +simulated Gothic architecture to frame the central coloured figure of a +window. In this way the border admitted the light and the figure gave +the richness; these Gothic frames were called "canopies." But why a +frame of architecture? The interest in Gothic had by this time spread +throughout the fair land of France. Many beautiful examples of it had +just come into being before people's eyes--it was the delight of all. It +was but natural that this noble style, still young, should be introduced +by the glazier, especially as it lent itself to the demand for more +light. Besides, in knowledge of Gothic, the glass artist was second only +to the architect, as the windows were made to suit the church, not the +church the windows. This observation upon the relation of the glazier +to the architect brings us to another reason for the abrupt change in +stained glass, and of this we can to-day readily find examples. We have +said that the artist had to make his glass to suit the window apertures. +About that time the architect was changing their shape. Instead of +being broad and single windows they were now more numerous but narrower +and taller, and were brought together in groups of two or more, +separated only by stone mullions. Above this cluster of narrow lancets +and in order to taper them off gracefully, were placed smaller openings +called tracery lights. Without this tapering at the top, the group below +would look unfinished and ill-proportioned. The few, though wide windows +used during the thirteenth century were found to give too little light, +and, besides, were not as decorative as the Gothic architect demanded +for his more elaborate style. This new period in architecture is called +"Decorated," which name has also properly been applied to its glass. The +architect not only did everything in his power to gain more light by +providing many more wall apertures, but doubtless he also insisted that +the glazier assist in this endeavour. We have just seen that the latter +complied with this request by surrounding his coloured figures with +light-admitting architectural frames of greyish-yellow. Nor did he stop +there: he helped the architect to bind together more harmoniously his +groups of narrow lights into which the whole window was now split up, +for he realised that horizontal bands of light colour placed straight +across these narrow lights would effect this purpose. The slender stone +mullions which divided them showed too many perpendicular lines and +tended to make the windows seem spindling, but this was corrected by +the broad bands of light afforded by the grey and yellow canopy tops +running along over the heads of the saints occupying the tall narrow +panes. Perhaps the reader is already asking whence the artist obtained +so much grey and yellow, because thirteenth century glass leaves rather +a strong purple memory behind it. To answer this question is to bring +forward another new thing and one which also had a large share in +abruptly changing the styles. About the beginning of the fourteenth +century it was discovered that if silver were floated upon the surface +of glass and then exposed to the furnace, the result would be a bright +yellow stain. The word "stain" is used advisedly, because by this method +the surface received a durable colour not removable like paint. We have +already seen that pot-metal colour was introduced throughout the mass +during the time of the making of the glass and was therefore part of it +from the beginning. This new stain was not applied until after the glass +was made, and no other tint but yellow could be produced in this way. +The discovery of this valuable secret has been variously recounted, but +always the credit is given to blind chance, some silver happening to +drip upon glass which, when burnt, disclosed to the surprised workman +the new and beautiful yellow. Its great value in admitting light as well +as in enriching the tones of a window was at once appreciated. No longer +was it necessary to laboriously lead in a bit of yellow pot-metal glass +where that hue was demanded by the design. Now all that was done was to +float a little silver upon a large piece of glass at the point or points +required, expose it to the fire, and behold! a tint that made glorious +the hair of angels, or the robes of saints and high dignitaries. Touches +of this rich colour also made possible architectural frames which would +otherwise have seemed dull, flat and opaquely grey. Each little pinnacle +could be brightened up, lines of yellow would enliven columns and the +canopy window in its light soft beauty was made practicable. + + [Illustration: 15TH CENTURY "CANOPY" WINDOW, ST. LO. + _Name given because of Gothic canopy used to frame the coloured + figures. The pale grey glass in the canopy portion admitted much + more light than the earlier windows richly coloured throughout. + Note the modestly drawn donors in the lowest panels._ + + _14th century canopies seldom filled the whole embrasure, + appearing only in bands across a grisaille field; besides, their + architecture was much cruder, they lacked pedestals, etc._] + +It is an unfortunate fact that the best glass of this period is not to +be seen in Paris, although we can get a fair idea of its effect from the +fifteenth century canopied figures in the clerestory of St. Severin. A +few of those at the west end of this church are at once seen to differ +in their design from the others, although all are of the true canopy +type. These few to the west were brought from their original place in +the choir of St. Germain des Pres. At St. Severin we shall note several +points which serve to distinguish the canopies of the fifteenth century +from the earlier ones of the fourteenth. The difference is chiefly in +the use of more colours in the later figures, as well as more careful +architectural detail in their canopies. Further, to make his windows +lighter in tone, the French glazier of the fourteenth century generally +used bands of canopies only across the middle third of the surface, +filling the uppermost and lowest thirds with grisaille. The fifteenth +century canopies almost invariably filled the entire embrasure. +Frequently during the fourteenth century the artist was not content with +the light admitted by his canopies, but added to it by using white for +one or more of the saints' robes. This practice so reduced the number of +colours in the background and the garments that we seldom find more than +two colours within the niches of fourteenth century canopies, while in +the fifteenth century we almost always find four. Then, too, there is an +added feature of decoration in the later ones which is generally lacking +earlier: across the back of the niche a coloured curtain is carried +shoulder high behind the figure, and this curtain is almost always +damasked. This can be remarked at St. Severin, where we shall also see +that all the figures stand upon elaborate pedestals, another sign that +we are looking at work of the fifteenth century, for in the fourteenth +they would have lacked pedestals and be found standing upon grass or +some other natural and unarchitectural base. The artist was so careful +to cling closely to contemporary conventions that sometimes we happen +upon very amusing compromises. For example, here tradition demanded +pedestals, so there they are, even though he had to make the rather +ridiculous combination of a figure standing upon a half-circle of +cloud neatly balanced upon the pedestal's tessellated pavement. The +conventions demanded the little pavement, the design required the +clouds, so he gave us both! In these days when we are so occupied in +copying older art, it is interesting to see traces of a time when they +jealously clung to the styles and forms which were then new. + +A brilliant yellow was the only tint obtainable by the process of +staining, but it is also true that other new colours were secured, +although by means of an entirely different discovery which, of itself, +provided yet another new thing to combine with those already enumerated +in changing glass methods. This discovery took place early in the +fourteenth century and made it possible to superimpose another colour +upon white or coloured glass. The method of producing this effect was +very simple: the end of the blowpipe was dipped first into liquid glass +of one colour, and then into another, with the result that the bubble +when blown was of one colour inside and of another outside. The bubble +was then opened out into the flat sheet as usual. This process had +always been followed to make red glass, which was really a sheet of +white coated with ruby, but now all sorts of combinations were made. +Thus a brilliant purple could be obtained by coating a piece of red +glass with blue; red on yellow would give a splendid orange; blue on +yellow a brilliant green. Although invented early in the fourteenth +century, this process did not have all its possibilities developed until +during the fifteenth, when the number of layers was gradually increased +until we find some specimens showing six different coats. We shall enjoy +the results when we visit Quimper or Eymoutiers or Bourges. The French +have a very descriptive name for glass treated in this manner: they call +it "verre double," or "lined glass," referring to the fact that there +are two layers. The abrupt change in glass windows which took place at +the beginning of the fourteenth century becomes less extraordinary when +we recapitulate the various discoveries in the art and realise what an +effect must have been caused by such a combination as that of (_a_) the +chance-revealed yellow stain; (_b_) domestic use which required glass +fit for small, well-lighted interiors; (_c_) the demands of the +architect for his narrowed and more numerous window apertures, and +lastly (_d_) the enriching of the artist's palette due to the new +process of doubling the sheets of glass. The whole trend is now towards +much more light, larger pieces of glass, brighter colours and more +attention to the design at the expense of the colour effect of the +window. + +We have now not only set forth the great change that was so speedily +effected in the style and appearance of stained glass, but further, we +have enumerated the various novelties, both in popular requirements and +in technique, which brought about the light tones of the fourteenth +century. The steps by which was effected this transition from the +thirteenth century mosaic type with its rudimentary suggestion of a +canopy, to the fourteenth century figure ensconced in his little +sentry-box, can be seen on but few existing windows; in fact, so little +transition glass is there that the change strikes one all the more +forcibly. There are, however, a few available for this purpose, notably +the three eastern lancets of the Lady Chapel in the Abbey Church at +Fecamp, and a certain window in the north transept of Amiens Cathedral. +The Fecamp lancets show us the first step, where, although the glass is +still entirely mosaic, the architecture at the top is brought down +the sides of the figure so as to complete the sentry-box. Of course +this admits no more light than the regular medallion lancets which +conveniently assist our comparison by flanking on either side the three +easterly ones. We have thus arrived at the enframing canopy, but have +not yet conformed to the demand for more light which had now become so +insistent. How will this be done? A mosaic medallion could not well be +put upon a light surface, as it would look splotchy and unfinished +(viz.: first chapel on the left of choir ambulatory in Rouen Cathedral), +nor would it do to station unframed, isolated, coloured figures on an +uncoloured surface (viz.: Ste. Radegonde at Poitiers). To avoid the +unfinished appearance, they hit upon the idea of surrounding the +coloured figure with a frame-like architectural border (as just seen at +Fecamp), and then put this framed picture in the midst of the plain +panes. This step is exemplified by a large double-lanceted window just +west of the north transept door in Amiens Cathedral. The entire window +is surcharged with a number of these canopy-framed figures arranged in +parallel perpendicular lines. We have now gained more light, and it is +easy to see what is coming next. Instead of placing the small canopies +up and down the window (as at Amiens), it would obviously be more +effective to assemble them in bands across it. Both Sees and Evreux +serve to illustrate this manner of glazing. There are many examples that +mark the slow development from these fourteenth century horizontal rows +of canopies across a grisaille or quarry background, to the perfected +canopy window of the fifteenth century, where the service of admitting +light is entirely transferred from the grisaille or quarry to the canopy +itself. This has been rendered possible by greatly increasing the space +allotted to the simulated stonework, so as to enable it to let in all +the illumination required, and at the same time perform its duty of +framing the coloured part of the picture. These windows at Fecamp and +Amiens are very instructive as showing us the experimental steps which +resulted in the satisfactory combination of picture and illumination, +instead of splotches of colour on a light field. + +It must not be thought that we have dwelt too long on this particular +period of transition, for this is the only time during the Golden Age +of glass that there took place an abrupt change in styles, and therefore +a speedy and marked transition. There was certainly nothing hasty in the +way that the broad borders and larger glass pieces of the twelfth +century developed into the narrower borders and more minutely mosaic +method of the thirteenth. As to the transition from the fourteenth to +the fifteenth century, so slowly and so imperceptibly was it effected +that we have decided to study those two centuries together as one epoch, +the second being but the natural elaboration of the first. Lastly, +nothing could be more measured and deliberate than the steps by which +the fifteenth century canopy developed into the sixteenth century large +picture panel, by first changing the canopy from Gothic to Renaissance, +then enlarging the scene within the new canopy until it finally outgrew +the need for the frame, and emerged therefrom in its completed state, +often covering a whole window. + +If at this point we turn to our histories, we shall soon encounter +reasons which convincingly explain why there remains so little +fourteenth-fifteenth century glass for us to see. This was the period of +the English occupation of a large portion of France. A peaceful +possession of a part of the country might not have interfered with the +course of art in other quarters, but the English possession was far from +a peaceful one. Fighting, and that of the bitterest kind, went on +continually. We have only to mention the "Hundred Years War" with +England (1337-1453), marked by the disastrous defeats of Crecy (1346) +and of Poitiers (1356), to be reminded of that. It is true that Bertrand +du Guesclin won a short-lived success against the English (1364), but +1415 sees them again victorious at Agincourt and their occupation of +Paris in 1421. This temporary victory of Du Guesclin proved an evil +thing for France, as it prolonged the fighting and increased the +frightful carnage which drenched French soil with blood. It is clear +that during times like these the nobility was not in a position to +interest itself in beautifying chateaux or churches. They were most +earnestly concerned in the gentle art of erecting fortifications; safety +and strength were of vital importance; beauty had to stand aside and +wait. The records show many instances of great architectural enterprises +being halted from lack of funds or from other motives, a case in point +being Troyes Cathedral, upon which no work was done for a long period of +years. The nobility were injured more than the lower classes by these +wars, and in the great defeats of Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt their +losses were frightful. Many a titled family lost its estates and many +another was exterminated. In battle the middle and lower classes +suffered proportionately less, because the French placed most of their +reliance upon armoured knights and disdained to avail themselves of the +bourgeoisie to the same extent as the English, whose splendid bowmen and +yeomanry were so potent a factor in winning those great victories. The +fact that the great families of France were so grievously crippled +during these wars goes far to explain why glass painting languished for +lack of the support which the luxury-loving class of society was not +then able to give it. Almost as serious for the nobles as the losses in +battle and other ravages of war, was the reign of the subtle Louis XI +(1461-81), who devoted his entire life to destroying the strength of the +nobility and to building upon its ruins the centralised power of the +throne, meanwhile guarding this increase of kingly power by encouraging +the growth of the gendarmerie, and generally the military reliability of +the bourgeoisie. One incident from his life provides us with a fact of +great interest to a glass student. Upon the occasion of the repulse of +the Bretons by the inhabitants of the French city of St. Lo, Louis +presented to the cathedral of that town, as an expression of his +approval of the bravery of its citizens, a fine set of stained glass +windows. As an event in political statecraft it is most significant: he +did not ennoble or enrich certain leaders, but gave the entire fighting +populace a royal gift. To us it has a peculiar interest, because the +incident shows that stained glass was held in such high esteem as to be +considered a worthy gift from a king to a city. But before turning from +a review of the evil days which fell upon France, we must notice that +although the nobility suffered more heavily from battle and statecraft +than any other class, the times were tragic enough for all Frenchmen, +whether noble or peasant, rich or poor. The plague raged throughout the +land--not once, but many times--during these two centuries and its +fearsome grasp fell upon all alike. Nor was this misery enough; to all +these calamities was added that of civil war of the worst type--the war +of the masses against the classes. The scorn in which the nobles held +the poor man was but the natural outcome of the feudal state. The man in +armour despised Jacques Bonhomme, as he called him. When in 1358 the +disorders afflicting the body politic caused this contempt and +ill-treatment to so increase that it could no longer be endured, the +uprising of the oppressed against the oppressor assumed in hideous +satire the name of the Jacquerie. Before it could be finally put down, +French soil was drenched again and again with blood. Even this short dip +into contemporary history has revealed enough to make it passing strange +that any glass at all was made in France during those trying times, and +stranger still that, if made, it should have survived. + +We have just seen that during most of these two centuries the French +kings were fully occupied at home, first in fighting the English, with +France as the battleground, and later in subduing their arrogant nobles +and adding Burgundy, Franche Comte, Artois, Provence and Brittany to +the French crown. At the end of this period, with their home lands +cleared of the English and the centralised power of the throne much +strengthened, we shall see how, under Louis XII (1498) and Francis I +(1515), war was carried on outside the borders of France. Under the +influences of this freedom from the ravages of war, combined with taste +for art learnt during the Italian campaigns and brought back to France, +there sprang up an aesthetic revival called the French Renaissance. This +new development is going to give us a very different style of glass +painting, which we will study later under the title of the sixteenth +century. + +Before starting out to visit the glass of the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries, there are several remarks to be made upon it as a whole. +There is not nearly so much left for us to see as there is of the +thirteenth century. It is not going to be so easy to reach it and we +shall have to take longer trips. We may journey far off to the western +corner of Brittany to see the admirable Cathedral of Quimper, or else +down south near Angouleme where we find in the small village of +Eymoutiers a most charming example. Of sixteenth century glass we shall +find much; of thirteenth a great deal; but of fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries, only a little. At first one undoubtedly prefers the windows +of the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries, but after one has studied +glass for awhile, he will surely come to feel that there is a certain +fascination about the silvery glow of a canopy window that is not +surpassed by the jewelled glitter of the thirteenth century or the more +brilliant colouring and drawing of the sixteenth. During the period now +under discussion there was a great deal of good glass made, and from the +records we learn of many a fine window now long since destroyed. A +fair way to judge the French glass-makers is to learn what their +contemporaries across the channel thought of them. For this purpose +it is worth citing from the contract for glazing Beauchamp Chapel at +Warwick, which contract was made by the Earl of Warwick's executors with +a certain John Prudde of Westminster, dated 1447. This contract requires +that no English glass be used, but that the windows be glazed "only with +best foreign glass procurable and to use as little white, green and +black glass as possible." John Prudde got his material from France. +We find another apposite statement in Britton's History of Exeter +Cathedral. He says that 500 square feet of glass was bought for the +cathedral in 1302-4 and that when another large purchase was made in +1317 they sent to Rouen for it. From these citations, selected from many +similar ones, we may safely gather that the English considered French +glass the best, which is most significant when one reflects that just at +that time English glass was at its highest point. + + + + +FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURY PILGRIMAGES + + +From the standpoint of one who finds himself in Paris, it is not going +to be very convenient to visit the glass we are now considering. If he +will content himself with a little, he can see that without much +difficulty. He has but to visit the two nearby cities of Evreux and +Rouen, each of them only an hour and a half by train from Paris and not +far removed from each other. The latter is, admittedly, peculiarly a +place to study sixteenth century glass--its numerous churches are full +of it. While it is better to visit Rouen in connection with the +sixteenth century, still we have mentioned it at this time because one +of its churches, St. Ouen, affords such a beautifully complete +exposition of fourteenth century glazing. Besides, it is near Evreux, +and therefore we advise that it be visited now so that the glass at St. +Ouen can be seen directly after that in the Cathedral of Evreux. If our +reader wishes to thoroughly study the glass of this period, we would +advise him to begin with a longer trip, which we will outline, and then +conclude with Evreux and Rouen, because he will then be enabled, after +seeing the fourteenth century glass of Rouen, to immediately pass on to +the study of the sixteenth century windows which are so splendid and +abundant in the other churches of that Mecca of the glass student. + +Now for the longer tour just mentioned. It should begin at Bourges, four +hours and a quarter from Paris by train. Thence we go south to +Clermont-Ferrand (on our way stopping to visit its little neighbour, +Riom), next across the mountains which overshadow these last two towns, +to Eymoutiers, which lies close to Limoges, the next city in order. From +Limoges we go north to Poitiers, then to Angers, to Le Mans, through +Alencon to Sees, to Verneuil, and conclude with Chartres, an hour and a +quarter from Paris by express. Although this is a long tour, we can +safely promise that it will repay the pilgrim. If the pilgrim has +already visited Chartres for its thirteenth century glass, he probably +took occasion to see that of the fourteenth century in the church of St. +Pierre. In that event he can omit Chartres at this time. If he wishes, +he can go on from Verneuil to Evreux (43 kilometres), and thus link this +longer trip to the shorter one already described. It is only in the +event that he travels by automobile or bicycle that we suggest a stop at +Moulins on his way from Bourges to Riom, for his way lies through it; +but if he travels by train, then, because of the finer and more +plentiful glass he is about to see, Moulins may well be omitted. We +would not recommend visiting Limoges if it were not directly upon his +road, no matter by what means of transportation he travels. + +There is hardly a place in France where fifteenth century glass can be +seen to greater advantage than in the Cathedral of Quimper, but it is +too far from any other glass place to be combined therewith into a tour. +It is tucked away in the northwestern part of France, eleven hours from +Paris by express, and is only mentioned here so that if the traveller +finds himself in its neighbourhood he may not fail to avail himself of +the opportunity. The long tour beginning at Bourges and ending at +Chartres, will, if supplemented by the short one to Evreux and Rouen, +show him most of the best glass of this period which has come down to +our time. It is easily distinguishable from that of the century +preceding it as well as of the century following, and has a beauty all +its own. + +[Illustration: 14TH and 15TH CENTURIES TOURS. + + (_a_) _Evreux, Rouen._ + (_b_) _Bourges, Moulins, Riom, Clermont-Ferrand, Eymoutiers, Limoges, + Poitiers, Angers, Le Mans_, (_Alencon_), _Sees, Verneuil, Chartres._ + _Also separate visit to Quimper._ + + (_For table of distances, see page 295._)] + + +EVREUX + +In one's mental picture of a town there is almost always a single +feature which stands out prominently at the expense of the others. For +example, winding crowded streets are apt to rise in one's mind when +London is mentioned. The broad straight thoroughfares of St. Petersburg +are sure to give roominess and breadth to our memory of the Russian +capital. In a similar fashion when the writer thinks of Evreux there +always promptly arises a picture of the narrowness which not only +characterises the cathedral's nave, but also the little channels into +which the river Iton subdivides itself in preparation for its leisurely +meandering through the town. Nor must this be taken as a reproach to +Evreux. The little branches of the Iton add very materially to the quiet +beauty of the place. So, too, beauty is, though indirectly, lent to the +cathedral's interior by the very narrowness of its nave. A nave only 21 +feet wide made very difficult the problem of later joining to it a roomy +choir, but the architect hit upon an ingenious device to secure greater +width for the latter without having the difference unpleasant to the eye +when viewed from other parts of the church. Just behind the columns at +the edge of the transept crossing he deftly swelled out his choir walls +at such an angle that from no part of the nave is the curving swelling +of these walls visible. + +The chapels that surround this graceful choir are separated from the +ambulatory by light carved wooden screens, very dainty and each one +different. The windows all about us reveal this to be a perfect +treasure-house of fourteenth century glass, for it has more of this +period than any other church in France except, perhaps, St. Ouen, at +Rouen. In our preliminary talk about the fourteenth century we referred +to the startling abruptness with which taste in glass veered around from +the light-obscuring medallions of the preceding century to the +light-admitting treatment of the fourteenth. We there stated that the +two favourite methods of getting more light were, first, the canopy +treatment, and second, but to a less extent, grisaille windows with rich +borders which were sometimes, but not always, surcharged with coloured +figures or panels. At Evreux we shall not only find many an excellent +example of both these new methods, but also interesting proof of how +early in the century the new style laid hold upon public taste and that, +too, in a very fully developed and completed form. The windows given by +Guillaume d'Harcourt, dated 1310, show us the canopy window with a +perfection of architectural elaboration that is surprising when we +consider its early date. Not only is the canopy well advanced in its +detail, but we find that the blue background is damasked, a feature of +adornment that elsewhere took some time to develop. The use of grisaille +to increase the illumination of the interior is here amply illustrated, +as is also a certain variation of it, very much in vogue at that time, +partly because it was decorative, and partly, perhaps mostly, because it +was so easy to glaze. This is the so-called "quarry window" of white or +grisaille glass with its surface composed of either square (_carre_) or +diamond-shaped panels. These quarry windows were not only easy to lead, +but their formal design broke up the surface of the glass very +agreeably, especially when here and there touches of colour were +introduced. Nor were these quarries always used without colour +decoration, for around the choir triforium we shall see them surcharged +with gay heraldic blazons, while above, in the clerestory, they serve to +fill out such portions of the embrasures as are not occupied by the +bands of canopies. It was some time before the fourteenth century +glazier arrived at the point of filling the entire embrasure with his +canopy, and therefore this hesitating use of bands of canopies across a +light field is often seen. Below in the choir chapels even less of the +space is devoted to canopies and more to quarries or grisaille than in +the clerestory. Passing to the nave, almost all the window surface of +the chapels is given over to grisaille; indeed, it is only across the +upper third that one sees the quaint little fourteenth century canopies. +So, too, the clerestory is all grisaille except for an occasional panel +in colour. The finest work of the period here is around the choir +clerestory--the colours are richer and every part of the decoration more +carefully studied. Notice that in the fourth on the left, the second +lancet contains a kneeling figure holding up in his two hands a model of +the window which he is offering; his name appears in large letters +below--M. Raoul De Ferrieres. The rich red background, surrounded by the +golden canopy, makes a very effective combination. This same pleasant +conceit is found again in the most westerly lancet of the fourth choir +chapel on the right, but here the figure is much smaller and the model +of the gift window not so carefully drawn. Almost all these clerestory +lights display facts concerning their donors set out in bold lettering +that adds materially to the decorative effect. A few of the panels were +glazed in the next century; they are readily picked out by the perfected +drawing of their canopies, the fact that they completely fill the +embrasures, the pedestals beneath them, etc. Of these later ones, the +first on the left especially merits our attention: within its elaborate +canopy framing are a triple tier of niches. In the middle tier, the +second niche contains the Dauphin (later Louis XI) and the fourth, +Charles VII, his father. This reference to the fifteenth century brings +us to the consideration of its numerous examples found here, for the +Lady Chapel, all the north transept and part of the southern are glazed +in that later style. In the Lady Chapel the canopies enclose a double +tier of niches which contain scenes remarkable for their strong +colouring, as well as for the unusual number of individuals in each +little group. Under the second canopy on the lower tier of the first +window on the left is depicted Christ feeding the multitude, and no less +than twenty-five figures can be counted: this is the greatest number the +writer has ever observed in a canopy panel. + +The transepts are most charming. Each is lighted by a large rose, +while the east and west walls have each not only two great six-lancet +windows, but in addition, the triforium gallery is pierced and is +carried around under the rose. Where the triforium passes below the +rose we have in each case eight lancets filled with canopies enclosing +single figures, and in the clerestory of the north transept the same +treatment--elsewhere the lancets contain grisaille or quarries +surcharged with coloured bosses or shields--the whole bordered in +colour. Throughout all this interior so much grisaille and quarry work +was used that one should select a rainy or grey day for one's visit, +because on a sunny day the illumination is distinctly garish. + +Nor is it for the Cathedral alone that we have come here--so fine is +the glazing at St. Taurin that we would have included Evreux in our tour +even if there had been nothing to enjoy at the Cathedral. The east end +of the choir juts out from the body of the church, and is lighted all +round by seven lofty windows, each of two lancets except the westerly +pair, which have four. The treatment of all these lancets is alike: the +enframing canopy encloses three tiers of niches, one above the other, in +each of which is a little scene in colour. One pair of these windows, +the second from the west, are modern, but so faithfully are they +modelled after their neighbours, that they do not mar the effect of the +whole. Instead of one lone saint beneath each canopy (then so common as +to be almost monotonous) we have here groups, always agreeable and +sometimes amusing. For example, the lower left-hand corner of the window +just left of the centre shows us St. Taurin rescuing a lady from some +very pointed flames, while a red imp, evidently much annoyed at being +exorcised, is darting off, much to the pious satisfaction of five smug +onlookers. In accordance with the conventions, each niche has at the +back a damasked curtain, above which a glimpse is afforded of an +interior lighted by three windows, all very delicately portrayed. It +seems ridiculously incongruous to find cows and other animals in the +foreground of such a niche. Unfortunately, this absurd combination of +tradition and realism was not rare during that epoch. The original +glazing of the upper part of the southwesterly window has been replaced +by a later Ascension scene, running across all four lancets. At the end +of the south transept is a broad window, very interesting because of the +different types of canopies in its six lancets. The chief charm of the +interior is undoubtedly the choir, whose deliciously soft-toned glazing +is so complete as to afford the student not only valuable material, but +also (and this is much rarer) an excellent impression of the general +effect sought for by the fifteenth century glazier. + + +ROUEN + +In this sketch we will chiefly turn our attention to the church of St. +Ouen, although we will also take a peep into the Cathedral and into St. +Maclou. We will defer until our sixteenth century tours a fuller comment +upon this city (see page 249), because any one who has studied the +subject, even in the most cursory way, knows that he must go to Rouen +for Renaissance glass. Although the splendid windows of its numerous +churches bear witness to what that later period did for our art, it is +nevertheless entirely proper that we should come here at this time, if +only for a preliminary visit, because the study of fourteenth century +glass cannot be satisfactorily concluded without viewing the splendidly +complete exhibition of it in the church of St. Ouen. Here we shall see +for ourselves why Rouen glass was then so highly esteemed, not only in +France, but also across the Channel. We referred before to the fact that +after Exeter Cathedral had in 1302-4 purchased glass for its windows and +it became necessary in 1317 to procure another large quantity, it was to +Rouen that they sent for it, a significant tribute to the skill and +repute of the Rouen craftsmen. Ample witness to the causes for the +Englishmen's admiration is afforded by the justly famous fourteenth +century glazing of St. Ouen. It is best to approach and enter it by the +south portal, for, although a very graceful and symmetrical Gothic +edifice, the west front is unfortunately of a much later period than the +rest of the structure, and is noticeably lacking in lightness and +beauty. Notwithstanding nearly all the windows are glazed in colour, the +brilliancy of the lighting strikes us as soon as we step inside and is +especially noticeable if we have but freshly come from the inspection of +interiors whose light has been dimmed by thirteenth century glass. It is +evident that the St. Ouen windows were glazed at a moment when the +reaction from the sombre beauties of the thirteenth century was at its +height. Undoubtedly strict injunctions were laid upon the designer of +the glass that he should so complete his task as to leave the church +well lighted. In complying with his instructions he not only has used a +great deal of white glass, but also has availed himself of the lighter +tones of such colours as his pictures required. Nowhere else will we +find so complete a series of patriarchs, saints, apostles, bishops and +abbots. They are strung out around us on every side and provide a wealth +of material for investigation. Perhaps one might wish that they had been +depicted in stronger hues, especially as they range about the clerestory +on a white background, with white glass in the triforium windows below +them. On the other hand there is a possibility that if the colours had +been stronger, the contrast between them and the background might have +proved disagreeable. In passing it is interesting to note that all the +abbots are arrayed in blue robes, but in accordance with the scheme of +colour just mentioned, the blue is very light in tint. Below, in the +choir, and around the transepts, we find canopy windows, but there, too, +their effectiveness is lessened by too many panels of white. In the nave +the large figures in the windows of the upper range have much more +colour than those in the lower, and the inscription below each is in +such bold lettering as to permit of each letter being separately leaded +in. The north transept contains a fine rose window, but, unfortunately, +in accordance with the conventions of that epoch, the figures radiate +from the centre like slices in a pie. The result is a wheel effect and +not that of a great blossoming rose. The glass, not only in this rose +but also in the one of the south transept, is sixteenth century and will +be described later. The regularity and completeness of the architecture +of this church is accentuated by the long series of personages that +decorate its windows. It is but natural that there results the +symmetrical beauty which always follows the consistent carrying into +effect of a well-thought-out plan. The desire of the architect for a +well-lighted interior has also been everywhere carefully observed. +As a whole, the effect of the windows must undoubtedly be admired, but +on the other hand, if we were to be denied the warmth that a little +additional colour would have given, we ought at least to have found as a +compensation that soft silvery light which the best glass of this period +affords, but which is here rendered impossible by the excessive use of +white panes. + +The Cathedral's fourteenth century glass, while not presenting the +splendid ensemble that one sees at St. Ouen, is nevertheless not only +instructive in its variety, but is also so placed as to exhibit itself +to the greatest advantage. It is to be found in the Lady Chapel, the +choir clerestory, the north transept, and the north nave aisle. The two +large windows on each side of the Lady Chapel are so wide as to permit +of four lancets in each. The treatment is the same throughout: a broad +coloured border encloses a grisaille field, across the middle third of +which is a coloured figure under a canopy, which of course has not yet +acquired a pedestal. Evidence of careful attention to detail is seen in +the borders, which are not only very elaborate, but are also enlivened +in one case by a number of little green birds, in another by brown +squirrels, and in a third by white angels playing musical instruments. +This feature is but rarely met. The modern glass in the three easterly +windows is rendered harmless by the height of the altar rising in front +of them. Broad coloured borders are also found around the clerestory, +but there each enclosed surface of grisaille has to rely for its +adornment upon five round blue bosses surcharged with golden sunbursts. +The three easternmost panels, however, bear large coloured figures, the +central one being Christ on the Cross. The rose in the north transept is +of the wheel type, and is too pale, because of the excessive use of +colourless glass, especially in the radiating arms. At the end of each +arm and also at other points are introduced medallions of mosaic +pattern. The light is admitted in accordance with the conventions, but +the contrast is too great between the plain and the mosaic panes. This +same contrast is even more unpleasant in the chapel just at the junction +of this transept and the choir ambulatory where a few mosaic medallions +are frankly placed on a light field, without even the plausible excuse +therefor which is afforded in the rose above by certain round apertures +especially suited for medallions. The artist is evidently still groping +for a satisfactory adjustment of his design and colour to the demand for +light. This period is also exemplified, although in a different way, in +the second, fifth, sixth and eighth windows in the north nave aisle. +There, across the lower part of the light quarries in each of the four +lancets, is placed a coloured figure behind whom hangs a curtain of +contrasting colour, but entirely lacking canopy framing; each lancet is +surrounded by a gay border. This treatment is not so pleasing as that +just observed in the Lady Chapel, for the nave figures lack the finished +appearance there lent by the canopy framing. The small curtain is better +than no background at all, but we are still evidently in transition. + +Of the fifteenth century glass in the cathedral, but little can be said; +that in the south transept rose is good, while the chapel leading from +that transept to the choir ambulatory contains two lofty-pinnacled +canopy windows that would be excellent if they were not marred by their +upper panes being filled in with disjointed fragments of thirteenth +century medallions. + +At St. Maclou (see page 251) ten out of the twelve windows in the +semi-circle of four chapels at the east end of the choir contain a +softly lovely set of fifteenth century canopies whose lofty and +intricate pinnacles are delicately outlined against backgrounds of +lilac, blue, green, etc., always in the lighter shades. The lower parts +of these windows have not fared so well as the upper portions, but they +have not been damaged enough to detract from the general effect. So +light are most of the tones used, that one fears the ensemble will +appear too pale when viewed from the proper distance; but such is not +the case, thanks to the admirable harmony between the soft colours and +the dainty canopies. + +An occasional fifteenth century panel is to be met with elsewhere in +Rouen (_i.e._, the westernmost in the north wall at St. Vincent), but +they are neither sufficiently numerous nor noteworthy to be cited here. +We shall carry away as our chief souvenirs of this preliminary visit to +Rouen, memories of the complete glazing of St. Ouen, the varied +exhibition of contemporary transitional types found at the Cathedral, +and St. Maclou's delicately tinted half-circle of eastern chapels. + + +BOURGES + +When we visited the Cathedral of Bourges to inspect the glass of the +thirteenth century (see page 42) we referred to that of the fifteenth +which fills the windows of the nave chapels. It is to inspect these that +we now make our second visit. It is very usual for chapels to radiate +from around the choir of a church, but rarer to find them introduced +into the side walls of the nave after the completion of the edifice. +Perhaps it would not prove so eminently satisfactory at Bourges if it +were not for the fact that the cathedral lacks transepts; but whatever +the reason, the result in this instance is admirable. The window +apertures of these nave chapels indicate that they were constructed at a +later period than the rest of the cathedral, for instead of the single +broad windows which we find elsewhere about the interior, the lighting +of each chapel is effected by a group of lancets bound together to form +one very wide window space, the lancets being separated only by narrow +stone mullions. To this architectural indication of date is added that +of the glass, which is among the best that is known of the fifteenth +century canopy type. The glazing of these chapels varies greatly in +excellence, but is always good. In almost every case the windows consist +of four lancets. We note here the custom of placing upon the window a +small kneeling figure of the donor, and from contemporary paintings we +are able to affirm that the glass artist made these portraits as perfect +as his skill permitted. In the chapel given by Pierre Trousseau not only +do we find the donor but also his sister and his two brothers. This +tendency to introduce various members of the family increased steadily +in vogue, so much so that in the sixteenth century we shall often find +two or three generations kneeling in a row in the lower panels. In the +first two chapels on the left the personages hold in their hands long +winding scrolls on which there is writing. This form of decoration was +also much elaborated in the next century, and very successfully, too. +But the greatest of all fifteenth century chapels is the most easterly +one on the north, just at the point where the choir chapels succeed to +those of the nave. It was given by Jacques Coeur, the merchant prince +of Bourges, who became treasurer of France under Charles VII. It is as +beautiful in detail and ensemble as a canopy window has ever been made. +The mullions separating its four lancets are not allowed to interfere +with the one great subject that extends over them all. Across the top of +this picture is carried the most elaborate Gothic dome ever attempted in +glass painting. The ceiling beneath it is blue sprinkled with golden +stars, and the groining of the arches which support it is golden also. +The robes of the figures, beautiful in combination of colour, are +elaborated to the last degree of decorative detail. Notice along the +edge of the kneeling saint's robe a row of simulated embroidery panels +gay with colour and gold. It is clear that Jacques Coeur employed upon +this window the best glass artist to be found, just as he must have +engaged the most skillful architects and builders for his palace, to the +glories of which we alluded in our thirteenth century pilgrimage. This +window and that dwelling stamp him as one of the most intelligently +appreciative patrons of the arts which his time produced. + +The fact that the cathedral is built upon the edge of the old Roman +walls makes possible a well-lighted crypt instead of the gloomy cavern +generally found beneath the choirs of most cathedrals. In the embrasures +at the eastern end of this lower church or crypt have been placed a set +of fifteenth century windows taken from the old Ste. Chapelle of +Bourges, each consisting of four canopies. Under the two central ones of +each stand the coloured figures in the usual way, but under the two +outer canopies the figures are partly concealed behind simulated +architectural columns. This unique arrangement serves to render the +glass architecture all the more convincing. It would have been well if +other towns had followed the example set by Bourges in thus preserving +in some store-house like a cathedral the glass of other edifices which +had to be destroyed. + +If we travel by automobile from Bourges to Clermont-Ferrand, we will +probably elect to pass through Nevers and Moulins. We have already +advised the railway traveller not to alight at Moulins and he will +probably not do so at Nevers. About the latter we will say but a word. +Although the cathedral has a special interest in that it is one of the +two churches in France having an apse at its western as well as its +eastern end (the other is at Besancon), it need not detain him, because +it has no old glass. If he decides to stop to look at the cathedral, he +should not fail to see the old palace of the Dukes of Bourbon, with the +story of Lohengrin carved by Jean Goujon on the outside of its graceful +spiral staircase. + + +MOULINS + +If our pilgrim in going south from Bourges to Clermont-Ferrand passed +through Nevers, this slight detour has brought Moulins right upon his +road. In this event he must avail himself of the opportunity to visit +the cathedral, because its glass, although not of sufficient importance +to demand breaking a railway journey, is distinctly worth seeing if he +is passing the door. Besides, the sacristy of this church contains the +splendid fifteenth century triptych, so long attributed to Ghirlandajo, +but now conceded to have been the work of an unknown Moulins painter +who, for want of more particular information, is called the Master of +Moulins. Around the choir ambulatory there are a few canopy windows of +the fifteenth century. Most of them are good, but one on the north side +is quite remarkable and should be particularly noticed. The scene +depicted is the Crucifixion and the background seems to be of a deep +ruby. Closer inspection shows it to consist of a multitude of tiny red +angels so crowded together as to give the effect, when viewed from a +little distance, of a richly damasked surface. The result is as +satisfactory as the method of obtaining it is original. There are also +some good sixteenth century windows around the choir which are easily +distinguishable because the architecture of their canopies is so +obviously Renaissance and so far removed from Gothic. + +As the automobilist or bicyclist passes through this town, he will be +struck by the attractive local feature of large diamond-shaped patterns +in black or dark bricks on the red brick walls of the houses. The effect +is most decorative. + + +RIOM + +On our trip south from Moulins we come upon Riom, a quiet little place +living on its memories of mediaeval importance and treasuring within the +shady circle of its wall-replacing boulevards many fine houses and other +testimonials to its former wealth and importance. In an old-world +country like France it is not unusual to find striking contrasts between +those parts of a city which have been absolutely modernised and other +portions still preserving their ancient appearance. Between neighbouring +towns, however, it is not often that we shall notice so startling a +difference as is effected by the 14 kilometres separating Riom from +Clermont-Ferrand. It seems impossible, while in the quiet streets of +this town, to realise that we are so near the busy city of +Clermont-Ferrand, active in many modern manufacturing industries, a +railway centre, in short, a distinctly twentieth century community. +Geographically those few kilometres are only a step, but historically +they will transport us four or five centuries. Here we are in an +atmosphere not later than the sixteenth century, although for glass +lovers the interest of the place goes back still another. The fifteenth +century feature which attracts us most in Riom is the Ste. Chapelle, +which now serves as the chapel for the Palais de Justice, through which +we must pass to reach it. The practical hand of the altering architect +has fallen heavily upon this beautiful chapel. In 1822 he took away its +lower part in order to gain room for the Court of Appeals which is just +below. He graciously allowed the upper half to remain a chapel, but, +of course, the introduction of a new floor at half the height of the +original building caused the destruction of the lower portions of the +seven fine windows. Each has four large lancets and is a remarkable +example of the highly-developed canopy type of the middle of the +fifteenth century. Upon these are displayed a great company of richly +attired personages, affording us a rare opportunity to observe the dress +of the upper classes of that day. The jewels, furs and other decorative +details are not more minutely studied than are the architectural +features of the canopies. Each figure holds in its hands a long paper +scroll upon which there is writing. These scrolls form a most effective +and agreeable feature, and their use as a form of decoration was +frequently seen during that century. It appears at its best in the Tree +of Life rose in the south transept at Carcassone. The four central +panels at the bottom contain the donors, always an attractive detail if +only they are modest in size and placing. We should try to see these +windows on a rainy or grey day. It must be remembered that we no longer +view them from below as their artist originally intended, because the +action of the architect in 1822 has brought us up on a level with them. +The chapel is so small and the windows so large that if the day is +sunny we are not able to withdraw a sufficient distance to readjust the +perspective, and therefore a dull day, by softening the light, greatly +increases their charm. + + [Illustration: 15TH CENTURY "CANOPY" WINDOW, SAINTE CHAPELLE, RIOM. + _Gothic details carefully elaborated. Curtains suspended across + backs of niches give the artist another colour, while white + winding scrolls assist canopy portions in admitting light. + Donors are here more important but not yet intrusive, as seen + later._] + + +CLERMONT-FERRAND + +The situation of this city is as beautiful as it is remarkable. Imagine +a long, fertile plain from which rises suddenly a great range of hills. +The plain is monotonously flat and the hills are abruptly steep, while +higher than all their heights towers the round-topped mountain of +Puy-de-Dome, which gives its name to this department of France. Nestling +just below the hills, upon the extreme western edge of the level +country, lies the vigorous and progressive city of Clermont-Ferrand, +whose activities and commerce are fed by roads leading in every +direction across the broad expanse of the fertile district of Limagne. +From the top of the cathedral tower the view is most striking and +delightful. To the east, as far as the eye can reach, stretches out a +long vista of cultivated fields, but when we turn to the west the change +is positively startling. Hill is piled on hill and mountain on mountain, +and all so near at hand as to make us feel that, with the naked eye, we +can discern figures moving on the top of the Puy-de-Dome, whose +knob-like crest towers proudly above its surrounding and supporting +heights. There are but few views like this in France, for it is rare to +find so bold a range of hills rising so sharply from so wide a plain. + +After descending the many steps which take us back into the cathedral, +we shall soon be convinced that if most of the thirteenth century glass +towns had not been so accessible to Paris, a visit to this cathedral +must have been suggested in order to see the fine set of medallion +windows that in the apse chapels form a screen of gleaming sombre colour +all around the choir--a screen so complete as to produce that effect of +glistening caverns which we have found so beautiful in the glass of that +century. Clermont-Ferrand was left off the thirteenth century list +partly because of its distance from Paris, and partly because, if that +distance had been overcome, there are no other towns in its vicinity +noteworthy for their thirteenth century glass. Now that we are +considering the glass of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, +distance from Paris no longer proves an argument against this visit, +because that period cannot be seen unless one is willing to go far +afield. Besides, Clermont-Ferrand fits nicely into a series of towns +rich in glass of these centuries, so we have every reason for the visit +at this juncture. The cathedral is a noble example of Gothic, the +spacious nave being separated from the choir by two transepts, each of +which possesses a fine rose window of the fourteenth century with a +gallery of small lancets below. These rose windows seem thrust too high +up against the roof; in fact, if it were not for the row of lancets +below, the effect would be unpleasant. This method of placing them in +the wall is, however, in accordance with the best traditions of that +time. The glass panels which go to make up the rose windows radiate in +distinct lines from the centre. The lancets below the south rose are +filled with diaper in rich colour, while across them, as if to bind them +together, are drawn two bands of white rosettes. The lancets under the +north rose have circles and spots of colour on a grisaille ground. Of +the glass that once adorned the nave, practically nothing remains but +the small roses at the tops of the windows, but these are quite +attractive. It is to the choir that we must turn for the greatest charm +of the interior. The sober richness of the thirteenth century panels +in the chapels below is admirably set off and accompanied by the +well-lighted clerestory above. Around this clerestory appears a row of +large fifteenth century figures in colour framed in canopies upon a +background of grisaille quarries (diamond-shaped panes). Perhaps there +is a little too much contrast between the figures and the quarries, but +the effect is good and certainly the light is admitted in a more +satisfactory way than at Chartres, where the monks, to secure more +light, replaced the rich borders of the early choir clerestory windows +by white glass. As seen from the nave or from the transepts, the choir +is most pleasing, a warm half light below and a brilliant clerestory +above. In the two easternmost panels of the latter the artist shows +us how it was sometimes possible to make one large picture by the +juxtaposition of two or more, which at first glance seem entirely +distinct. On the left is the Virgin Mary in what appears to be a large +oval frame. On the right, and facing her, is a bust of the Father +emerging from clouds. Although at first these two panels seem entirely +separate, a comparison of the subject of each indicates that taken +together they form a picture of the Annunciation. This method was not +uncommon. At Tours, three eastern medallions of the clerestory, although +seemingly distinct, really combine to form the Last Supper. We should +not fail to notice at Clermont-Ferrand how very harmoniously the styles +of different centuries assist each other in producing a well-glazed +interior. We do not find the conflict in effect which exists at Bourges. +In fact, there are but few places where glass epochs are combined in +such an attractively unobtrusive manner. + + +EYMOUTIERS + +When from the top of Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral we viewed the mountains +of the Puy-de-Dome range, it seemed not only that anyone planning a trip +across them would have a difficult climb, but that any idea of going by +train was an impossibility. Modern engineering skill, however, overcomes +all obstacles, stops at nothing, and the railway awaits our command to +take us over the mountains to Eymoutiers and Limoges. The grades are so +steep that no expresses are attempted and therefore we have before us a +tedious five-hour trip on a way train. The first and the last parts of +this journey are very delightful for the automobilist or bicyclist, +because of the views revealed from time to time by the windings of the +road. More than half the trip, however, is quite uninteresting, as the +way lies through clefts in the hills at too great an elevation for much +foliage or verdure. When we descend to the village of Eymoutiers on the +other side of the mountains, all the difficulties and tedium of our +climb will be forgotten. There the traveller will find a charming little +inn by the river, where he can have a delicious repast of trout from +the neighbouring mountain stream. He will be served on a cosy terrace, +which is sheltered from the sun by vines and cooled by a tinkling +fountain shooting into the air a slender spray of icy water. As a glass +shrine, Eymoutiers is one of the most delightful that our pilgrim will +meet on his travels and one to which his memory will often pleasantly +revert. He need not look about for a cathedral or for any great +religious edifice. Instead, he will find a quaint, oddly-shaped +church whose older western half is so dimly lighted by its few +deeply-embrasured windows as to provide an excellent foil for the +silvery light of the fourteen that illumine the eastern half. We +cannot properly call it the choir end, because the church seems to have +three choirs placed side by side, opening into each other, the central +one extending a little more to the east than its two sisters. At +the Ste. Chapelle in Paris we have observed that the deeply-hued +medallion windows of the thirteenth century were not suited to a small +interior--that their materials and construction required that they be +viewed from the greater distance afforded within a cathedral in order +to yield to the observer a properly combined glow from their warmth of +colour. On the other hand, at Eymoutiers, we shall learn that the canopy +window is as beautiful in its soft lighting of a small interior as at +Bourges it is appropriate in the lower windows of a great nave, or at +Quimper in its delicate illumination of a splendid clerestory. Before +we have been long in the little Eymoutiers church we shall begin to +notice that the later windows in the central eastern bay have much more +colour than the earlier ones in the right and left ones. In these two +side bays the figures have only one colour besides white in their +costumes, and but one also in the backgrounds; while on the other hand, +in the central bay the figures have never less than two colours in their +costumes; and further, that besides the one in their backgrounds, an +additional colour is there contributed by a curtain stretched across the +niches, shoulder-high, behind the figures. Then, too, these later +figures in the central bay have coloured halos, and the little ceilings +under the canopies beneath which they stand are brightly tinted. The +local authorities date the glazing of the central bay from the latter +part of the fifteenth century and that of the two side ones from the +middle. The difference in the colour schemes of the two sets confirms +this dating. This same marked difference in the number of colours exists +at Quimper, where the choir windows glazed in the first years of the +fifteenth century have but few tints, while, on the other hand, there +are many in those of the nave which date from the latter part of that +century. As accentuating this enrichment of the artist's palette which +the passage of time seemed to effect, it is noticeable that the early +tracery lightings of the two side bays are very light in tone, being +mostly white or some faint hue or yellow stain, while the later +traceries of the central bay contain deep reds and blues, etc. A close +examination of these windows repays us by revealing several quaint +manifestations of the strict adherence to tradition for which the +mediaeval glass artists are noted. Contemporary conventions demanded that +St. Christopher have a tessellated pavement as the floor of his canopy, +but the legend requires that he must stand in water, so we find not only +the pavement but also upon it a semi-circular pool of water in which the +saint stands. So, too, the Virgin Mary is poised upon a halfmoon-shaped +cloud, neatly balanced on the conventional pavement. Though these little +touches make us moderns smile, they were doubtless at the time approved +as showing that the artist was well schooled. Our reader should make +every effort to visit Eymoutiers, for there he will truly feel the +delicate charm of the canopy window. The church is glazed throughout in +one style and as a type of perfection will linger in his memory in much +the same way as Ste. Foy at Conches, which we will visit later for its +sixteenth century glass. The canopy window, when properly placed, yields +a far softer beauty than any glass can show in the century before or the +century that came after, and it is greatly to be regretted that so few +of them survived the stress of those battle-troubled days. + +Before we start on our way over rolling hills to Limoges, we must not +fail to observe in Eymoutiers a certain quaint custom of building +distinctive of that town. The topmost story of almost all the +dwelling-houses is not walled up on the street side. This open top floor +is used to store fuel. Under the eaves there is a pulley by which the +bundles of wood are pulled up from the street by a block and tackle and +swung in under the roof. + + +LIMOGES + +After a charming ride of fifty kilometres from Eymoutiers, we arrive at +Limoges, sloping picturesquely up from the banks of the winding river +Vienne. We elsewhere set out our reasons for believing that the +Byzantine influence upon the beginnings of French art was first and most +potently exercised at Limoges, the cradle of French enamel. After +remaining dormant for centuries, the enameller's art has again been +quickened into life in its old home. Its younger sister, stained glass, +however, never seems to have returned to its birthplace; in fact, if it +were not necessary to pass through Limoges on our way north from +Eymoutiers, we would not have included it in this trip. While the +cathedral contains some fourteenth century glass, it lacks sufficient +quantity or quality to repay one coming from a distance to see it. From +Eymoutiers our route takes us through Limoges, and what it can show of +glass, we, like conscientious pilgrims, must not fail to inspect. Now +for the cathedral! Architecturally it is very satisfactory. Just inside +the west door of the nave there is a finely-carved stone jube or arch, +in fact so good is it that we shall not see a better except in the +little church of La Madeleine at Troyes, or in St. Etienne-du-Mont in +Paris. Around the clerestory of the choir are thirteen double lancet +windows, presented in the fourteenth century by Bishop Pierre Rodier. +Unfortunately, only two of them (those of Ste. Valerie and St. Martial) +are preserved intact, but the others have been so judiciously restored +that we have a very good idea of how they originally looked. They +consist of large coloured figures in canopies, surrounded, however, by +too much grisaille. The revulsion from too little light in the preceding +century sometimes produced the curse of too much in the fourteenth. This +placing of subjects upon a light surface cannot help but cause an +unpleasant contrast between its soft tone and the stronger colour of the +figures. In the ambulatory chapels on the north side of the choir, there +are two complete windows of this period, both of them grisaille with +gay heraldic devices and coloured borders. In one the light field is +arranged in quarries (diamond-shaped spaces), each quarry having its own +little border of colour; this is very unusual. Here the contrast of rich +tones and grisaille is not so disagreeable as in the clerestory. In the +south transept is a large rose window containing conventional designs in +red and blue, but no figures. We find the same objection to the placing +of this window and to its construction that we did to the rose windows +at Clermont-Ferrand: it is too high up and seems crowded against the +roof, while its lines radiate so obviously from the centre as to make it +resemble a wheel, whose spokes are too thick. The century before did +well to have medallions placed around the central opening of its rose +windows, for they gave the effect of a huge blossom and not the stiff +look of a wheel. As we leave Limoges on our way to Poitiers we shall +find, if we travel by automobile or bicycle, that the road along the +Vienne, following the picturesque windings of that charming river, is +one of the most delightful in all France. + + +POITIERS + +Upon one of our thirteenth century pilgrimages the reader has already +been taken to Poitiers (see page 47). Not only has he visited the +cathedral and seen its glorious Crucifixion window, but he has also +entered the smaller church of St. Radegonde to view the thirteenth +century glass there. For the purpose of this trip he must again repair +to the latter church to see a unique manifestation of the effect +produced by the new demand for more light, which is the most marked +feature of the taste in glass of the fourteenth century. The windows +which we are now seeking are the four in the north wall between the +north portal and the choir. They are undoubtedly interesting, but can +hardly be called beautiful. In order to admit as much light as possible, +the greater part of their surfaces is filled with light greenish-grey +grisaille, whose design is that of a number of circles, each circle +impinging on the next. Scattered irregularly upon the grisaille are many +small-sized personages in deep colour. Around the whole is a brilliant +border. The contrast between the gay hues of the figures (and also of +the border) and the light tone of the grisaille is not only too sharp to +be pleasant, but it also destroys the harmonious ensemble which is the +great charm in the early canopy window. It seems logical that the +light-admitting canopy should be used as a frame for the richly-coloured +figure which it encloses, but there is no artistic excuse for spotting +light grisaille with sharply-outlined, strongly-toned figures, and then +framing the whole by the harsh lines of a coloured conventional border. +At Bourges the beauties of the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries can be +seen at the same time, and each enjoyed, although for different reasons. +Here at St. Radegonde, however, the charming thirteenth century rose +window above the north portal enjoys an easy victory over the glaring +contrasts of its fourteenth century neighbours. The latter should be +inspected because they are unique in their elaborate method of admitting +light, but they point to a road which should not be followed. It is +interesting to note that at the time of their construction these windows +were very highly considered. There was no reason why they should not +have been of the best, because this church has long benefited by the +generosity of pilgrims to the tomb of the saint beneath its choir. Among +these none was more devoted than Anne of Austria, the queen of Louis +XIII. Nor is this shrine the only attraction to the pious which the +church can boast, for in the south wall there is a small recess +protected by an iron grille enclosing what is represented to be a +footprint of Jesus Christ. This is still an object of much veneration. +These facts must be taken into consideration, because a church to which +crowds of votaries for centuries resorted would surely contain no glass +inappropriate to the wealth and high standing of these pilgrims. In +fact, a certain hallmark is thus given its windows, which enables us by +means of it to judge of the taste of the time. + + +ANGERS + +There is hardly a religious edifice in existence where so many periods +of glass are represented by such uniformly good examples as in St. +Maurice Cathedral at Angers. In a former visit (see page 55) we observed +that its nave contains the greatest amount of twelfth century work which +any French church can show and also that in its choir and transepts +there are many fine medallion windows of the thirteenth century. Now we +will take up the really gorgeous fifteenth century glass, beginning with +the two large west windows of the north transept. So elaborated and full +of architectural detail are they that their canopies alone occupy more +than half the entire window space. We have generally seen the canopy +used only as a frame, but here there is more frame than picture! Each of +these two windows contains four niches enclosing brilliantly-hued +figures, two in the lower half and two in the upper half of each window. +The glass forming the canopy part is much deeper in tone than we have +been accustomed to find, having a strong greenish shade similar to that +found in many English fourteenth century canopies (as, for example, +those in New College Chapel, Oxford). We have noted before that English +glass is generally more highly coloured in the fourteenth than in the +fifteenth century, but the contrary is true in France, where the +fourteenth is much softer in tone than that found in the next century. +These windows provide a case in point. It is perhaps well that they are +so strongly toned, for even as it is, they seem rather pale in +comparison with the early medallion windows all around them. The +embrasures which they fill were built in the thirteenth century and are +therefore larger than those generally found in the fifteenth; the +extremely strong saddle bars necessary to support this great weight of +glass are so noticeable to the observer that they seem to isolate the +panels containing the figures and thus hurt the frame effect of the +canopy. Perhaps the pilgrim will find this comment is hypercritical, for +the windows are undoubtedly very effective. They were given by Bishop +Jean-Michel about 1440. + +One is naturally curious to see the work done by an artist in his home +town, for if not of his best, it is apt to be typical and show the +influence which his natural environment exercised upon him. For this +reason we turn with considerable interest to see what was accomplished +by Andre Robin, when called in 1452 to reglaze the rose windows of the +transepts. The stone traceries had been constructed in the thirteenth +century, and though it is difficult to adapt later glass to earlier +framework, the result here has been very successful, much more so than, +for example, in the case of the west rose of the Ste. Chapelle in Paris. +In the north rose window Robin put the Resurrection. Christ is in the +centre and from Him there radiate sixteen elongated panes bearing yellow +and blue angels. The resurrected dead are shown in the act of pushing up +the covers of their tombs, a conventional method of representing them. +Above are little scenes illustrating the occupations of each month of +the year. Upon the south rose there appear the signs of the zodiac, and +below them the Elders of the Apocalypse. In these Elders we may trace a +reference to the splendid set of Apocalypse tapestries which hang around +the interior. The most northerly window on the east side of the transept +is also by Robin. The subject is the Crucifixion, and it was finished in +1499. In Angers there is yet another set of fifteenth century windows, +and to see them we must go to the little church of St. Serge, in whose +choir we have already studied the charming twelfth century grisaille. +These windows are of the canopy type and are placed in the nave +clerestory. There are three on each side, the two westerly ones being of +three broad lancets each and the easterly one of two lancets. The colour +contrasts are good and the architecture in the canopy framing very +convincing, both in size and adjustment. + + +LE MANS + +During the course of our former visit to Le Mans Cathedral (see page 60) +we remarked that the transepts were glazed in the fifteenth century. The +glass is good and the north rose is particularly well worth seeing. Of +the transepts themselves, it may be said that no others in all France +are provided with windows in such a curiously irregular way, no two +corresponding portions of wall having the same or even similar ones. +There is no window at all in the south transept end, but instead there +is a solid wall against which the organ is backed. The west side of this +transept has two very large windows with coloured borders framing +grisaille, upon which are small circles and squares. On the east side +the wall has even fewer openings. Crossing over to the north transept, +we find still more irregular arrangement, there being a marked +difference in amount of window space, as well as in the shape and +adjustment between the east and the west wall. There is, however, a +distinct improvement over the south transept in that here there are +canopy windows and that, too, of no ordinary type. But it is to the +north end of this transept that we must turn to have our admiration as +well as our interest thoroughly aroused. The writer believes this to be +the finest example of a rose window, blossoming out at the top of a +well-adjusted group of lancets, that the fifteenth century can afford. +At Clermont-Ferrand and Limoges we have noticed that the tendency at +that time was to crowd the rose up too high against the roof and then +try to counteract the effect by placing beneath it a row of lancets to +bring down the whole group. At Le Mans the adjustment in the wall is +perfect. Further, the lower range of windows is treated with the respect +it deserves, for not only is the rose beautifully glazed, but the +lancets have also received the artist's careful attention: they are +graceful, good-sized and filled with a triple tier of excellent canopied +figures. The rose is poised above and between the points of two wide +lancet windows, each of which is in turn divided perpendicularly by +mullions. The subject, The Crowning of the Virgin, is admirably treated, +and nothing could be more delightful than the numerous angels singing +and playing upon various musical instruments. For the honour of the +fifteenth century glazier it is well that we should see this splendid +effect, because we might otherwise conclude that, notwithstanding his +brilliant success in producing canopy panels, he never grasped the full +possibilities of the rose window. + + +SEES + +En route from Le Mans to Sees we must pass directly through Alencon, +famous for its lace, and especially for the sort known as Point +d'Alencon. If en automobile we should stop here long enough to see the +Renaissance glass in the church of Notre Dame. Although of a later +period than that which we are now considering, we must not be so +narrow-minded as to deliberately pass by fine glass, no matter when it +was made. The exterior of Notre Dame struck the writer as curiously +emblematic of the impression which one receives of the town. The church +is squat and ugly, but it is redeemed by the lace-like Gothic of its +western porch, which, fearful lest it be not remarked, thrusts itself +out into the street. In similar fashion, Alencon as a town has its +commonplaceness condoned by reason of the beauty of its lace, a beauty +which is constantly thrust upon your attention by its inhabitants. The +glass to be noticed is around the nave clerestory. A most charming stone +setting is provided for this sixteenth century glazing by the broad and +high embrasures of six lancets each. Particularly note how, at the top +of each sheaf of lancets, the delicate lines of the traceries flow +upward and inward like flames aspiring from a broad-based fire, seeking +the outlet above of a narrow chimney. The picture period is here at its +best, and the artist, regardless of the upright stone mullions, has +spread his subject across all the lancets of each embrasure, and has +lavished upon them all the shades of his richly stocked palette. Over +the west portal we have the same shape of window, but here it is broader +and permits of eight lancets. The subject is the well-worn one of Jesse +and his descendants, but the design is distinctly novel, and an unusual +amount of green foliage against a blue background lends a pleasant tone +to the picture. The descendants are relegated to the upper panes, while +the major portion of the great surface is divided equally between Jesse +(on the right) and a large panel enclosing the scene of the Saviour's +birth (on the left). Of the rest of the glass in this church it is +kindly comment to say that it is unsatisfactory. + +But let us push on to Sees, 20 kilometres further. One reads but little +of the cathedral there, and more's the pity, because from any point of +view it is not only admirable, but picturesquely delightful. Placed upon +a slight eminence in the midst of a wide basin, this elevation suffices +to make it visible from a long distance on every side. Its gracefully +aspiring twin spires, its mantle of flying buttresses, the charming +conformation of its eastern end, all conspire to allure us and fill us +with expectations of what a nearer view may reveal. Nor does the +interior fail to realise all this distant promise. What a graceful +lightness of stonework is everywhere visible, supplemented by the +glazier's intelligent delicacy of touch. The nave alone lacks its +ancient glass. Nowhere in France or elsewhere can the fourteenth century +glass artist be seen to greater advantage than at Sees. Very happy is +the way in which his light-admitting grisaille has been enlivened and +decorated by coloured borders and bands of richly-toned, canopy-framed +figures. At Evreux we will find him more splendid, more varied, but +here, around the choir and the transepts, he has worked out more +consistently, more coherently, his new idea of combining translucence +and colour decoration. Dainty, almost dangerously fragile as is the +stonework that supports the upper windows, the glazier's handwork is +daintier still--a film of soft grisaille held in a spider's web of lead +lines, whilst across the middle third are bands of early canopies. Not +only in the clerestory of choir and transepts, but also in the choir +chapels below, do we find this treatment uniformly carried out. The +completeness of the scheme of decoration, as well as the satisfactory +adjustment of colour to grisaille, give an ensemble which we elsewhere +seek in vain. Not satisfied with the illumination provided by his airy +clerestory, the architect has pierced his triforium gallery throughout. +In this lower tier there has been no attempt to introduce figures, the +glazier having contented himself with surrounding his grisaille by +decorated borders. The only exception to this rule is where the +triforium gallery passes below the lovely rosaces that decorate the +transept ends--there, in each case, the row of ten lancets is filled, +alas! with modern glass whose thin tones betray it at once. Fortunately +one is too much absorbed in looking at the great roses above to notice +them very intently. So high up are these rosaces in their respective +walls that the arching of the ceiling actually passes in front of their +upper corners. That in the south transept is a wheel window with +medallions in the ends of the spokes, but instead of the rest of the +openings being glazed in grisaille (as at Rouen Cathedral), colour is +here used throughout. Very different is the north transept rose, from +the centre of which six broad arms diverge, separating groups of +blossom-like apertures. The colour is good, but would have been better +had there been omitted the white borders that make the coloured panels +seem about to start from their sockets. The luminous effectiveness of +the interior is utilised and accentuated by the placing of the +double-faced altar on a raised platform in the middle of the crossing +where the transepts can contribute to its glory equally with the choir. +The high altar carries off the unusual honour of this central position +with great dignity and success. + +So much are we seized and held by the charm of the general effect that +we are not tempted, as is so often the case elsewhere, to solace +ourselves with spelling out quaint details in individual windows. +Nevertheless, that form of research is here well worth while. Three +times on the south side of the choir clerestory and again in the second +choir chapel on the left, do we find the donors, ingenuously holding in +their uplifted hands small models of their gift windows. Several times +we will note two canopy panels whose stories must be read together, as +for example in the first choir chapel on the right, where a mounted man +in armour is piercing with his spear the side of the crucified Christ in +the next panel to the right. Interesting as are these and many other +similar details, it is the softly tinted illumination of the whole +interior, more than any particular feature, that makes us remember Sees +Cathedral as one of the most satisfactory French examples of fourteenth +century glazing. + + +VERNEUIL + +Long before one reaches Verneuil he remarks a great tower looming high +above the surrounding house-tops, a tower so commanding as to seem to +beckon us from afar, and then later when we have reached its foot, to +make us halt awhile in its shadow to enjoy the innumerable delicate +details of its architecture, which render a near view as delightful as +the distant prospect is imperious. It is not often in France that one +sees so striking a landmark, which must have been vastly more +significant still in those battleworn years of the middle ages when +Verneuil was for so long an important post on the frontier between +France and the territory held by the English. There may still be seen +one of the massive round towers of the ancient fortifications, its great +size bearing witness to the importance attached to the possession and +defence of the city. Nor is Verneuil lacking in other and more homely +charms, for it preserves many of its old timbered houses, as well as +others of stone and brick decorated at one corner by a gracefully carved +tourelle. On making our way to the centre of the town we find that the +great tower belongs to the church of La Madeleine, which occupies one +end of the spacious market-place. No more ill-assorted collection of +incongruous elements were ever found in one edifice. The lofty uplift of +the choir and transepts rises so much above the low roof-tree of the +nave, that viewed from a little distance, there seems no connecting link +between the eastern portion of the church and the great tower at the +western end. The transepts are so short as to extend but little beyond +the sides of the choir, and furthermore there are two sets of transepts, +side by side, and opening into each other. It is to the eastern and +loftier part of the edifice that we must repair. Here about the choir +and the two parallel chapels that adjoin it are a dozen windows +containing fifteenth century canopies, mostly arranged in two tiers, one +above the other. Note that it is groups rather than single figures that +appear within the enframing niches, and that the stories told by these +panels are more elaborate, even if less effective than their grander +contemporaries in the transepts. These latter are fine tall-pinnacled +examples, each canopy enclosing a single figure, and are found in three +of the four great embrasures that light the end walls of the transepts. +The fourth contains Renaissance canopies. Throughout all this fifteenth +century glass the deepness of the tones used in the figures within the +niches is most noticeable. + +There are also several sixteenth century windows, the most noteworthy +one being a Tree of Jesse in the east end of the southerly chapel. A +large figure of the Virgin holding the Infant Jesus is shown standing on +the vine just at the point where the branches separate. Jesse's +descendants, drawn to a smaller scale, are emerging from blossoms all +about the Virgin, whom they are intently regarding. + +Although the fifteenth century glass in La Madeleine is not so splendid +as some we have seen elsewhere, it is in such quantity and variety as to +afford valuable facilities for comparison and study. There is also good +glass to be seen in the church of Notre Dame. The picturesque old-world +flavour of Verneuil will perhaps make it a greater favourite with us +than some towns possessing more important windows. + +On leaving Verneuil, whether we decide to return to Paris via Chartres, +or to link this trip on to the next by passing directly to Evreux and +thence to Rouen, we may, by means of a slight detour, go through +Nonancourt. If we do, we should delay there long enough to enter the +church to see the low fifteenth century windows along the nave aisles, +as well as the larger Renaissance ones that stretch in a long row around +the whole length of the clerestory. It will be worth the few additional +kilometres to the automobilist, although hardly demanding the breaking +of a railway journey. + + +CHARTRES + +Besides its wondrous cathedral, Chartres has another though a more +modest sanctuary which also possesses its original glazing almost +intact. This is the church of St. Pierre, a unique example of the +glazier's attempt to meet the objection of light obstruction charged +against the thirteenth century mosaic method. His treatment of the +clerestory lights is of peculiar interest. There are no transepts. +Around the clerestory each window is divided perpendicularly in half, +one side being glazed in colour and the other in soft grisaille. The +only difference in the nave clerestory is that there each window is +divided perpendicularly into three instead of two, the middle division +in each case containing colour work and the two outside ones, grisaille. +This method of glazing, plus the fact that the triforium is pierced, +produces the desired amount of illumination within, but one can hardly +say that it is produced in an altogether satisfactory manner. It is +inevitable that this sandwiching of strips of colour between others of +grisaille should reduce the value of the tints and dull their glow. The +effect is very strange--it is as if tall shutters of dark hue had been +prepared for grisaille windows, but that these shutters had only been +put up on one side of each. Whether one admires it or not, the method is +novel, and worth examining. The new demand for more light has been met, +but we have not yet reached the perfection of church illumination. For +this we must wait until the fully elaborated canopy panels of the +fifteenth century, for in those the glazier hit upon just the right +proportion of colour and translucency by means of convincingly complete +designs containing no jarring contrasts. It is well if one defers this +inspection of St. Pierre, and does not go to it straight from the sombre +glories of the cathedral. Such an immediate comparison will render it +difficult to realise what an agreeable experience the smaller edifice +affords for the student of glass (see page 67). + +Do not fail to go into the Lady Chapel to see the delightful set of +twelve enamels representing the Apostles, by many considered the chef +d'oeuvre of the master of that craft, Leonard Limousin. They are +remarkable not only for their delicious combination of tones and shades, +but also for their unusually large size (two feet high by one foot +broad). One is not surprised at the great care everywhere apparent in +their workmanship when one learns that they were ordered by Francis I, +who, however, did not live to see them finished. His son, Henry II, +presented them to Diane de Poitiers for her Chateau d'Anet. + +Before leaving St. Pierre, observe how excellently the architect +adjusted the relative heights of the bays, triforium and clerestory; so +graceful is the result that we depart with the impression of an edifice +of unusually agreeable proportions. + + +QUIMPER + +Far off in the western corner of France dwells that strange race, the +Bretons. Leave behind you Paris, the standard-bearer of things modern, +and set out for distant Quimper, the westernmost outpost of French +glass. You will find yourself in the midst of a curious folk whose +origin is unknown, in a bleak country where over a million people speak +an uncouth Celtic tongue utterly unlike French; where customs, handed +down from father to son, persist for centuries; where modern costume is +ignored and the peasant glories in his bright blue and gold jacket +adorned with glittering buttons. You have even passed beyond the fabled +forest of Broceliande, where Vivien held the great Merlin by her magic +spell. + +Quimper must be visited for its own sake because there are no +neighbouring glass towns. Long as is the journey, it is safe to say that +you will be repaid for its discomforts. Arrive, if you can, on a Sunday. +The roomy interior of the cathedral is quite as attractive as the +elaborate Gothic detail outside has promised. Here during service, +perhaps more than anywhere else in France, will the middle ages seem to +you still to be lingering on. No stiff rows of pews obtrude their modern +convenience upon your notice. You will find the great church filled with +group upon group of Breton men and women sitting on rude rush-bottomed +chairs, the men in their gay attire and the women wearing quaint white +caps which vary slightly in each little village or commune. All this +serves to take us back into feudal times; we sink into a seat and +observe the intense interest with which our neighbours are following the +ringing exhortations of the priest, couched in homely phrases, quite +like the discourse which his predecessors in the fifteenth century +preached from the same pulpit to a very similar audience. Our mood +becomes so mediaeval as to almost make the ancient stained glass seem +contemporary. It is a pleasant thought that the series of canopy windows +made for the choir clerestory in 1417 by Jamin Sohier should have been +continued and carried along the clerestory of the nave and transepts by +his son, also named Jamin Sohier, towards the end of the same century. +One of these later ones near the west front bears the date 1496. Some of +those in the nave were sadly injured by the stress of time, and a few +altogether destroyed; but they have been repaired and replaced most +successfully, pious care having been taken to restore them as nearly as +possible to their original condition. This was done during the years +1867 to 1874 by M. Lucon at the expense of the State. The nave windows +of the younger Sohier are much more brilliant, both in richness and in +variety of colours, than the earlier choir windows of his father. The +gradual development of the verre double (or double sheets of glass) +placed a greater variety of tints at the disposal of the artist, and he +eagerly took advantage of his enriched palette. By comparing the choir +panels with the later ones of the nave, we have here an excellent +opportunity to study the development of the canopy window. We cannot +help but feel that although the earlier ones lack the brilliancy and +glow which characterise those constructed later, this lack is more than +balanced by the delicious softness of the light which they transmit. It +is interesting to observe how many of them set forth the legend of St. +Christopher. Do not fail to notice the skillful contrast of a strong +yellow with a rich green of which the east windows of the north transept +provide several excellent examples. + +There is a striking peculiarity in the ground plan of this church. The +choir is not upon the same axis as the nave, but inclines at quite an +angle to the north. This peculiarity also exists in one or two other +French churches, and the local authorities always delight to tell you +that it is a form of Gothic symbolism intended to represent the drooping +to one side of the Saviour's head on the Cross. When the true +explanation is discovered, it generally proves to be of a more practical +nature. The same slant to the north is observable in the choir of Saint +Jean, at Troyes; there it was caused by the fact that the street line on +the south side of the choir had to be pushed northward after the great +fire of 1524. At Quimper the explanation is even more interesting. In +1239 Bishop Raynaud wished to add to his cathedral the chapel of Notre +Dame (founded in 1028 by the Count of Cornoucilles) which stood a little +to the east and was across a small street. He extended his choir so as +to take in the chapel; but as it lay a little to the north of the true +easterly line, he had to slant his choir to effect his purpose. This +explanation may not be poetically symbolical, but it is historically +accurate. + + + + +SIXTEENTH CENTURY + + +We have now reached the perfected period of stained glass, by some +called the Renaissance, and by others the Cinque-cento. The latter +affords a graceful recognition of Italian inspiration in the revival of +French art at the beginning of the sixteenth century. By this time the +reader will have appreciated the truth of the statement in our +introduction that stained glass saves us the trouble of dividing it into +periods, because it falls of itself into divisions whose boundaries, +oddly enough, coincide approximately with those of the centuries. This +was heretofore illustrated when the canopy window appeared upon the +scene and caused the abrupt change from the sombre glittering tones of +the thirteenth century to the light-admitting silvery-grey glass of the +fourteenth. Now we are about to see how another change came at the end +of the fifteenth century, when the Renaissance sprang full-grown, not +Minerva-like from the brows of Jove, but from those of Mars, the God of +War, for it was the Italian wars of Louis XII and Francis I that brought +about this sudden regeneration of all branches of French art. What the +French soldiers saw in Italy they remembered and told at home, and, +moreover, many of their trophies bore witness to the wonderful +development then reached by Italian art. The fact that after several +centuries French territory was at last relieved from distress of war +naturally resulted in a sudden interest in building of all sorts. +Because of this, architecture was among the first of the arts to be +affected by the new Italian taste. We have before noticed the +inter-relation of the needs and styles of the architect with those of +the glass artist, and therefore we are not surprised to find our windows +testifying that the latter quickly perceived Gothic architecture was +being superseded by the classic style. During the last two centuries he +had grown to appreciate more and more the light-admitting advantages of +the canopy window, but now he changes the simulated architecture from +Gothic to Renaissance. In his designs we notice an even more important +change, which results from the fact that he now enjoys a good working +knowledge of the laws of perspective and hastens to avail himself of it +in order to lend greater depth to his picture. Indeed, in some +instances, he carried the use of perspective almost to an abuse. His +predecessors in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries knew nothing of +these rules, which, indeed, were then unknown in every art. On our way +down through the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, because most of the +windows are either canopy, or grisaille surcharged with figures, we are +by their very nature denied an opportunity to observe the same gradual +development of perspective which was contemporaneously taking place in +painting. The result is that when in the sixteenth century the glass +artist decided to branch out from the conventional canopy style and +indulge his taste in the more ambitious effort of the picture window, +the sudden change from no perspective to an abundance is all the more +noticeable. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the only hint +obtainable of an increasing interest in perspective was when we noticed +that fifteenth century canopies were more elaborate than those of the +fourteenth, not only because they had much more intricate pinnacles, but +also by reason of the curtains hanging in the back of the niches, and +other details showing attempts to gain depth in the picture. In his +large picture windows the sixteenth century artist also has more chance +to show us how greatly the discovery of enamelling on glass has enriched +his palette. During the two preceding centuries his development of verre +double (or glass in double layers) has been yielding a constantly +increasing variety of hues in the costumes of his personages, +backgrounds, etc.; but now he adds his brilliant enamels and fairly +riots in colour. + +We shall often have occasion to deplore that the glazier of the +Renaissance never truly grasped the full artistic possibilities of the +black outlines ready to his hand in the leads, and that he failed to +realise, as did his predecessors, that the more the drawing was executed +by the leads the more attractive and convincing the resulting picture +would be. Towards the end of this epoch this disregard for their +usefulness in the design was often carried to such an extreme that one +concludes the artist must have regarded them as of no service except to +hold the glass in position. Some of the men who indulged most in enamel +painting became so engrossed in this form of decorating glass as to +consider the leads an intrusion, and as tending to reduce the size of +the sheets, which they preferred should be of large size in order to +facilitate the painting thereon of their pictures. + +To recapitulate, the most noticeable features of the new regime are +then-- + + (_a_) Renaissance architecture depicted instead of Gothic. + (_b_) Larger scenes. + (_c_) Use of perspective. + (_d_) Greatly increased diversity of colour. + (_e_) Use of enamel painting. + (_f_) Increasing carelessness in use of leads. + + [Illustration: "DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST," MONTFORT L'AMAURY (16TH + CENTURY). + _Architecture depicted now entirely Renaissance. Tracery lights + above, much simplified, lend artist more room for his picture. + Lead lines now mar the picture, instead of only providing the + outlines. Drawing greatly perfected; note the excellent + grouping, the "Golden Tongues," etc. Kneeling donors are not + only too large but intrude upon the subject. (See page 237)._] + +Not only does Renaissance architecture supersede the older Gothic on our +windows, but it very naturally brings with it certain characteristics of +the new architect. For example, because he generally placed the date +conspicuously upon his edifice, so in Renaissance glass we find +the glazier introducing the date upon some panel of the simulated +architecture. Before this time, windows were seldom dated; now this +custom soon became firmly established and various methods for it were +devised. In the parish church at Les Iffs, in Brittany, the west panel +of the small chapel on the south side of the choir bears its date upon +a gold coin held by one of the figures. The writer remembers this well, +because, finding no date, it struck him that it might be on the coin. +He piled three chairs, one on top of the other, climbed up, and there +it was. Immediately after the discovery, the chairs fell down! + +Notwithstanding the richness which the artist's palette has attained, we +occasionally meet an indication that he has not forgotten the cool +silvery-grey formerly yielded by the canopy window. He now sought to +obtain the same result in another fashion by occasionally restricting +the colour of a picture window to various shades of grey (or very light +brown), relieved by flesh tints where needed, and enlivened by touches +of yellow stain. We sometimes find a church glazed throughout in this +style, as, for example, St. Pantaleon at Troyes. It was, however, +chiefly used in smaller edifices and for domestic or civil purposes. +This particular manifestation of sixteenth century style outlived most +of its contemporaries and is found as late as the end of the next +century. By this last observation we are naturally led to comment upon +the almost complete collapse of the cult of stained glass that came +at the end of this century. People seemed to no longer care for it, +although it had for more than four hundred years been so highly +esteemed. We read of many instances of artists who had no orders for +work and therefore had to turn their talents into other channels. That +master of so many arts, Bernard Palissy, writing at the end of the +century, tells us that so completely had the sale of glass fallen into +disrepute that it was then hawked about from village to village by those +who sold old clothes and old iron, and that although the art was a noble +one, many of its practitioners found it difficult to get enough to +live upon. For this passing of interest there have been many reasons +advanced, but perhaps the most convincing is that of surfeit. Certain +it is that an enormous quantity of stained glass was produced during +the sixteenth century, much of which has survived. Of course, in some +quarters the cult lasted longer than in others, but then it is generally +traceable to the existence there of a peculiarly gifted group of glass +artists. We shall find this true at Troyes, where the skill and fame of +Linard Gonthier and his school produced such a demand for their work as +to cause the art in that locality to survive far into the seventeenth +century. + +While it is true that during the sixteenth century glass reached its +highest perfection, it is but natural that on the way up it should have +outgrown many of the indications of craft tradition which we have from +time to time noticed. The perfected picture no longer needed certain +conventional signs to tell its story. Perspective and improved drawing +obviated the need of them. There are, however, several instances which +show that even the sixteenth century artist felt the charm of +quaintness, though to a lesser degree than his predecessors. For +example, a window in Caudebec Cathedral (the Passage of the Red Sea by +the Israelites) takes pains to identify the sea by having the waves +glazed in red! Though he had discarded most of the conventions, he +retained and much beautified a few of them. For example, in Tree of +Jesse windows, he far outstripped the older schools in grace and +elaboration of treatment. As an indication of the interest felt in +allegory by the later men we must invite attention to the so-called +"Wine Press" window. Here we have the same branching vine found in the +Tree of Jesse, but in this case it springs from the wounded Christ, who +is being bruised in the press (or sometimes from His pressed-out blood), +and spreads out over the panes, bearing as its blossoms saints, apostles +or historical personages. In a few instances it rises from the wine +pressed by Christ from the grapes. Windows of this type are to be seen +at Conches, at Troyes and many other places, but nowhere is the idea so +elaborated as at St. Etienne-du-Mont in Paris. Sometimes the heads +displayed on the vines indicate another tendency of this century, which +can be particularly noted in the last cited window (by Pinaigrier) and +in Engrand Le Prince's Tree of Jesse at St. Etienne (Beauvais). In these +two the heads prove to be accurate portraits of contemporary royalties +and church dignitaries, a fashion then much affected and highly +esteemed. Another evidence of this same tendency to add personal touches +is shown in the greatly increased use of armorial bearings, not only +serving as the sole decorations of a panel, but also appearing upon +picture subjects. These coats of arms are not only agreeable in effect, +but also by their heraldry are very useful in fixing dates. Many of +these armorial bearings were, however, destroyed after the edict of +1792, forbidding their use. Most sixteenth century windows bear the +donor's figure, nor shall we find excessive modesty shown by the man who +paid the price. In this connection it is interesting to note that +although stained glass has always been very expensive, strangely enough +the expense has remained practically constant throughout all its +history, providing, of course, one takes into consideration the varying +purchasing power of money. In fact, the cost thus corrected varies so +little from epoch to epoch as to be positively surprising. When we +consider how costly was a gift of this sort, perhaps it is not +extraordinary that, during the sixteenth century, we generally find upon +it the givers' portraits; the wonder is that the custom was not more +widely spread before. Unfortunately, the donor was now more aggressive +than his predecessors, for often the figure is not only too large, but +actually intrudes upon the subject of the window. Frequently not content +to appear alone, he had the portraits of several of his family added as +well. + +Before we make our selection of towns to be visited, let us look about +us in Paris, for it has not a little glass to show us. + + +PARIS + +Before starting on our thirteenth century tours, Paris supplied us with +very useful results from our comparison of the glass in the Ste. +Chapelle with that of the north rose at Notre Dame. Not so satisfactory +was our study of the fifteenth century canopy windows at St. Severin in +that city. We shall, however, find excellent sixteenth century glass in +several of the Paris churches, and will thus be afforded an opportunity +to prepare for our excursions by obtaining in advance some idea of the +style of that period, and shall also find some examples by its best +artists. Let us begin at St. Germain l'Auxerrois, whose charmingly light +tower and graceful exterior seem to give the lie to the sinister fact +that from this very belfry rang out the signal for the massacre of St. +Bartholomew. The west wall of the north transept provides a reason for +here beginning our study of sixteenth century glass, because there, side +by side, are two very similar windows, harmonising agreeably one with +the other, and yet the architecture of the canopies of one is fifteenth +century Gothic, and of the other, Renaissance. This very conveniently +illustrates for us one of the marked changes which came over our glass. +If the canopies were not enough to date them, other details are not +lacking to perform that service. The earlier window has all the features +of the distant landscape put in with the leads, while in the later one +they are delicately painted on greyish blue; especially note this in the +well scene. The other windows in this transept are also attractive and +the warmth of some of the reds in the bed draperies of the earlier one +of the pair just mentioned should be noticed. The adjusting of the +figures to their panes in the transept rose windows is adroitly handled, +particularly some of the kneeling angels in the south one. In the west +wall of the south transept, the problem of placing a central figure when +the architect provided only four, instead of five lancets, is gracefully +overcome. + +At St. Gervais we have one of the few opportunities to compare two of +the greatest artists produced by the new school--Robert Pinaigrier and +Jean Cousin--but that is about all that can be said for this ugly +church, where architecture, white windows and modern glass combine to +drive away the student. The best window is by Pinaigrier, the Judgment +of Solomon (second on the right in the choir chapels); it is dated 1531, +and although considered by many his masterpiece, seems to us to have too +much marble pavement, etc., for its personages; and further, the little +scenes in the tracery lights contrast disagreeably not only with the +picture below, but also with its minarets and their sky background which +jut up into the space above. We must, however, note how the accurate +perspective contributed by the lines of the pavement and the distant +architecture facilitates the correct stationing of the figures without +confusing them as to position or foreshortening. His, also, are the +twelve panels in the Lady Chapel, giving scenes from the life of the +Virgin Mary: here the composition is delightful. We may remark in +passing that at least one of them displays verses which by reason of +their quaint expressions are less suited to our times than to the more +unrestrained speech of those earlier days. Jean Cousin's window, the +Martyrdom of St. Lawrence (1551), is the first on the right in the +choir, and though good in technique, is not attractive. We should +reserve judgment upon his work until after we have visited Vincennes. +Across the river and at the top of the hill crowned by the Pantheon is +to be found an edifice that looks more like an architectural freak than +a church--St. Etienne-du-Mont. It seems to realise its own ugliness and +tries to conceal itself behind the Pantheon. Once we enter its portal we +find a vast improvement over the distressing exterior of this confection +of stone. There are plenty of spacious windows and a general airy +effect. Swung high in the air across the front of the choir is a +graceful stone jube arch, seemingly fastened to the columns at each end +by double loops of delicate spiral stairways. The choir is so lightly +constructed, and with so few obstructing columns, that the whole of the +ambulatory space becomes a part of it. This arrangement enables us to +enjoy the glazing of the ambulatory and the choir chapels from all parts +of the building. A little door marked "Sacristie" leads off from the +ambulatory through a corridor to the Chapel of the Catechism. Along the +west wall of this chapel are ranged a series of twelve panels by +Pinaigrier, and because they are on the level of the observer's eye, he +is afforded every facility for examining what could be accomplished by a +great artist in enamelling colour on glass. In fact, there is no place +in France where this can be more conveniently studied. Although all +twelve are fine, that devoted to the allegory of the wine press is +easily the best. Oddly enough, it was the gift of a rich wine merchant. +In it are to be found faithful portraits of Pope Paul II, Emperor +Charles V, Francis I, and Henry VIII of England, as well as sundry +cardinals and archbishops, all in rich ceremonial costume. Needless to +say, those individuals have nothing to do with the subject of the +window, but the opportunity to display portraits of them was too good +for the artist to waste. This frequently appears on glass of the period +and sometimes the result verges on the ludicrous. + +After visiting these stately temples, the quiet church of St. Merri +appears even more modest and retiring than its obscure site just off the +busy quarter about the Hotel De Ville really renders it. In fact, so +well is it hidden that we would have missed it had we not been seeking +very carefully. The windows here are more interesting than beautiful and +their effectiveness has been impaired in several ways. We read that +during the eighteenth century those in charge of the church, after +careful deliberation, replaced a great deal of the coloured by white +glass, especially in the nave, where they removed the two central +lancets of each group of four, leaving only the upper half of the two +outer ones. Of course, the result was not only disastrous to the +window's general effect, but entirely extinguishes any warmth of tone in +such glass as remains. We cannot but deplore the absence of the +abstracted panes, for the remains in the side lancets and tracery lights +evidence such skill, as well in combination of tones as in drawing (more +particularly in the handling of perspective), that one can readily +imagine what harm has been done. Even the few scenes that are left are +well worth inspection, and are as interesting as any of this epoch in +Paris. Notice in the third window on the right, the way in which the +landscape is carried back until it ends in a little red-topped tower, +from which peer out two heads. Fortunately, these deliberate and +painstaking vandals spared the glass in the three westerly windows on +each side of the choir, and also in the eastern walls of the transepts. +The panels on the left, showing the history of Joseph, are better than +their neighbours across the choir. + +Of the sixteenth century glass to be seen in Paris, this much can be +said: it varies markedly, illustrates most of the types of that time, +and is therefore very useful in preparing us for the tours we are about +to take. + + + + +SIXTEENTH CENTURY TOURS + + +We shall have to approach the subject of viewing sixteenth century glass +in a very different spirit from that in which we undertook the tours of +the preceding centuries. We can no longer set up any claim to +thoroughness. If our pilgrim visited all the places recommended in our +thirteenth century excursions, as well as those for the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries, he can rest with the comfortable assurance that he +has seen about all of the really good glass of those periods. Now we +have a different problem. There has survived a great deal more glass +from the sixteenth century than from all the preceding ones combined. He +cannot hope to see it all, and we will have to limit ourselves to +sketching out for him three tours covering the best--supplementing these +by several detached cities, so that if the glass hunter happens in their +neighbourhood he will not overlook them. He will find, however, some +compensations for the bewilderment caused by the great quantity of +sixteenth century glass, the chief of which is that either Rouen or +Troyes provides in its many churches a complete exposition of that +period's style. If the pilgrim's time is limited, he can accomplish more +during a short stay in those two cities than he could upon any tour +which might be outlined. Two other compensations provided by this +abundance of material are--first, that there is a great deal of good +glass to be seen in Paris, and furthermore, the automobilist especially +will delight to learn that there are a half-dozen points in its +immediate neighbourhood which offer an excellent excuse for a half-day's +outing. For the leisurely traveller who has both time and inclination, +we will arrange three tours; but he must understand that although they +will provide him with a sight of the best sixteenth century glass, there +will still be left a number of towns worth visiting. + +Each of these trips will begin in Paris. On Tour (_a_) we first stop at +Vincennes, just outside the fortifications, then on to Sens, to Troyes, +to Chalons-sur-Marne and back to Paris. Tour (_b_) takes us by way of +Versailles to Montfort l'Amaury; then to that perfect shrine of +Renaissance glass, Conches; next to Pont-Audemer; then across the Seine +by boat to Caudebec, and from there upstream, by the interesting old +Abbey of St. Wandrille and the stately Jumieges to Rouen. From Rouen we +run out to Grand-Andely, Elbeuf or Pont de l'Arche before we push up the +river Seine to Paris. Tour (_c_) will particularly recommend itself to +the automobilist, and most of the points are quite near Paris. We go out +through St. Denis to the town of Montmorency, then through the wood of +Montmorency to Ecouen, and next a little further on to Chantilly. From +there our route lies across to Beauvais, and back to Paris. As stated +before, several of the towns comprised in these three tours are so close +to Paris as to enable a glass lover with a half-day on his hands to +pleasantly employ it in a short excursion by train or automobile. Of +course, if he travels by train he can hardly hope in half a day to see +more than one of these. If, however, he is an automobilist and therefore +untrammelled by time-tables, he can combine several. For example, a +glance at the map will reveal that Ecouen, Montmorency and Chantilly are +so close together that an automobilist can fit them into one day. A word +of warning is not out of place for one about to visit these nearby +towns. He must be careful to ascertain from his Baedeker or from the +public prints, upon which days they are open to the public. Montfort +l'Amaury and Ecouen can be seen any day; Vincennes and Chantilly, +Thursdays and Sundays, etc., but these statistics had better be verified +in the manner suggested because the regulations are changed from time to +time. There are three very important glass shrines which are, however, +so located as to make it impossible to combine them into a tour. These +are the Cathedral of Auch (down in the southwest near Toulouse), the +chapel of the chateau of Champigny-sur-Veude in Touraine, and the famous +church of Brou at Bourg in Savoy. The pilgrim should make every effort +to see them. + +[Illustration: 16TH CENTURY TOURS. + + (_a_) _Vincennes, Sens, Troyes, Chalons._ + (_b_) _Montfort l'Amaury, Conches, Pont-Audemer, Caudebec, Rouen, + (Grand-Andely, Elbeuf, Pont de l'Arche)._ + (_c_) _Montmorency, Ecouen, Chantilly (St. Quentin), Beauvais._ + _Also separate visits to Bourg, Auch and Champigny-sur-Veude._ + + (_For table of distances, see page 295._)] + + +VINCENNES + +Vincennes lies so close to Paris that it can be reached by an electric +car which starts from the Louvre. Its sternly forbidding fortress of the +most approved feudal type, and the delightful park, have been the scene +of many an interesting episode in French history. In the old forest +which was the predecessor of the modern park, good Louis IX was wont to +seat himself beneath an oak and measure out to all comers that +even-handed justice which supplied one of the reasons for his +canonisation. Often, on our travels, we have noted how enthusiastically +he espoused the cause of stained glass, and, therefore, we of the +Brotherhood of Glass Lovers should feel a sympathetic glow of interest +whenever we happen upon any scene hallowed by his personality. As for +the castle, perhaps the best proof of its great strength is its sinister +record of having served during many reigns as a dungeon for prisoners of +State. Many are the great names on its roster of prisoners, nor shall we +wonder it was chosen for that purpose after climbing to the top of its +donjon tower and remarking the vast thickness of its walls surrounded by +the deep, yawning moat that isolates it from the smiling countryside. +It is with a feeling of relief that we turn from the contemplation of +such a subject to the delight which awaits us in the graceful Gothic +chapel with its fine vaultings, set off by the superb set of windows +from the hand of that great master, Jean Cousin. Poor windows, they have +suffered many vicissitudes since their completion in 1558; it was not +enough that they should be subjected to the ordinary hazards of +time--they were actually taken out of their settings and moved away! +After an interval they turned up in 1816 in the collection of Lenoir. +Later they were restored to their original embrasures, but some of the +heads and limbs having been lost, a bungling repairer replaced them by +fragments from other panels. Fortunately for us, the last restoration in +1878 has corrected this and they are now in condition to show us what +their artist intended to set forth. Notwithstanding the glaring light +from the uncoloured windows to the west, these stained glass pictures +are so delightful in tone and drawing as to give us a very high opinion +of Jean Cousin. It was but natural that he should, in accordance with +the custom of his time, seize this opportunity to recommend himself to +royal favour, and, therefore, we must not criticise him for putting +Henry II attired as a Knight of St. Michael in one of the eastern +windows. We may, however, very properly object to the presence of the +royal mistress, Diane de Poitiers, among the Holy Martyrs! Henry II +must have lacked a keen sense of humour, or the artist might have run +some risks in so placing the fair Diane. The subjects of these windows +are taken from the stories of the Apocalypse and allow the artist wide +scope for his fancy, of which he avails himself to the fullest extent. +He also indulges in several daring combinations of colour, as for +example, in depicting the flames in the panel to the right of the +central one, where he used lilac, yellow, brown and red, and each colour +in several shades. Just below, in his shipwreck picture, he again +represents the flames in the same bold way. Then, too, there is a +distinctly bluish tone to his enframing stone canopies; all this sounds +very raw and harsh, but the general effect is nevertheless excellent. +This was the official chapel of the Order of the Saint Esprit, so we are +not surprised to find upon some of the windows knights of that order in +full regalia. Vincennes is perhaps the best place to study Jean Cousin; +certainly far better than his birthplace, Sens, which we next visit. +There the cathedral contains but two examples of his skill, but they are +veritable masterpieces. + + +SENS + +Even the most enthusiastic admirer of Sens could not bring himself to +describe that city, or the surrounding country, as picturesque. The +latter is monotonously flat, relieved only by occasional chalk ridges. +The town straggles away from the river Yonne with little to remind us of +its former glories except the cathedral and its immediate neighbourhood. +As we cross the bridge near the railway station we will remark a very +incongruous service which practical science has exacted from a relic of +the past. Rising from the parapet at the highest point of the bridge is +a crucifix up the back of which runs a wire ending over the head of +Christ in an incandescent electric light! When we passed through Sens on +our earlier trip (see page 77) we took occasion to relate the fateful +coincidence which took place in the twelfth century when representatives +from all parts of Christian Europe came there to visit the exiled Pope +just in time to see William of Sens completing, in the cathedral, the +first great step in Gothic. This coincidence not only caused the rapid +spread of the new style of architecture to every part of the Christian +world represented by these visiting delegates, but also explains why +Thomas a Becket, then sojourning in Sens, selected this architect to +rebuild Canterbury Cathedral in far-off England. Now we come to a +sixteenth century tale which serves to show that the people of the +Middle Ages were likewise keenly interested in art and that an artist's +fame travelled perhaps even more widely, all things considered, than it +does to-day. The beautifully light and graceful transepts at Sens were +built by Martin Cambiche, who was also the architect of Beauvais +Cathedral and likewise drew the plans for the west front of St. Pierre +at Troyes. + +First let us look at the cathedral's exterior. When viewing the west +front we are struck by the appearance of unusually great breadth, due +partly to the construction of the cathedral itself and partly to the +placing of the Officialite (a thirteenth century building) which has its +greatest length extending to the south level with the cathedral's west +front. Note the device of the Officialite's architect to increase the +seeming length of his front by gradually diminishing the distances +between his buttresses. Within this fine hall St. Louis (Louis IX) was +betrothed. This ponderous appearance of breadth resulting from the +juxtaposition of these two buildings might have produced too massive an +effect if it were not for the almost coquettish fashion in which the +tower rises up at the cathedral's southwest corner, giving a decided +uplift and point to the entire facade. Although the cathedral has far +fewer windows than we shall see at Troyes (because its triforium is not +pierced), the lighting here is almost garish, owing to the fact that the +clerestory embrasures are glazed only in grisaille. In the charming +transepts, however, we obtain what is perhaps the ideal lighting sought +for by the glass artist of the sixteenth century. The windows are very +numerous and of such general excellence as to render these the best +glazed transepts in France. They have not only unusually ample window +space in their sides, but have also large low-reaching panels below the +big rose windows which, as usual, decorate the upper portion of the end +walls. So generous was this architect in the number and size of wall +apertures as to prove how greatly he esteemed the assistance of the +glazier. The records show that those in charge of the building made most +intelligent use of the opportunity provided by the unusual amount of +window space. They sent far and wide for the best artists. We read +that in 1500 they summoned from Troyes three master glass painters, +Lyenin-Varin, Jean Verrat and Balthazar Godon, and turned a large part +of the work over to them. These men finished their task in three years, +and the result amply justifies their selection. The rose windows are +especially pleasing, that to the south showing the Last Judgment with +many repetitions of the Angel Gabriel, and that to the north a most +charming throng of angels playing upon various musical instruments, +the interweaving of the glass tones being as harmonious as befits this +heavenly choir. The best known window in this part of the church is a +very brilliant Tree of Jesse with a red background bearing on one of its +branches the celebrated Grey Jackass (a familiar figure in the old +"Fete des Fous"): it is at the north end of the east wall of the south +transept. Of the beauty of these transepts, as well as of the way in +which their architecture and glass prove mutually helpful, too much +cannot be said. The most famous windows in the church are two by Jean +Cousin, who, although born in this city in 1501, is only represented in +his home cathedral by these examples. His glorious St. Eutropius is in +the third chapel on the right of the nave, but even finer still is the +Tiburtine Sibyl in the Notre Dame de Lorette chapel on the right side of +the choir ambulatory. It is only fair to this second window to say that +it was somewhat damaged during the siege of 1814. After inspecting these +two products of his genius, it is easy to understand why Jean Cousin +enjoyed so wide a fame. We have already referred to the splendid relics +of the twelfth century which are found on the other side of the choir +ambulatory. The result of this very convenient opportunity to compare +the best work of the twelfth and the sixteenth centuries is that we are +sure to be startled by the difference not only in results, but also in +methods. + + [Illustration: SOUTH TRANSEPT, SENS (16TH CENTURY). + _The Rose is now greatly elaborated, its lines more flowing, and + its position in the wall beautified by the graceful adjustment + of the lancets below._] + + +TROYES + +To-day the flat country of the ancient province of Champagne, broken +only by occasional ridges of the chalk which underlie the surface to the +great advantage of its famous grapes, affords but little of interest to +the traveller by automobile, and has only its level going to recommend +it to the bicyclist. There is not enough traffic on its roads to enliven +the monotony of the journey. How different must it have been when these +same highways teemed with interesting groups from every rank of society, +all crowding to the famous fair of Troyes, which during the Middle Ages +was the bourne of so many traders, knights and other seekers of +adventure from all parts of Christendom. In those days no one would have +had leisure to notice the monotony of the scenery, so engrossed would he +have been in those passing crowds made up of every nationality of +Europe, all repairing to this great mart of trade. During those halcyon +days of commercial distinction there must have been laid broad +foundations of cosmopolitan tastes, and a reflection upon those times +makes it easier to understand why so many artists should later have +been born citizens of that stout burgh. This also explains why so large +a number of Flemish and Italian artists resorted hither, leaving marked +traces of their influence. This prosperity was temporarily checked by +the edict of Louis X forbidding the Flemish to trade at its fairs, and +the absence of these lowlanders was soon followed by that of the +Italians. From this cause, combined with others, the fairs lost their +importance, and the Hundred Years War coming soon after, put the +finishing touches to the city's decadence. The damaging and dreary years +of the English occupation were, however, enlivened by the episode of the +marriage of Henry V of England to Catherine of France, attended by all +the pomp and pageantry that would naturally be attracted thither by so +notable an event. Troyes did not, however, recover her old commercial +prestige until just before the beginning of the sixteenth century. Then +she took such a bound forward as, through the new wealth of her +citizens, to make possible that encouragement of art which developed the +unrivalled school of glass painters soon to make her famous far and +near. In fact, so widely was their fame spread and so firmly were they +established, that their school persisted far into the seventeenth +century, the vigour of their art long outliving that of most of the +other French glass centres. There is no place in France in which one can +better see examples of the various ramifications of the sixteenth +century style in glass. We have here not only the cathedral, but church +after church full of the work of the best masters. We shall see not only +the picture window in lively colour, but also that in the subdued style +of grey and yellow stain, to which we have alluded before. Furthermore, +in the Library there is a series of historical panels which is not +excelled anywhere, the secular topics of the scenes giving an excellent +opportunity to show costumes and manners of the times. Nor must one +confine oneself within the exact limits of the sixteenth century, +because we have noted that here the style of that century extended +practically unchanged far into the next. We shall begin when the style +begins and we shall follow it as long as its healthy life continues. Of +the numerous churches in Troyes, those which chiefly interest the glass +student are the Cathedral, St. Urbain, St. Jean, St. Nizier, La +Madeleine, St. Pantaleon, St. Nicolas, and St. Martin-es-Vignes. Besides +these churches, there is also the Library to be visited for its series +of windows devoted to civic subjects. For a description of that Gothic +eggshell, St. Urbain, turn back to page 82, where will also be found an +account of the splendid thirteenth century glass that makes the choir of +the Cathedral so glorious. + +Let us begin our stroll about the town by a visit to St. Jean. It would +be difficult for a church to more completely preserve its mediaeval +appearance than this one. Besides, the way in which it is tucked in +between two crooked, narrow old streets conforms to the most approved +rules of stage setting. Its quaint, irregular exterior makes it appear a +picturesque medley of three or four churches of varying size, while its +ancient belfry perched on one side like a feather in a cap lends the +ensemble an almost jaunty air. The altar before which Louis II was +crowned and Henry V of England married, has been removed to the east and +placed in the more modern Lady Chapel. We get an interesting hint of the +great value attached to stained glass when we learn that the original of +a window on the right side of the nave clerestory (showing the +coronation of Louis II) was demanded as part of the ransom of Francis I +when he was captured at the Battle of Pavia. This original window is +said to be somewhere in Spain. The axis of the choir slants quite +noticeably from that of the nave, and the priests say that this slant is +intended to symbolise the inclination of the head of Christ on the Cross +after His death. We notice the same difference in axis, as well as the +same tradition, at Quimper, but we there learned that the true +explanation was not so poetic. Here also we are obliged to reject the +quaint legend of the priests; the municipal improvements after the great +fire which ravaged the city in 1524, necessitated the rectification of +the street line, and the north side of the choir had to be slanted to +conform thereto. The glass is in many ways of interest, but has been a +good deal mutilated. That in the nave has suffered most, but fortunately +much of its beauty remains. Notice the admirable Judgment of Solomon on +the south side. In the choir and in its chapels we shall get a real +taste of the Troyes glass school, some of the windows being excellent, +especially that of the brothers Gonthier, showing the Marriage Feast at +Cana, the Manna in the Desert, etc. In many of the churches in this city +we shall observe paintings hung upon the walls, and two of those which +decorate this sanctuary will serve to remind us that Pierre Mignard, the +great painter of Louis XIV, was born here. + +Another ancient church, and one much richer in glass, is St. Nizier. Its +original glazing had remained practically intact until in August, 1901, +when a most unusual calamity overcame some of it. An anarchist exploded +a bomb in a chapel on the north of the choir. We have observed what our +poor friend has had to endure in many places, but to be shattered by an +anarchistic explosion seems a most incongruous fate. It is, however, a +pleasant surprise to find how little damage was done by this act of +vandalism. The finest window is undoubtedly that which adorns the south +transept and shows Religion overcoming Heresy. The central one in the +choir (the Virgin Mary and the Apostles receiving the Holy Ghost) is by +the celebrated Macadre of Troyes, but the writer finds its effect +injured by the fact that the artist (probably to indicate that the side +panels are to be considered in conjunction with the central one) allows +the hands of certain figures at the side to extend over upon the central +panel. This century surely went far enough in its disregard for the +delimiting duties of the leads, but when we find an artist so careless +of the properties of his materials as to put a hand over on the other +side of a stone mullion, it would seem that the limit had been exceeded. + +The most ancient of all the Troyes churches is La Madeleine. It contains +a marvellous jube arch swung in air between the two western columns of +the choir. Although of stone, the workmanship is so delicate and +lace-like that we are not surprised that the epitaph of its builder +buried below used to read that he calmly awaited the Judgment Day with +no fear of the stone arch falling upon him. The glass around the choir +is excellent, but we must go to the Lady Chapel to see the best. On the +right is a Tree of Jesse, remarkable for the number of figures it +contains. The east window is the gift of the Jewellers' Guild, which +fact is carefully set forth thereon. To the left is a fine example of +glass-making, but in addition to that, because of the treatment of its +subject, it is as interesting as one will often find. Beginning at the +lower left-hand corner and reading to the right, are a series of scenes +depicting the creation of the world, Garden of Eden, etc. The +imagination of the artist set forth the creation of the world in a +manner surprisingly close to the latest theories of modern science. He +starts with a round glowing ball of matter which, by means of rotation +upon its axis, develops in the succeeding pictures, first, a more +symmetrical shape, and then the appearance of land, formation of +continents, etc., etc. On the left of each of these scenes stands the +figure of Jehovah, in a costume resembling that of a high priest. There +is hardly a window in France that tells as much or is more interesting +in the telling than this one. + + [Illustration: "CREATION" WINDOW, LA MADELEINE, TROYES (16TH CENTURY). + _Read from left to right, beginning with lowest tier. Earth + evolved from chaos, shown by glowing yellow ball revolving on + its axis; birth of Eve, etc. Tracery Lights above are becoming + simpler in form as elaborate Gothic gives way to Renaissance._] + +Now we come to a style that is better shown here than anywhere else--the +picture window composed of grey and occasionally some flesh tints, with +touches of yellow stain to relieve it. Two churches are entirely glazed +in this manner--St. Pantaleon and St. Nicolas. The latter, it is true, +has one or two of its upper windows in colour, but the general effect +is that of a church glazed in grey and stain. Of course, these two +interiors, because of this glazing, are very brilliantly lighted, and +in the opinion of the writer, much too brilliantly. This method proved +very felicitous when devoted to domestic purposes (as found towards the +end of this century and during the early part of the next), but for +a religious edifice, although interesting, it is doubtful if it is +beautiful or suitable. There are some unusual architectural features to +be found in both these churches. St. Nicolas has a very graceful stone +gallery extending across the western end approached by a gradually +bending staircase, the supports of which are of admirable design. St. +Pantaleon can hardly be said to be attractive. The interior is too high +and too glaringly lighted, but it affords the best opportunity to study +this grey and stain style. Notice that freely as is the yellow stain +used to enliven the monotony of the greys, it does not succeed in +producing the charming silvery tone yielded by the canopy window of the +two preceding centuries. Here and there one observes an attempt to +modify the ultra-yellowish grey tone by introducing blues into the +borders. The falseness of style everywhere noticeable reaches its climax +in a gallery on the left near the entrance, containing two stone figures +which appear to be looking down from it. Do not fail to visit St. +Pantaleon in order to study its unusual glazing, but do so out of +curiosity and not expecting beauty, or you will be disappointed. Its +lack of charm will, however, prove useful if you go straight on from +here to the Cathedral, for by contrast it will intensify your +appreciation of the sympathetic assistance which the wealth of colour +there lends to the splendid architectural effect of the interior. We +have already taken our reader to inspect the thirteenth century glass +around the choir, but now we will have him stop in the nave to see the +work which the sixteenth century produced. One immediately notices the +particularly clear fresh colouring of the glass, and this, combined +with its great quantity (for the pierced triforium permits an +additional row of windows besides the clerestory above and the aisles +below), produces an impression which is so unique, and so distinctive, +that it always lingers in the memory. The rather unpleasant contrast +noticed at Bourges between the depth and the warmth of the thirteenth +century and the lighter tones of the later glass is fortunately absent +from Troyes. The reason for this is the unusually rich colour of the +later windows. From so many excellent ones it is difficult to select a +few to mention, but we particularly commend the fourth on the right (a +Tree of Jesse) and the one in the fourth chapel on the left, Linard +Gonthier's famous Wine Press. The Tree of Jesse is not only a beautiful +example of its type, but is rather out of the ordinary because it has a +red instead of a blue background. Upon this window, as well as on most +of the others, are to be seen the donors, their coats-of-arms, and other +interesting sixteenth century features. Gonthier's Wine Press is so well +known as hardly to call for a word of description. Christ is stretched +out in the press, His blood running into a chalice, while from His +breast springs a vine spreading over the window, bearing as its blossoms +the twelve Apostles. Although this window is dated 1625, it is in the +best style of the sixteenth century and shows no tendency towards +decadence in either drawing or colouring. Before leaving the interior, +notice an odd architectural device in the north rose. This window is of +the wheel type and has a supporting column running up through it as far +as its middle, suggesting a gigantic pinwheel. There is a similar +supporting column in the north rose at Tours, but there it runs straight +up through the window to the top, and unfortunately is too heavily and +solidly built. + +Nearly all mediaeval glass was adorned with religious subjects, and +therefore we have an unusual treat when we visit the large hall of the +Library and examine the thirty-two panels that fill its eight large +windows. They are from the hand of Linard Gonthier, and the scenes are +commemorative of the visit to Troyes of Henry IV in 1595. Very charming, +indeed, are these pictures of the life and pageants of the time. There +are many familiar little touches, such as a small boy being pushed off +into the water by the crowd, etc. Some of the panels are also rich in +armorial bearings. + +We have purposely delayed until the last any reference to St. +Martin-es-Vignes because it was entirely glazed at the time when the +Troyes sixteenth century school, although still worthy of its +traditions, was about reaching its end. This glass is uniformly good and +provides a most pleasing interior, obviously relying for its effect upon +the glazing. The dating is that of the earlier years of the seventeenth +century. If we examine the windows too closely we easily find +indications of a decadence of style. For instance, the second on the +left gives so much importance to the kneeling donors that, although we +cannot deny the excellence of the work, we must strongly criticise the +taste which made them so prominent a feature. Regarded as a whole, +however, the result in this church is so excellent that it clearly +proves what we have before stated, viz.: the virility and strength of +the glassmaker's art at Troyes outlasted that of most of the +contemporary French schools. + + +CHALONS-SUR-MARNE + +Before paying our second visit here to examine the sixteenth century +windows, let us turn back to page 87 and refresh our memory by glancing +through the account of our thirteenth century trip to this city. We +shall thus be reminded of the modestly retiring beauty of its small +parks, as well as of its cathedral and two fine churches. Every style of +sixteenth century glass is to be found in Chalons, but for all that it +would hardly be selected as one of the best places in which to compare +them. The small church of St. Alpin has in its nave a series of +excellent windows of yellow stain and grey such as we noticed in St. +Pantaleon and St. Nicolas at Troyes. In those two churches the +relatively great window space exposes the weakness of this style by +demonstrating that in large interiors it makes the light glaring. By +contrast, in St. Alpin, where the nave ceiling is low and the window +apertures small, this method of glazing, by admitting a great deal of +light, produces a very happy effect. In this St. Alpin glass there are +marked traces of Italian taste, more so than in that at Troyes, though +the latter is commonly credited with being the most noticeably affected +by foreign influence. The first one on the right, showing St. Alpin +before Attila, is delightful, every advantage having been taken of the +softness of tone which is the chief merit of this particular treatment. +Some of the others are also good, but the one just mentioned is the +best. Around the choir are interesting coloured panels, but so broken up +into small scenes as to be rendered ineffective. The handsome church of +Notre Dame does not, in its windows, fulfill the promise of its +architecture. A great deal of the glass is new, and much of the old is +mutilated, but in the lower row on the left side of the nave there are +several brilliant examples of what the sixteenth century Champagne +school could accomplish in the picture window. Especially vigorous and +striking is the first on the left, showing St. James encouraging the +Spaniards to defeat the Moors. It is as good a battle picture in glass +as one will find. In the fifth on the left (a Crucifixion scene) we note +a trick often observed in this province, for the little golden stars are +separately leaded into the blue sky. Passing on to the Cathedral, +disappointment awaits us. On our former visit we found it so fruitful +and interesting in thirteenth century glass that we had a right to +expect more than is yielded by the inspection of the row of sixteenth +century windows which extend along the lower right side of the nave. The +canopies in the sixth one betray that it is fifteenth century, but all +the others are later. The first on the right is the most interesting of +this series, although it is the poorest in execution. On eleven of its +compartments are represented scenes from the Creation, Garden of Eden, +etc., wherein certain quaint conceits are noticeable. Unfortunately its +many nudes are very poorly drawn and the glass used is mediocre in +quality. We can here clearly see that, although the artist of this +period was saved a great deal of lead work by his large pieces of glass, +their use required him to select sheets of evener tone and better +quality than in the days when his pieces were much smaller. + + +MONTFORT L'AMAURY + +An agreeable route from Paris to Conches, etc., is by way of Montfort +l'Amaury, which lies beyond Versailles, just off the main road to Dreux, +and 45 kilometres distant from Paris. If the pilgrim is travelling by +train or if he wishes to go straight from Paris to Conches, he should +then postpone until another occasion his visit to Montfort l'Amaury, and +will thus keep in store for himself a very pleasant half-day automobile +excursion. The object of the visit proves to be a small church which has +preserved its sixteenth century glazing practically intact. Nothing +could be more simple than its ground plan, for there are no transepts, +no chapels, simply one long building rounded at the east end, whose +shape suggests that of a man's thumb. While we must not expect to find +so splendid a glass series as at Conches, neither must we fail to +appreciate that here is a church with thirty-three windows, all of the +sixteenth century, and in excellent state of preservation. As we enter +by the small south portal the effect that meets our eye is most +agreeable. Closer inspection of the windows unfortunately reveals that +they vary markedly in quality and are evidently the work of different +artists. It cannot be denied that many of them are commonplace, although +none is really poor. Their dating helps to explain this mediocrity, for +they were constructed towards the end of the sixteenth century, at a +time when our art was hurrying into decadence. The few earlier ones, and +especially that dated 1544, are the best. The latter is the eighth on +the left and depicts Jesus being shown to the people. Another, the third +on the left, tells the story of Joseph, and is an obvious example of the +Italian influence so prevalent during that epoch. The scene in which he +is escaping from Potiphar's wife is almost an exact copy from Raphael. +We must not fail to remark the third from the eastern end, in which the +Holy Ghost is descending upon the assembled disciples in the form of a +shower of golden tongues. The grouping of the figures, the play of the +colours, and the richness lent by these touches of gold, all combine to +make a brilliant picture. The second to the right of this contains the +Falling of Manna in the Wilderness, but as the tones used here are much +lower, and the manna is depicted as a rain of white spots, the window, +as a whole, is much quieter than the one just described. In the church +at Montfort l'Amaury an instructive light is thrown upon the obtrusive +appearance of donors so frequently found during the sixteenth century. +We know that the figures are often so large as to be positively +obnoxious, but it is here demonstrated beyond doubt that the artist +worked very much more carefully upon these portraits than upon the rest +of his window. There are few places where this can be more conveniently +studied, and for this reason our visit has been a useful one, even +though the glass be of a class a little below the best. + + +CONCHES + +There are four modest shrines to which every glass lover should contrive +to repair, no matter what may be the difficulties in the way nor how +much time it may take. Of these four, one at Fairford (near Oxford) is +in England, while the other three are in France, and are the Ste. +Chapelle in Paris, the village church at Eymoutiers and Ste. Foy at +Conches. In each we find the church completely glazed in one period and, +furthermore, with the best glass then procurable. The scene that to-day +meets our eye in each of these small sanctuaries is practically the same +that rewarded the artist the day he completed his work. We have +frequently had occasion on our tours to notice how much certain glass +would have been improved if contrasting windows could but be removed +from the edifice, or the edifice itself in some way changed. There will +be no need for any such mental correction of the picture when we visit +Conches. Here, after you have closed the door on the twentieth century +life outside, you feel that you have turned back the finger of time and +are living in the days of that eloquent beauty which speaks out to you +from its windows. Perhaps nowhere else will you get the wonderful accord +of tone with tone and hue with hue that makes the colour at Conches so +radiantly lovely. We find ourselves in a very simple church about twice +as long as broad, the only departure from its rectangular plan being a +small five-sided chapel which projects from its eastern end. There is +nothing to aid the glass in its service of making splendid the interior. +In fact, one might add that there is nothing which dares insult it by an +offer of so obviously unnecessary assistance. Practically all the +windows are of the sixteenth century, and they are so fine that it seems +unfair to call particular attention to the elaborate set designed by +Aldegrevers, a pupil of Albrecht Duerer. These fill the seven tall +windows of two lancets each, which light the eastern chapel and are +dated 1520. Of the forty-two subjects upon these windows, those in the +upper range show scenes from the life of Christ and those in the lower +from that of Ste. Sophia. It is unfair to describe them; they should be +seen. At this point we may comment that although it is occasionally +possible to convey some idea of an individual panel by technical +description, it is useless to attempt, by means of words, to give a +reader a just conception of such an interior as the glass produces at +Conches. Beside these by Aldegrevers there are eighteen others whose +dates, running from 1540 to 1553, show them to be of slightly later +construction. In the fourth on the right the allegorical subject +contains an unusual detail. A group of figures represent the Liberal +Arts, and among them, Music: upon her insignia appears a musical phrase +expressed in proper notation. This representation of written music upon +glass is extremely rare. We shall see another of the very infrequent +instances when we visit Caudebec. Among the finest windows is the fifth +on the right, which represents the allegory of the Wine Press. Here the +subject is not treated in the usual gruesome fashion. It is not the +blood of Christ which serves as the wine but, instead, the juice of +grapes which He is crushing in the press. Throughout all these windows +the distant landscapes are depicted in much more convincing colouring +than is usually found at this time. This seems due to the fact that the +light blue glass used for that purpose is left clear of all paint except +that needed for delineation. Elsewhere these blue backgrounds often have +so much paint upon them as to be rendered partly opaque and therefore +incapable of simulating the depth necessary for great distances. In +strength as well as in judicious combination of a surprisingly wide +range of colours, their century can show few examples to rival these. +Not only is their value enhanced by the simplicity of the interior which +they decorate, and which, therefore, has nothing to distract our +attention from their beauty, but this very beauty is made all the more +impressive by the sharp contrast provided by the dullness of the little +town outside and the plain exterior of the church which it so glorifies. + + +PONT-AUDEMER + +The church of St. Ouen at Pont-Audemer will always have for the writer +that peculiar charm of almost proprietary right which the discoverer is +sure to feel in something upon which he has happened unexpectedly. On +his way through the town he saw the church, and having noticed from the +outside that the windows contained stained glass, he stopped and went +in, undeterred by the positively dishevelled look of the unfinished and +dismantled west front. A delightful surprise awaited him. Around the +walls of the nave, the space usually occupied by the triforium gallery +here becomes a broad frieze so exquisitely carved in Gothic patterns as +seemingly to drape the walls with lace. In fact, you hardly notice the +unfinished condition of the upper part of the church, so engrossed are +you in this very unusual feature, one of which any cathedral in France +might be proud. And in the embrasures below, what a gallery of +harmonious glass! Not only are the individual windows excellent, but +they harmonise so well as to make one feel that each artist must have +been at the greatest pains to make his work contribute to and not +interfere with the general scheme. It is for the glass hunter a treasure +trove to find a church which has preserved a complete glazing of one +period, but to have the windows all good, and better still, in such +charming accord with each other, makes the occasion of his visit to +Pont-Audemer a red-letter day. The ground plan of the church is somewhat +broken up, but even that seems but to add to the charm of the interior. +The first window to the left in what might be called the choir +ambulatory is not only the best but by far the most interesting. Without +any definite division of its surface into panels, the whole picture +seems to gracefully resolve itself into four contrasting scenes from the +Old and the New Testament, entitled "Devant la Loy," "Soubz la Loy," +"Devant la Grace," "Soubz la Grace." The effect of clouds in the sky is +very elaborately worked out, while here and there between them peep +forth the head and wings of little cherubs--it is really very engaging. +Possibly the over-captious visitor may consider the combination of small +heads and surrounding clouds somewhat reminiscent of the buttons holding +down upholstery, but such a carping critic should be packed off about +his ill-tempered business! In a window on the right side of the nave the +donors are ranged along a little gallery in the lowest panel. This +method has in its favour that it does not present them as intruders on +the picture, so often the case in this century. We carry away with us a +charming impression of the service rendered by the glass in toning the +light for the graceful stone carvings on the nave walls. The effect is +unique. + +On the outskirts of the town there is a small church, St. Germain, whose +east window is an agreeable example of fifteenth century canopy work. + + +CAUDEBEC-EN-CAUX + +Our way from Pont-Audemer lies for some little distance through the +large Foret de Brotonne, one of those tidy symmetrical woods produced by +the excellent system of French forestry. Its excellence, however, is +largely practical, for all the charm of the "forest primeval" is pruned +away. On reaching the banks of the Seine we find ourselves in full view +of the pretty town of Caudebec, its graceful cathedral spire beckoning +us across the water. It is just at this point in the river that there +occurs the Mascaret, the local name given to a swift-rushing wave +produced by the conflict between the incoming tide and the outgoing +current of the river; it takes place only at stated intervals and is +then viewed by numerous tourists. Assuming that we have arrived at a +time when the Mascaret is not interfering with navigation, we embark +upon a flat, open ferry-boat and soon reach the bank on the other side +and are off to the cathedral. Few French churches have their Gothic +architecture lightened and beautified by more infinite detail of carving +than this at Caudebec, while over all rises an airy spire encircled at +three different heights by a stone crown--a form of decoration very +unusual and quite lovely. Above the west portal is a gallery that +attracts our notice because its open-work stone railing is composed of +Gothic letters. Once inside the church, we realise that the windows are +well worth a visit, particularly to one seeking quaint details in glass, +for there are many such here. We have already referred in our +introduction to the first window on the right, the Israelites crossing +the Red Sea. In order to render the scene as descriptive and realistic +as possible, red glass is used to make the sea, thus removing any +possible doubt in the observer's mind as to the identity of that body of +water. Almost opposite (the second on the left) is a Tree of Jesse, upon +which the descendants appear at full length instead of as the usual +busts. Much golden brown is used, not only in the intricate convolutions +of the vine, but also in the costumes and in the stone terrace +supporting the pavilion below which Jesse is seated. Above the small +north portal is a pleasing canopy window of the fifteenth century whose +unusual feature is that the bottom of it is curved to fit the arched top +of the door. Because of this unusual base, the customary pedestals at +the foot could not be used, but the irregularly shaped space is +tastefully filled with decorations of yellow stain, surcharged with +shields whose heraldry catches the eye of the American traveller, +because they bear stars on a blue field, as well as red and white +stripes. Fifteenth century canopies also fill the first window to the +east of this portal and the three to the west, one being dated 1442, +and all containing four lancets. A couple of windows across the church +are also of this type, while the whole of the side-lights of the +clerestory contain contemporary light-admitting panels, whose colour is +restricted to a few round bosses bearing golden rays, and to the broad +golden borders which here are carried up into and almost fill the +tracery panes above. Another very unusual feature (and one which we have +just noticed at Conches) is the presence of two pieces of music written +out in the form called "full chant" and borne by angels. + +If one can spare the time, Villequier, four kilometres down the Seine, +should be visited. The small church there has seven excellent sixteenth +century windows, one of which, that in the centre on the north side, is +really famous. The lower half of its three lancets each contains a +figure on a white background bearing an etched damasked pattern, +bordered richly in gold. Across the entire upper half is spread out a +spirited naval battle in which four ships are engaged. The armoured +knights are depicted with great vigour, while excellent use is made of +the artistic possibilities provided by three great pennants, two of red +with white crosses, and one of yellow bearing a black eagle. + +The route from Caudebec to Rouen is charming, thanks to the +ever-changing views provided by the windings of the Seine. If we please, +we may stop on the way to view the Abbey of St. Wandrille (recently +purchased by Maeterlinck) and also the loftily impressive ruins of the +Abbey of Jumieges. Jumieges, in the midst of its beautiful park, is most +picturesquely situated within one of those very pronounced loops so +common in the lower Seine, which seem to signify the unwillingness of +its waters to depart from this delightful corner of France. + + +ROUEN + +Upon approaching Rouen one is sure to be struck by the insolent daring +of its situation. Lying on a sloping plain beside the river, it seems to +disdain the well-nigh impregnable site afforded by the steep cliffs +which rise just to the northeast. The history of the city bears out the +audacity of its location. Through all the centuries its inhabitants +concerned themselves so continuously in conquering other peoples that +little time was left in which to consider the security of their own +homes. The Norman boasted that his strongest defence was a vigorous +offence, and he made good his boast. The town of William the Conqueror +seems always to have been imbued by the spirit which gave him his name, +and the triumphs of the Normans in England, and later in Italy, are but +natural expressions of that virility of race which endures to the +present day. Upon the arms of the city there appears a lamb with one of +its forefeet lifted. Upon this is based the old Norman saying, "L'agneau +de la ville a toujours la patte levee," a homely comment upon the +restless spirit of its citizens and their disposition to be always up +and doing. Perhaps the most characteristic feature of Rouen when viewed +from a distance is the great number of its spires that shoot up above +the house-tops, earning for it the sobriquet of the City of Churches. +This very attractive detail is all the more striking because so rarely +seen in French towns, and is particularly reminiscent to one freshly +arrived from England, a country whose church towers are such a charming +feature of the landscape. Full of significant history is this Rouen--a +history branded for all time by the cowardly fire that ended the +tortures of Joan of Arc, that strangely potent and beautiful spirit. +Fortunately, no trace remains of that dastardly deed. Turning to a less +sinister page in the city's history, we see on one side of the +market-place, a small pagoda-like structure called the old tower of the +Fierte. Here, on Ascension Day in every year, was freed a prisoner +selected by the people, and that this privilege was jealously retained +by them is proved by the existence of a complete list of the prisoners +so freed from 1210 to 1790. Nor do the records stop there: they also +narrate many a fierce encounter resulting from the determination of the +burghers to preserve this right. Most of the quaint features of the town +have been modernised away--so thriving a commerce as here flourishes +could not long tolerate the old narrow crooked streets. Where old +features remain they are so obviously protected as to look almost +theatrical. Of this the two best examples are the clockbearing archway +over the street which bears its name (Grosse Horloge), and the ancient +carved wood housefront transported from its original site, affixed to +another dwelling and dubbed the House of Diane de Poitiers. + +Placed just at the point where ships coming in from the sea must +transfer their freight to the smaller vessels that go up the Seine, +Rouen is so intent upon her commerce, that all the principal hotels are +strung along the quays on the riverfront, a very unusual arrangement in +a French town. When we visited the church of St. Ouen to see its +fifteenth century glass, we mentioned the esteem in which the Rouen +glass-makers were held at that time both at home and abroad. From what +we are now about to see we can judge for ourselves how much truer it +must have been in the sixteenth century. The number of splendidly glazed +churches which have been preserved for our inspection almost consoles us +for the long list of others swept away by the ruthless vandalism of the +Revolution, and, to a less extent, by the peaceful hand of time or the +mailed fist of war. The principal ones we should visit (beside St. +Ouen already described) are St. Maclou, St. Vincent, St. Patrice, St. +Godard, St. Romain and the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Perhaps the +least interesting sixteenth century glass is in that gem of Gothic +architecture, St. Maclou, whose florid facade has its bizarre charm +accentuated by the graceful bowing outwards of the west front. The +glass that attracts us most is in the transept rose windows, the lancets +below them and in the very brilliant western rose. All these roses are +dwarfed by the excessive size of the pendent lancets: it is all the more +unfortunate, because considered separately the roses as well as the +lancets are excellent. The earlier windows in the choir chapels have +been described in our former visit (see page 144). In the south transept +a well-composed Crucifixion scene is carried across all the lancets. The +north transept contains a Tree of Jesse on a blue background, and oddly +enough, the tree has white branches. In leaving St. Maclou, notice the +dainty spiral staircase that winds up at the south side of the door; it +seems almost too delicate to be made of stone. + +St. Vincent has its entire lower part lighted by large embrasures +completely glazed with glass of this period, producing a singularly +brilliant and luminous effect all about us. The columns which separate +the ambulatory from the choir are so slender that they do not materially +interfere with our view, and thus the whole interior is exposed at once, +an enclosure of glorious colour. In fact, it is not too much to say of +this church and, to a less extent, of the two which we shall next visit, +that they are bowers of iridescent glowing light. There are two Trees of +Jesse at St. Vincent, one over the north portal, and another at the east +end of the south aisle, but inspection of the latter reveals that the +genealogical tree rises not from Jesse but from St. Anne! In the true +Jesse tree over the northern door the branches are white, a peculiarity +just noticed at St. Maclou. + +St. Patrice differs from St. Vincent in that, instead of seeming to +stand in the midst of a circle of luminous colour, our attention is +rather directed towards the splendid bow-window at the east with its +Crucifixion scene, to which all the rest of the glass seems decorously +subordinated. Although glazed a little later than St. Vincent, it yields +the same splendidly luminous effect, the natural result of a series of +panels all of this period. The chief boast of this church is the Triumph +of the Law of Grace by Jean Cousin in the Lady Chapel. Nor is his the +only great name that we shall find frequently upon the glass of Rouen. +One window much admired for its felicitous combination of theoretically +uncongenial colours is that which sets forth the legend of St. Hubert. +Its greens, reds, yellows and blues must be seen before one can believe +that it is possible to agreeably unite them. + +Our next church is St. Godard, whose ancient glories have been so +restored and replaced by modern trash that we find it hard to believe +that, when it possessed its original glass, no church in all Normandy +could vie with it. To-day it is far less attractive than St. Vincent and +St. Patrice, the latter of which, by the way, now contains several of +the original windows of St. Godard. The second in the chapel named +after St. Romain, depicting scenes from his life, is one of the few in +the church which is not either restored or renewed. It is so good in +every way that one is surprised the other windows do not seem more out +of place by contrast. We sigh for the days when there was justified the +phrase used by the Norman peasant in describing good wine, "As red as +the windows of St. Godard." + +Near the railway station is St. Romain, which, though less ancient than +those which we have just visited, is the fortunate possessor of glass +brought from several of the churches swept away by the Revolution. +Particularly notice the spirited scene of St. Romain slaying the +Gargouille, the fabled dragon of early Rouen. On the left, in what seems +to be a transept, is a pretty window at the bottom of which appear such +a sensibly modest row of small kneeling donors that we could wish that +all sixteenth century glaziers might have seen them, and had been +thereby restrained from their customary exaggeration in this particular. +Unfortunately, the ancient panels were not large enough to fill the +embrasures here provided, so this extra space was filled by wide borders +of light modern glass. The result is that these borders admit such a +flood of light as to drown the beauties of the older panels. + +Now we have arrived at the Cathedral. Before we enter, let us feast our +eyes upon the delicate Gothic detail which softens and decorates its +sturdy west front. At the southwest corner rises the Tour du Beurre, +built (as was the same named tower at Bourges) from the moneys received +out of the sale of indulgences to eat butter during Lent. The modern +iron spire is so well designed as to seem hardly out of place among its +older sisters. We should enter by the north portal. Just outside it is +an enclosure formerly devoted to exhibiting the wares of booksellers, +which is shut off from the street by a light Gothic screen. Viewed +through it the wonderful carvings on the north portal become doubly +effective. The interior of the cathedral is as full of interest as the +best style of Gothic can make it. On the right is a very attractive +zigzag stairway which leads up to the library. In the Lady Chapel are +two especially fine tombs, one of the Duc de Breze, husband of the +famous Diane de Poitiers, and the other of Louis XII's great Minister, +Cardinal d'Amboise. The fourteenth century glass of this chapel has +already been described (see page 144). The 130 windows which light the +cathedral's interior are mostly glazed in colour, but they are the +product of various centuries and are of varying excellence. We find here +but eight thirteenth century medallion windows, but they are delightful. +Two of them are in the nave, the third and fourth on the left. The +others are in the choir ambulatory and are so placed as to be singularly +effective. If one stands in either the north or the south aisle of the +nave and looks directly east, the only glass which meets his eye is that +of windows brilliant with these early medallions, far off at the other +end of the great cathedral. Just at this time the western rose window +chiefly concerns us because it is of the sixteenth century. Its +concentric circles of white angels, red seraphim, green palm branches, +etc., provide a strong contrast between the reds and yellows (filling +the centre third of it) and the dark greens and dark blues of the outer +two-thirds. In the southeasterly corner of the south transept, the +window on the east, as well as that on the south, are worthy of our +attention. The latter is by Jean Cousin, and its six panels show six +virtues, each entitled in Latin. Those of us who are subject to fits of +depression should especially observe "Fortitudo," for there the bishop +has slain the Blue Devil, and is pursuing its lilac and its green +brothers! + +Although St. Ouen has already been visited for its magnificently +complete fourteenth century glazing (see page 144), the rose windows of +its transepts are such noteworthy examples of the Renaissance that we +must not omit a comment upon them at this point. That in the north +transept has its diverging figures arranged like herrings in a barrel, +but while those at the sides and around the lower part are light in +tone, those in the upper part are red seraphim and blue cherubim: this +is very unusual. The south rose is peopled by a multitude of small +personages, each occupying a pane by itself. Careful examination reveals +that we have here a Tree of Jesse. He is in the middle, but it is only +with some difficulty that we distinguish the branches of the vine +radiating from him. + +Before leaving Rouen the traveller should see the interesting carvings +on the House of Bourgetheroulde, depicting the Field of the Cloth of +Gold, nor will he fail to admire the magnificent apartments which Norman +love of equity constructed for it in the Palais de Justice. + +Besides the towns already visited, there are three others near Rouen +which contain interesting glass, Grand-Andely, Elbeuf and Pont de +l'Arche, distant, respectively, 33, 20 and 18 kilometres from Rouen. +They are worth a visit if one can spare the time, but we risk an +anti-climax in recommending our traveller to see them after the glories +of the Norman capital. The nearness of these towns and also of +Pont-Audemer (48 kilometres), Caudebec (35 kilometres), and Conches (51 +kilometres), suggests a way in which one can change the whole itinerary +just outlined. This can be done by using Rouen as a centre from which to +run out and back, and thus visit all this group of six without cutting +oneself off from one's base. To one at all encumbered with luggage, this +suggestion will probably appeal. + + +GRAND-ANDELY + +Of the trio just mentioned, Grand-Andely is much the most interesting, +in fact it deserves greater renown for its glass than it at present +enjoys. Unfortunately only one side of the church retains its original +glazing, but we find ample compensation for this, because the entire +southern half is filled with brilliant sixteenth century subjects, not +only along the chapels below, but also in the clerestory. After a +delightful hour spent here one readily credits the tale that a youth of +the neighbourhood, by constantly contemplating their glories, so +developed his love of colour that he determined to devote his life to +painting. This youth was Nicolas Poussin. The great width of the +embrasures, as well as their number (six in the nave and four in the +choir, on each side, both above and below), provide ample scope for the +display of the glazier's skill. Among so many of such excellence it is +difficult to select which to praise the most, but the third on the right +in the nave clerestory (dated 1560), because of Abraham's gorgeous +yellow robe, as well as the blue canopy with red draperies above the +aged Isaac, will linger longest in the writer's memory. Even when +viewed on a dull, grey day, one cannot escape from the impression that a +bright sun is shining outside, because of the brilliancy of this +window's hues. It is one of the few examples of this epoch to possess +that peculiarity, which, by the way, is so common among the mosaic type +of the thirteenth century. This tendency towards the ornate, everywhere +apparent throughout this series, finds its ultimate expression in the +sixth nave chapel on the right, where the stonework of the Renaissance +canopies is heavily overlaid with golden designs. The choir's four +southerly clerestory windows each contains a large figure under a canopy +of the time, the treatment varying in each case. Below, in the south +wall of the choir, the tracery lights of the two easternmost windows are +filled with diminutive angels, eleven praying or playing musical +instruments in one of them, and in the other, nine, each carrying a +symbol of the Passion. The way in which each angel is adjusted to the +small pane it occupies is very graceful. + +The apse end is square, in the English fashion. Its great east window +contains good fourteenth century canopy work, in bands across a +grisaille field. The subsequent addition of a Lady Chapel to the east +has injured the effect of this glass, not only by an entrance being cut +through it below, but also because the second tier of canopies is +entirely shut off from the light by the wall of this later chapel built +against it outside. There is thus left only the third, or upper tier, +for our inspection. If the northern side of this church were as +fortunate as the southern in the possession of its original glazing, +this would rank among the best French glass shrines, which is high +praise. + + +ELBEUF + +Elbeuf has two churches worthy of our attention, St. Etienne and St. +Jean, but the former is very much the better. In St. Jean the first four +windows on the right, three of those opposite them, and the first on +each side in the Lady Chapel are all of the sixteenth century. There is, +however, so much restoration as to greatly diminish our interest, except +in the Lady Chapel. There the one to the right displays scenes from the +life of the Virgin, with a label below each. The lower right-hand panel, +in which appear Joseph and Mary, carries realism to an extraordinary +point, while its label prevents any misunderstanding of its meaning. + +However unsatisfactory St. Jean may prove, we shall be consoled when we +enter St. Etienne. There the whole effect leads up to and culminates in +the splendid bay that, with its three lofty windows, each containing +three lancets in double tiers, forms the eastern end of the choir. There +are no transepts, the nave joining directly on to the choir. Although +the nave glass is all modern, it does not affront the glories of its +older neighbours in the choir, which is, unfortunately, so often the +case elsewhere. One is tempted to confine one's comments to the splendid +easterly screen of colour, but that would be discriminating unjustly. +The famous legend of St. Hubert, dated 1500 (the second from the east in +the southerly choir aisle), has been too much restored, but this is the +only one that can be thus reproached. In the east end of this aisle we +find at the bottom of a window two panels with tapestry-makers at work, +showing that it was the gift of that guild. Across, in the north aisle, +the easternmost window in the north wall is a Tree of Jesse, dated 1523. +Jesse is seated beneath a pavilion; from the tent pole sprouts a vine, +out of whose blossoms arise the usual half-length figures. In the +topmost pane of the traceries, the Virgin is seen emerging from a great +lily. + + +PONT DE L'ARCHE + +Pont de l'Arche, approached from Rouen, is most picturesque. It lies +snuggled down by the river, its bridge flung invitingly towards you +across the Seine, while behind it the forest comes down the steep slope +almost to the town. The church, perched high upon a corner of the old +fortifications, seems to be keeping watch over the homes of its +parishioners. Its elaborately carved exterior gives rise to expectations +that are not realised, for within we find but little glass to arrest our +attention, although what there is dates from the sixteenth century. At +the eastern end of the north wall there is a Tree of Jesse, but it is +clumsily imagined and coarsely drawn. The flowers upon the vine are too +large, and from them protrude great half-length figures, so much out of +balance with the rest of the design as to render the ensemble lumbering +and ungraceful. The reason for our visit is provided by the second +window east from the south portal. The upper part shows Christ walking +on the sea. Below, reaching across the entire window, is a scene full of +the liveliest local interest. A boat is being drawn under an arch of the +bridge over the Seine, and pulling upon the two long tow-ropes are +groups of the townspeople, fifteen of them and two teams of horses +tugging at one rope, and eighteen and one team at the other. These +groups are carefully painted in enamel. A second vessel is being +similarly assisted under another arch of the bridge, the tow-rope in +this instance being made fast to a rowboat. The details of the bridge, +of the fortified island in the right foreground, and of the enamelled +figures of the citizens, are all most engaging. In the matter of correct +perspective, the artist relies heavily upon the indulgence of the +spectator, but otherwise the panel is agreeable, full of quaint +interest, and absolutely unique. + + +MONTMORENCY GLASS + +The tour which we now propose will prove particularly attractive to the +automobilist or bicyclist, although we do not by that statement desire +to discourage the traveller by train. He will find the same glass and +the same towns, but he will miss the opportunity to enjoy, en route, the +forests of Montmorency and Chantilly which during the summer are so +alluring. During the first part of the journey we will see glass +designed for moderate sized interiors and, therefore, adapted for close +inspection. On these windows will be found many careful portraits of the +donors, some of which in their perfection of treatment have never been +surpassed. It would be unfortunate if this itinerary for any reason +should be omitted, because without it our study of sixteenth century +glass would not be comprehensively complete. We leave Paris by the road +going north through St. Denis: our pilgrim will hardly, upon this +occasion, stop to visit the Abbey Church, because nearly all of its +glass is modern and glaringly poor. What there is of old glass is +twelfth century and either fragmentary or much restored and repaired. +The celebrated window showing the devout figure of its donor, Abbot +Suger, excites our reverence, hardly our admiration. Its chief interest +lies in the fact that there has come down to us the good abbot's own +account of this among other windows which he presented. The tombs of the +French kings are, of course, most impressive, and provide one of the +great sights of France to one interested however slightly in its +history, but to-day we are in pursuit of stained glass, so the Abbey of +St. Denis must wait until another occasion. The road straight on to the +north leads to Ecouen, but that visit must be deferred a little, so just +outside of St. Denis we turn sharply to the left and after eight +kilometres arrive at Montmorency, delightfully perched upon a hill with +orchards on every side. From the little platform just outside the west +front we get a fine view of the forest of the same name which, +fortunately for American eyes, has not been so pruned as to no longer +resemble a forest. From Montmorency we take the right hand to Ecouen +there to rejoin the straight road running north out of St. Denis. We +follow this road to Chantilly, where the Montmorency glass ends, then +turn northwest to Beauvais, and after enjoying its splendid cathedral, +return to Paris. At this point let us remark that although automobiles +and trains undoubtedly add to the comfort of the traveller, it would be +better for us on this particular trip if we could substitute for them a +mediaeval belief in magic. Then our first move would certainly be to +seize a fairy wand and summon as our guide that glorious warrior, +courtier and patron of the arts, the great constable, Anne de +Montmorency. Nothing could be more incongruous than the selection for +him of a woman's name, even though borrowed from the Queen of Louis XII. +The reason for summoning him is most obvious: it was he who built the +castles of Ecouen and Chantilly, while the church at Montmorency, though +founded by his father, William, was completed by the son. Who, then, +could better tell us their stories or more delightfully revive by +familiar anecdote the originals of their glass portraits? Even after our +conjuring had secured for us his company, we might find ourselves in +trouble, unless we were willing to discard our automobile or train for a +stout horse. The arts by which we secured his presence in the flesh +might seem to him quite natural, for magic was much more respected in +his time than in these more practical days, but it is greatly to be +feared that the puffing engine would overcome that stern courage, tested +in many a stricken field, and that it would take the utmost vigilance on +our part to prevent him from bolting back into the sixteenth century. +After accompanying him to Montmorency and Ecouen, and after wandering +together through the forest, park and chateau of Chantilly, we shall bid +him farewell, but we must not be surprised if he stoutly objects to our +turning off towards Beauvais, demanding that, having recalled him from +the spirit world, we hear his story out, and to that end push on to St. +Quentin. The lusty old warrior would be quite right, for the chronicle +of his career would be incomplete if it omitted the delaying and +glorious defeat he there received while commanding the French forces, +thereby providing time for Henry II to rally the remaining strength of +France and save Paris from the victorious Philip II of Spain. The result +of that battle proved highly satisfactory to both victor and vanquished, +for while its delay saved Paris, on the other hand Philip's victory so +elated him that in memory thereof he erected the famous palace of the +Escorial near Madrid. Though most of us will conclude to refuse the +Constable's request, some few of our company may desert us and follow +him to St. Quentin. Once there, they must not fail to view the two +splendid sixteenth century windows in the second northern transept of +the church already visited on our thirteenth century tour. They are each +two and a half metres wide by nine and a quarter high. One is dedicated +to Ste. Barbe and is dated 1533, and the other, dated 1541, to Ste. +Catherine, each displaying elaborately gruesome episodes depicting the +martyrdom of the heroine. The latter one shows God the Father at the +top receiving the saint, who is borne upward by flying angels. In the +lowest panel we remark Catherine's headless body sitting bolt upright, +while nearby on the floor lies her severed head intently regarding it +(see page 107). + + +MONTMORENCY + +Up a steep road that has more turns and branches than a grape-vine, and +suddenly we come out on a little platform before the west front of the +diminutive church of St. Martin. Off to the west and around on each side +there unfolds a panorama of smiling valleys and green hillocks in most +enticing succession. + +As one enters the western portal, he first observes that the three +westerly windows on each side are modern, and of these there can be no +higher praise than that they harmonise admirably with their fourteen +ancient neighbours to the east of them. These fourteen are chiefly +interesting because of the delicacy of their composition, which is +really delicious. + + [Illustration: CONSTABLE OF MONTMORENCY AND HIS FIVE SONS, MONTMORENCY + CHURCH (16TH CENTURY). + _Here the donors are frankly the important feature. So proud + were the Constable and his wife (Madeleine de Savoie) of their + five sons and seven daughters that we find four pairs of windows + portraying them._] + +Perhaps the chief interest here is the gallery of family portraits +afforded by the donor's figures upon the panes. Among the many admirably +drawn faces of distinguished scions of the House of Montmorency, the +best is that of the founder of this church, William, the father of our +friend the great Constable, which is behind the altar, to the left. It +is evidently the work of a great artist. The fourth on the right and +the fourth on the left (and, therefore, opposite each other) are two +windows containing one, Anne de Montmorency, and the other, his wife, +Madeleine de Savoie, each attended by their children. These two were +made about 1563, while those to the east of them range from 1523 to +1533. The Constable is supported by his five sons and his wife by her +seven daughters. She is looking toward the altar, but he is looking +across at her. Each of these domestic groups occupies nearly half of the +entire embrasures, but it does so in such a frank manner as to entirely +avoid the appearance of intrusion, so generally the result of portraits +like these. As we walk around the church we are amazed that so fragile a +medium as glass should have preserved through all the centuries these +portraits in more perfect condition than many which were consigned to +canvas or marble. In fact, one wonders why this was not more often done, +and at the same time wishes it had been effected as frankly as in these +two just described, and not by the intrusion of donors upon a window +devoted to another subject. It is impossible to repress a smile upon +noticing that the Crucifixion scene which bears the portrait of its +donor, Guy de Laval, shows him kneeling in the central panel, while the +crucifix is in a side one! Lest these comments may have seemed severely +intended, let us point out a few of the many lovely features. For +instance, the second window from the east in the north wall has in its +central panel the Virgin holding the Infant Jesus, who reaches out His +baby hand to receive a dove. The greensward below is picked out with +bright flowers and peopled by small animals, quite as one sees them on +the early tapestries. Nothing could be more charming. The tracery lights +are excellently treated throughout, sometimes in a most unusual manner. +Above the window just described, we find on a lilac field thirteen +golden coins, each bearing a different head. This comment upon the +higher panes leads us to speak of a most delicate group of four panels +perched up above the north portal. Across them extends what appears to +be a long cloister having a rich damasked curtain fastened shoulder-high +from column to column, above which is afforded a distant prospect of +gardens, etc., while in each of the panels there stands a female saint. +But little height is needed for this picture, so the traceries above +come down low, and are filled by a throng of blue eaglets on a golden +ground, the heraldic insignia of the Montmorencys. Before the Battle of +Bouvines the shield of this house bore but four eaglets, but on that day +Mathieu de Montmorency captured twelve of the enemy's standards with his +own hand. In recognition of these deeds of prowess King Philip Augustus +added twelve more eaglets to his arms, one for each captured standard, +thus raising the total to sixteen. These arms we shall see often +repeated in the windows at Montmorency, Ecouen and Chantilly. A visit +to this little church is a delightful experience and fills us with eager +expectation of what its founder's son, the great Constable, can show us +in his two castles of Ecouen and Chantilly. We are tempted to stray off +into the charming forest which stretches away more than five miles to +the northwest and to revel in the natural beauty of its chestnut trees, +but the Constable awaits us, so off we must be to Ecouen. + + +ECOUEN + +Ecouen is generally visited because of its fine chateau, built on the +crest of a hill and entirely surrounded by a delightful wood except on +the side where from a flowered terrace there is disclosed a far-reaching +view out over a smiling country. But it is not the chateau which lures +us hither, but the parish church down in the town that nestles at the +foot of the castle walls. The chateau has lost its old glass, the two +panels from its chapel showing the children of Anne de Montmorency being +now in the chapel at Chantilly, which place also rejoices in the +possession of the famous series of forty-four scenes from the adventures +of Cupid and Psyche, which originally decorated the now destroyed Salle +des Gardes at Ecouen. For us, therefore, the chateau has lost most of +its charm; if you wish to inspect it you must obtain a carte d'entree +from the Chancellerie de la Legion d'Honneur in Paris, for it is now a +school for daughters of members of that order, and is not open to the +public. For those of us who have come here to see the parish church +there will be no bother about permits, for none is needed. This church +not only contains excellent Renaissance windows, but upon them we shall +find a fine array of Montmorency portraits as well. The upper panels of +the lofty lancets that flank the high altar are filled with scriptural +scenes, but below they contain, that to the left, Anne de Montmorency +with his five sons, and that to the right, his wife attended by five +daughters. Although we have here the same family portraits as those seen +in Montmorency Church, this pair is much older (1544-5), and not only +shows the children as much younger than at Montmorency (1563), but also +has but five daughters instead of the seven seen on the later glass. Nor +are these the only similar pairs of these windows. The Constable was so +proud of his children and of their number that he seemed to never tire +of having them portrayed on glass. We have just referred to a third pair +(dated 1544) made for the chapel of Ecouen chateau, but now at +Chantilly, and there is still a fourth pair in the nearby church of +Mesnil-Aubry which are the latest of all, for the Constable is there +shown with a snow-white beard. At Ecouen we observe that the parents +occupy each a separate panel from the children, but at Chantilly the +parent panels are both missing. The remaining three windows on the south +side of the choir bear as donors still other Montmorencys, but the work +is later and not nearly so good. The high altar concealed the lower half +of the central eastern windows, so they did the next most sensible +thing to lowering the altar back--they transferred to a little northern +chapel the panels it obscured. The whole northerly side of the choir +opens out into a chapel whose northern and eastern ends are lighted by +three large embrasures filled with excellent Renaissance glazing, +depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin. Especially fine is the +second from the east, showing in the lower half, the death of the +Virgin, while above are clouds peopled with angels, all leading up to +the Father in the top pane of the tracery. The traceries of the three +easternmost choir embrasures are filled with blue eaglets on a golden +ground, the insignia of the Montmorencys. This same treatment of the +traceries may also be remarked in the chapel of the chateau; in fact, +they are all that remains there of the original glazing. We have already +admired this same form of decoration over the north portal at the +Montmorency Church. + +It seems a pity that the Ecouen glass now at Chantilly could not be +restored to the embrasures for which it was made; it obviously does not +belong where it is now found, and, besides, it loses there the historic +significance which it would enjoy in its old home at the chateau of +Ecouen. + + +CHANTILLY + +At one time or another during our glass pilgrimages we have happened +upon examples of other mediaeval arts and crafts which all combine to +make France so absorbingly interesting. It has been reserved for our +visit to Chantilly to show us one of the formal gardens of Old France in +which nature has been made to yield to the whim and fancy of the +landscape artist. Most travellers have seen the famous gardens of +Versailles and have heard that they were designed and arranged by Le +Notre, but those at Chantilly were designed by this same master before +he was called by the King to do his greatest work at Versailles. There +are many who prefer his earlier effort, and we must be grateful to our +glass for having brought us to this delightful spot. The forest of +Chantilly, which covers over six thousand acres, forms an excellent foil +for the formal stateliness of the gardens. One is not allowed to visit +the chateau except on Thursdays and Sundays and not then if it happens +to be a day when there is racing at the Chantilly track. This regulation +is to prevent race crowds from overrunning the chateau and grounds. The +beautiful building with its priceless collections was the private +property of the Duc d'Aumale and was by him presented to the Institut de +France. In a long low gallery especially constructed for them, and which +receives all its light through them, is a much travelled and widely +discussed series of forty-four panels narrating episodes from the +adventures of Cupid and Psyche. They are of the yellow stain and grey +type which we have noticed at Troyes and Chalons, but here the +workmanship is far superior. Note that the grey is in places almost +brown, and that the yellow is used but sparingly. The high state of +perfection to which the design and drawing are carried, combined with +the fact that their subjects are non-religious, make them delightfully +unique. It is easy to observe the strong influence of Italian art, not +only in their general style but also in the very liberal borrowing of +designs from well-known Italian paintings. Until recently they were +attributed to that versatile master of many arts, Bernard Palissy, but +that has been definitely disproved. They are now generally acknowledged +to be the work of Cocxyen, a Flemish student of Van Orley (who made the +windows of Ste. Gudule in Brussels), and the Italian influence is +explained by the fact that he studied in Rome. These panels are dated +1542-4 and were originally made for the windows of the Salle des +Gardes at the Chateau of Ecouen upon the order of Constable Anne de +Montmorency. The Revolution dislodged them and they found their way into +a museum arranged by Lenoir. This collection was dispersed in 1818. It +is narrated that the Prince de Conde, when visiting the museum, admired +this set of glass. Hearing someone remark that they had formerly adorned +a castle belonging to his family (meaning Ecouen), he had them bundled +up and packed off to his chateau at Chantilly, where they have since +remained. This picturesque tale serves to show that stained glass panels +were not then regarded as necessarily stationary. We have seen several +other instances of this lack of respect for their stout iron bars. They +were beautiful and valuable, and therefore, when the occasion arose, +they were removed! Excellent as is the work upon these panels and +graceful as are the figures, we cannot but notice that our art is taking +rapid strides towards its decadence. They are no longer windows where +the full value of colour and leading are appreciated and used. In this +set they are careful colourless paintings on glass in which the artistic +value of the leads is so disregarded that they no longer provide or even +assist the drawing--they only mar it as they run across the panes +wherever their supporting strength is necessary. We have arrived at a +time when the windows are becoming painted pictures done in the manner +of paintings on canvas. The artist no longer remembers that stained +glass is a separate art and that he has certain advantages in technique +over the oil painter, just as the latter has over him. + +The small ante-chapel has on each side a tall window. In the middle of +each is set a large panel of sixteenth century glass, the one on the +right showing five Montmorency daughters kneeling in a row, attended by +Ste. Agathe, and the one on the left their five brothers, also kneeling, +and similarly attended by St. John. The remainder of the embrasure is, +in each case, filled with modern glass done in the Renaissance manner +and intended to harmonise with the older panel in its midst. The artist +devoted more care to the faces of the boys than to those of their +sisters, for although the latter are monotonously alike in drawing and +posture, the former differ markedly. The face of the smallest boy is +most diverting. His hands are clasped in prayer, but unlike his more +devout brothers and sisters, his eyes are not turned toward the altar, +but he is gazing out into the chapel with childish curiosity. In these +two panels the leads are not so cumbrously intrusive, but there is a +lesson which every glass artist should learn from an inspection of the +carefully painted windows at Ecouen, Montmorency and Chantilly. He +cannot fail to notice how the misuse of the leads has been accentuated +by the careful painting, and he should carry away with him a firm +conviction that the more delicate the design the less it can afford to +quarrel with the leading. + + +BEAUVAIS + +The average tourist looks forwards with keen interest to his first visit +to Beauvais. He has, of course, heard of the ancient glories of its +tapestry, which industry is still kept up by the French Government. He +has also read that the perfect French cathedral would be composed of the +choir of Beauvais, the nave of Amiens, the west front of Rheims and the +towers of Chartres: so of the choir of Beauvais he expects great things. +Nor will he be disappointed, especially if he first views it from the +Amiens road. This approach reveals the town to him in the most +picturesque way imaginable. On reaching the brow of a short hill he +becomes suddenly aware of Beauvais, lying below him in the valley beside +a lazy river. One could more properly say that he first saw not the +town, but the amazing uplift of the cathedral, and next the town about +it. The great height of this edifice is accentuated by the fact that +only the choir and the transepts are now standing. Long ago the nave +succumbed to the great strain which its unnatural height put upon the +materials of which it was constructed, and collapsed. The architect's +vaulting ambition o'erleapt itself. In fact it is only by means of +constant shoring and repairing that this choir, the loftiest in France, +is preserved in a safe and solid condition. When the pilgrim descends +into the town he comes upon many interesting timber-framed houses, some +of them with second stories projecting over the arcaded footway below +and exhibiting quaintly attractive carvings on their heavy beams. We +find an intelligent attempt to preserve the best traditions of the older +Beauvais tapestry in the modern factory. Just as formerly, it bears +floral designs and very rarely personages, being of the sort called +"basse lice," and woven on a horizontal frame, thereby differing from +the "haute lice" of the Gobelins factory, where the frames are +perpendicular. Not only in the Cathedral, but also in the church of St. +Etienne, do we find excellent glass of the sixteenth century. The +latter's fine Gothic choir, adorned with graceful flying buttresses, +provides a strong contrast to its sturdier Romanesque nave. The glass is +only to be found around the choir, and is well deserving of its high +repute. One should notice the tone of the blues, especially in the +background of the church's finest window, a Tree of Jesse, the first on +the left from the Lady Chapel. It is the work of Engrand le Prince, and +is one of the best known examples of the irrelevant use of portraits of +high dignitaries. Their half-length figures appear as blossoms on the +vine. Among the fourteen, almost all contemporary likenesses, the most +recognisable are Francis I and Henry II. At the back of the choir +clerestory there is a fine window, blue with golden rays of the sun +spreading out over it. The legend of St. Hubert is very agreeably set +out just to the east of the small south portal, the green used therein +being seldom surpassed. + + [Illustration: "TREE OF JESSE" ST. ETIENNE, BEAUVAIS (16TH CENTURY). + _Popular subject in stained glass; the vine springing from the + loins of Jesse generally bears his descendants as blossoms, and + culminates above in a great lily from which emerge the Virgin + and Child. Here occurs an interesting 16th century + variation--among the descendants of Jesse appear contemporary + portraits, Francis I, Henry II, etc._] + +It is difficult to express in words the effect of extreme loftiness +which strikes one as he enters the south door of the Cathedral. It seems +almost impossible to shake off this impression; in fact, one is +constantly being surprised that he does not grow accustomed to the great +sweep of the upward lines. In the two great rose windows which decorate +the transept ends, and in the double row of lancets below each, there is +excellent glass of this period. The northern rose shows the golden rays +of the sun spreading out over a blue background, reminding us of its +prototype at St. Etienne. Below, the ten figures of women are attributed +to Le Pot. The southern rose contains the history of the Creation with +such interesting detail as to well repay the trouble to decipher it +caused by its great height above us. Below are two handsome rows of +lancets dated 1551, the upper containing prophets, and the lower, +saints. The western wall, rising abruptly at the point where the nave +should commence, has in its north and south corners two chapels. Each of +these chapels has large sixteenth century windows, the northerly one in +the west wall, the Descent from the Cross, being very fine; in fact, it +is by some considered the best in the cathedral. The choir also has fine +Renaissance glass, although in several of the choir chapels (especially +in the Lady Chapel) and around the clerestory at the east end, there are +some very interesting thirteenth century windows, one, in particular, a +Tree of Jesse, rendered attractive by the halo of flying birds about the +head of the Saviour. So tall are the clerestory embrasures that +generally only the middle portion of them contains personages, the upper +and lower parts being filled with grisaille. Most of these upper +embrasures were glazed in the fourteenth century, and show to a marked +degree the revulsion from the sombre mosaic, and the demand for greater +illumination. All this glass would be much more effective if nearer the +eye of the observer, the great height at which it is placed not only +spoiling the perspective, but resulting in a jumble of colours. The City +Hall contains the flag which the gallant townswoman, Jeanne Hachette, +captured with her own hands upon the occasion of the attack on the city +made by Charles the Bold and his army. Although this gallant deed was +performed in 1472, it has never been forgotten by the people of +Beauvais, and its anniversary is reverently commemorated upon the 29th +of every June. + + +BOURG + +In addition to the glass seen during these three trips, there are three +isolated churches whose windows are so interesting as well as important +that one should not be contented to conclude his sixteenth century +studies without visiting them. Not only is each one of them distant from +other contemporary glass, but it would seem as though the Imp of the +Perverse had taken a hand in placing them as far away from each other as +possible. Bourg is down south in Savoy; Auch is near Toulouse in the +southwest; and Champigny-sur-Veude is off in the western part of +Touraine, near the lower reaches of the river Loire. Each of these three +not only was completely glazed during this epoch, but has also retained +its glass in good condition. In each case the special interest which +causes our visit is quite peculiar and very different from that which +attracts us to the others. When we concluded our trips of the fourteenth +and fifteenth centuries we were confronted with the advisability of a +separate journey to Quimper, and in like manner we should now decide to +visit Bourg, Auch and Champigny-sur-Veude. It must be confessed that it +is inconvenient, but it will prove well worth while. + +First in importance is the church of Brou at Bourg. Although Savoy now +forms part of France, we shall, upon this excursion, find proof that it +was not always French, and shall furthermore encounter much interesting +history wrapped up in the tale of the building and glazing of the church +of Brou. Up in the north, at St. Quentin, we found the high-water mark +(on French soil) of that splendid empire which the Spaniard, Charles V, +agglomerated under his banner and which he resigned to his son, Philip +II, the victor of the Battle of St. Quentin. So vast and important was +his empire that he lacked only France to have all the continent of +Europe beneath his sway. It was the aunt of this Emperor Charles V, +Marguerite d'Autriche, who built the exquisite church of Brou in memory +of her husband, Philibert le Beau, Duke of Savoy, killed in a hunting +accident. After this glance at history, it is not difficult to +understand why Marguerite sent to Flanders for her architect and for her +glass designers, for as Flanders was part of her nephew's empire, none +was more fully advised than she of the high reputation then enjoyed by +the artists of the Low Countries. Apropos of the way in which her +husband Philibert died, it is related that when his father had been at +the point of death from a similar hunting accident, Philibert's mother, +Marguerite de Bourbon, had vowed to erect a chapel to St. Hubert, +patron saint of huntsmen, if he recovered. Her failure to comply with +this vow was by many firmly believed to be the reason why her son +Philibert was killed upon the hunting field, and that his untimely end +was a solemn warning that a vow to St. Hubert must be strictly kept. In +any event, St. Hubert must have been fully satisfied with the manner in +which the oath was finally carried out, for the chapel so built has +remained to amaze and delight many generations. The wonderful marble +tombs, the graceful rood screen, the splendid glass, all go to prove +that there was here lavished everything that wealth, power and +intelligence could command. + +It is bewildering to decide with which of the eighteen windows we shall +begin our inspection. Because of our interest in the foundress and her +husband, let us commence with that in the choir, which is at the left +of the most easterly window. Upon this one and its neighbour to the left +we shall see spread out much concerning the life, family and habits of +Philibert. The first window shows the Duke himself attended by his +patron saint, St. Philibert, while in the background there looms up his +favourite ducal palace of Pont d'Ain, where he lived and died. As +indicating the importance of his duchy there are arranged above him +thirteen shields displaying the arms of provinces at one time part +of Savoy. The next window to the left bears a splendid array of +thirty-five shields whose heraldry serves to complete our information +about Duke Philibert by showing the individuals composing his family +tree. Those on the right are of the paternal line of Savoy, and on the +left we follow his mother's line (the House of Bourbon) as far up as +Louis IX, whose arms appear at the very top of the embrasure. It is most +fitting that the arms of our old friend, the royal patron of stained +glass, should preside over the most brilliant window in this famously +glazed sanctuary. It is to be noticed that this church is very rich in +heraldic blazons; in fact, upon five of its windows we find seventy-one +shields. The Chapelle des Sept Joies contains a gorgeous work, the +Crowning of the Virgin, in which every effort of the glassmaker's +skill seems to have been exerted. Above the principal subject runs a +panel-like frieze showing in allegory the Triumph of Christ. This frieze +is done in grey and yellow stain. The whole window would leave nothing +to be desired in either technique or colour if it were not made the +victim of an exaggerated outbreak of the curse of donors' figures. The +foundress and her husband are not only allowed to intrude upon the +drawing of the general subject, but each of them is actually larger than +the figure of the Virgin. The records show that this church (begun in +1511) had all its glass installed at the time of its completion in 1536, +thus showing that the windows were made during the most vigorous part +of the century, a fact thoroughly borne out by internal evidence. We may +consider ourselves fortunate that the use of this glorious building for +a store-house during the Revolution damaged the glass so little. In +this connection it is surprising to read that its beauty was so much +appreciated that the people voted to preserve it as a public monument, +thus staying the hand of the ever-ready vandalism which then raged +through so many French churches. + +A sketch of Bourg would not be complete without a reference to the noble +poem of Matthew Arnold. The following lines are particularly appropriate +to the moving cause for our visit to this lovely shrine: + + So sleep, forever sleep, O marble Pair! + Or, if ye wake, let it be then, when fair + On the carved western front a flood of light + Streams from the setting sun, and colours bright + Prophets, transfigured Saints, and Martyrs brave, + In the vast western window of the nave; + And on the pavement round the tomb there glints + A chequer-work of glowing sapphire-tints, + And amethyst, and ruby--then unclose + Your eyelids on the stone where ye repose, + And looking down on the warm rosy tints, + Which chequer, at your feet, the illumined flints, + Say: "What is this? We are in bliss--forgiven-- + Behold the pavement of the courts of Heaven!" + + +AUCH + +Seventy-seven kilometres west of Toulouse there lies the interesting +city of Auch, built upon a hillside rising sharply from the river Gers. +Here one will happen upon many an ancient architectural bit which will +take him back to the days when Henry of Navarre here entertained, much +against her will, his mother-in-law, Catherine de Medicis, in this +south-western corner of France, far off from her beloved Paris. The very +remoteness has preserved many of its old-world features, and this +ancient flavour, combined with the picturesque position above the river, +renders it distinctly a town to be visited. But something more than the +general mediaeval air of Auch is the cause for our long jaunt hither. +This reason we shall find in the eighteen windows that adorn the choir +ambulatory of the cathedral of Ste. Marie. An inscription in the Gascon +dialect on the final one of the series tells us that they are by the +hand of Arnaud Desmoles and that they were finished June 25, 1513. We +have here the work of a Frenchman, a Gascon at that, and there is no +trace of Italian, German or any other foreign influence; it is the true +flower of the country's genius growing on its native soil. Perhaps the +drawing and the colouring are not quite so good as we may see elsewhere, +but it is purely French. Any imperfection of detail is hardly noticed, +because we are instantly struck by the ensemble of eighteen windows made +for the building which they decorate, as well as for each other, and all +by the same artist. His scheme of subjects, showing the agreement +between the teachings of the Old and those of the New Testament, is +fully carried through to its completion. The colours show strength and +yet are not too robust. The proportions, too, are very satisfactory, +each window being about three times as high as it is broad. Their +stories begin with the creation of the world and carry us on, step by +step, until they conclude with the appearance of Christ to His +disciples. The central part of each embrasure is filled by a large +personage, with sundry smaller figures above, and groups below. It is +but natural that so complete a series as this should have always enjoyed +a wide reputation. Although we may feel, after examining them, that they +do not reach the standard of perfection attained by some of their +contemporaries elsewhere, still they cannot fail to please us. The charm +lent by their logical completeness causes us to prefer them to others +where the perfection of drawing and style in the individual window is +partly offset by lack of harmony with others near it. + + +CHAMPIGNY-SUR-VEUDE + +Any mention of Touraine generally calls up before us the picture of a +smiling country through which rolls the lazy Loire hemmed in by its +sandy banks, with every now and again the vision of a charming chateau, +type of the best mediaeval architecture. To the glass lover, however, the +chief and almost the only attraction of the province is the cathedral at +Tours (see page 51). We say "almost," because although not generally +known and but seldom visited by the tourist, Touraine has another glass +shrine lying within a few kilometres of the Chateau de Chinon. The +chapel in which we find this glass was formerly part of the Chateau of +Champigny-sur-Veude, but the chapel alone remains. Before we enter, the +writer wishes to deliver himself of a partial explanation or apology, +and he does so for the following reason: he has all along inveighed +bitterly against the curse of donors' figures upon windows, but on this +occasion he must frankly admit that he is guilty of taking you to see +glass of which a most interesting feature is these very representations +of the donors. In fact the chapel has a peculiar value because it +contains thirty-six portraits of the Bourbon-Montpensier family. They +are to be found along the lowest panels, each one kneeling before a +prie-dieu. The chapel is admirably lighted, partly due to the +destruction of the old chateau, but chiefly to the eleven large windows, +each seven by three and a half metres. The same scheme of decoration +prevails throughout. Lowest down we find the kneeling donors; above them +and occupying far more space are historical episodes from the life of +Louis IX, of peculiar interest to us, his humble followers in the love +of stained glass. Among the most interesting of these glass pictures may +be cited one showing a battle with the Saracens in the Holy Land, +several portraying ships filled with armoured knights, and particularly +the episode of St. Louis dedicating the Ste. Chapelle at Paris. Above +these in the roomy oval traceries are scenes from the Passion. Highest +of all are small panes containing either a capital L with a crown +slipped down around it, or a bird's wing similarly encircled by a crown, +referring respectively to King Louis and the Bourbons. The only +variation from the regularity of this general scheme is the east window, +which shows the creation of the world and has below it Christ between +the two thieves. The fact that this chapel is to-day completely glazed +in its original glass and that there is a thorough coherence of style +throughout, would alone serve to repay us for the long trip from Paris; +but when we add the fact that this is a Bourbon portrait gallery, an +historical interest is at once added to its other attractions. These +arguments in its favour will keep us from observing too keenly how much +the crudeness of some of the colours accentuates the dullness of others. +It would be better if the greens could be softened and the greys +enlivened. Lest we may seem by thus criticising the glass to wish to +disparage it, we make haste to urge our reader to visit Champigny. He +will find ample compensation for its isolation from other glass of its +century by the many chateaux which make a trip through Touraine so +enjoyable. + + [Illustration: DEDICATION OF PARIS STE. CHAPELLE AT + CHAMPIGNY-SUR-VEUDE. + _Panel containing kneeling donors not shown. 16th century glass + picture of a 13th century event. (See page 26)._] + + + + +ITINERARIES + +SHOWING DISTANCES IN KILOMETRES + + +THIRTEENTH CENTURY + +Paris--227--Bourges--190--Poitiers--103--Tours--107--Angers--87--Le +Mans--124--Chartres--88--Paris. + +Paris--168--Auxerre--59--Sens--63--Troyes--79--Chalons--41--Rheims +--145--Paris. + +Paris--95--Soissons--35--Laon--46--St. Quentin--75--Amiens--131--Paris. + + +FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES + +Paris--94--Evreux--51--Rouen--133--Paris. + +Paris--227--Bourges--97--Moulins--82--Riom--14--Clermont-Ferrand--148 +--Eymoutiers--50--Limoges--120--Poitiers--124--Angers--87--Le +Mans--49--Alencon--21--Sees--64--Verneuil--54--Chartres--88--Paris. + +Paris--555--Quimper. + + +SIXTEENTH CENTURY + +Paris--5--Vincennes--107--Sens--63--Troyes--79--Chalons--160--Paris. + +Paris--45--Montfort l'Amaury--72--Conches--56--Pont-Audemer--32-- +Caudebec--34--Rouen--133--Paris. (Rouen--33--Grand-Andely, Rouen--20 +--Elbeuf, Rouen--18--Pont de l'Arche.) + +Paris--18--Montmorency--8--Ecouen--27--Chantilly--50--Beauvais--78 +--Paris. + +Paris--466--Bourg. + +Paris--701--Auch. + +Paris--279--Champigny-sur-Veude. + + + + +INDEX + + + KILOMETRES + FROM PARIS EPOCHS PAGE + + 192 Alencon 16th Century 180 + 131 Amiens 13th " 112 + 302 Angers 13th " 55 + 302 Angers 15th " 175 + 701 Auch 16th " 290 + 168 Auxerre 13th " 74 + 78 Beauvais 16th " 281 + 466 Bourg 16th " 285 + 227 Bourges 13th " 42 + 227 Bourges 15th " 151 + 161 Caudebec 16th " 245 + 160 Chalons 13th " 87 + 160 Chalons 16th " 233 + 279 Champigny-sur-Veude 16th " 292 + 36 Chantilly 16th " 277 + 88 Chartres 13th " 67 + 88 Chartres 14th " 188 + 383 Clermont-Ferrand 15th " 160 + 117 Conches 16th " 239 + 18 Ecouen 16th " 274 + 124 Elbeuf 16th " 261 + 94 Evreux 14th " 137 + 410 Eymoutiers 15th " 164 + 99 Grand-Andely 16th " 258 + 129 Laon 13th " 103 + 393 Limoges 14th " 169 + 214 Mans (Le) 13th " 60 + 214 Mans (Le) 15th " 178 + 45 Montfort l'Amaury 16th " 236 + 18 Montmorency 16th " 270 + 289 Moulins 15th " 155 + 97 Nonancourt 15th " 187 + 334 Poitiers 13th " 47 + 334 Poitiers 14th " 172 + 167 Pont-Audemer 16th " 242 + 114 Pont de l'Arche 16th " 263 + 555 Quimper 15th " 191 + 145 Rheims 13th " 92 + 368 Riom 15th " 157 + 133 Rouen 14th " 144 + 133 Rouen 16th " 249 + 176 St. Quentin 13th " 107 + 180 Sees 14th " 180 + 112 Sens 13th " 77 + 112 Sens 16th " 218 + 95 Soissons 13th " 99 + 233 Tours 13th " 51 + 156 Troyes 13th " 82 + 156 Troyes 16th " 222 + 118 Verneuil 15th " 185 + 5 Vincennes 16th " 215 + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise, +every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and +intent. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STAINED GLASS TOURS IN FRANCE*** + + +******* This file should be named 34772.txt or 34772.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/4/7/7/34772 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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