Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/673

 1869.] The Minsters of France. 547 tj-mpanum. The centre of this section is occupied by a rose-window of beau- tiful detail. Each lateral front of the church presents a similar window — deli- cately executed. The rose of the south- ern side was given by Cardinal de No- villes. It cost 80,000 livres. The upper part of the facade is decorated by a peristyle, composed of thirty-four col- umns, remarkable for their height and slenderness. They are each formed of a single stone, and support a gallery with balustrades. The walls of the church are supported with buttresses, which are remarkabl}' well arranged, and are surmounted by pyramids and little pinnacles of very picturesque effect. One of the most curious parts of the edifice is the car- pentry of the roof, which is called the Forest, on account of the number of pieces of wood, of which it is composed. This wood is covered with 1,236 sheets of lead. The interior of Noti - e Dame is in the form of a Latin cross. One hundred and twenty pillars, of different struc- tures, support the vaulted ceiling, and form a double passage round the choir and the nave. Twenty-seven chapels occupy the side aisles ; and above them are spacious Galleries and elegant tribunes. Most of the ornaments are of the modern style, and but little in harmony with the archi- tecture of the edifice ; but, taken sepa- rately, they are not the less precious. We will mention the bassi-relievi, in gilt bronze, of the high altar ; a marble group, a chef d'oeuvre of art, represent- ing the Descent from the Cross, by Nico- las Coustou ; the statue of the Holy Virgin, by Antonio Maggi ; the mosaic pavement of the sanctuary ; the sculp- tured wood-work; the pictures by Jou- venet, Philippe de Champagne, Louis Boulogne, Laurent La Hire and La- fosse ; the railings of polished iron, which enclose the choir ; the bassi-relievi which decorate the interior, and which were executed in the fourteenth centuiy ; and, lastly, several tombs, amongst them those of the Count D'Harcourt and the Cardinal de Belloy. There formerly stood, near the first pillar of the nave, a colossal statue of St. Christopher. It was twenty-eight feet high, and was erected A. D. 1413 by Antoine des Essarts, chamberlain of Charles VI., in gratitude for that saint having appeared to him during the night, and broken open the doors of a prison, in which he was confined. This statue was destroyed in 1185. Another cele- brated monument stood at the extremity of the nave, just at the entrance to the choir; it was an equestrian statue of Philip le Bel, as large as life. This Prince was represented as he appeared, when he arrived in Paris, after the battle of Mons-en-Puelle, when he went fully armed to Notre Dame, to render thanks to God for his victory. This statue — which was valuable as an historical souvenir, and interesting as a specimen of the costumes of the epoch — was hacked to pieces, in 1192, by the Mar- seillais, with their swords. Behind the high altar is a group in marble called The Vceu de Louis XIII. He placed his kingdom under the pro- tection of the Holy Virgin ; and in 1638 made a vow to repair the high altar of Notre Dame. But he having died before the vow was accomplished, Louis XIV. determined to fulfil the vow in his father's name; and, in 1699, solemnly laid the first stone of the altar. How- ever, the group was not executed, until twenty-four years after, by Coustou. It represents a large cross of white marble, over which is thrown a drapery ; at the foot is the Virgin seated, holding in her arms the body of Jesus ; by her side are placed on pedestals, figures of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV., presenting to her a crown, removed during the Revo- lution. The statues of the two kings were brought back in 1816. As an historical monument, the Cathe- dral of Paris is very remarkable. The old kings of France used to visit it, after