Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/675

 1869.] The Minsters of France. 549 precious to study, than the purest types. They express a shade of art, which would be lost without tbem. They are the grafting of the pointed style on the Saxou arch. "Notre Dame de Paris is, in par- ticular, a curious specimen of this va- riety. Every face, every stone of the venerable monument, is not only a page of the history of the country, but also one of science and art." Besides the great Bell called the Bour- don, there is another which was brought from Sevastopol. The mechanism of the Clock is very curious, although not equal to that of Strasburg. Id has in connection with it four bells of large size. The Organ is remarkably fine ; it is 45 feet high, 36 feet in breadth, and con- tains 3,484 pipes. The high altar was pulled down at the Revolution of 1789; but, under the Empire, it was re-erected ; and such of the works of art as could be collected were restored. The lateral chapels of Notre Dame were formerly remarka- ble for their splendor, the walls being covered with marble, or finely-carved wainscoting and containing sumptuous tombs, belonging to noble families. These were stripped of their riches in 1793; many of them, however, have been repaired ; and, in fact, every part of the great Cathedral has, under the existing Empire, been thoroughly cared for. The Sacristy consists of a spacious and lofty hall, with three windows, in the pointed style, decorated with the portraits of twenty-four archbishops of Paris, all beautifully executed, in stained glass, by M. Mareschal, of Lyons, from St. Landry, who lived in the time of Charlemagne, to Archbishop Aflf're, who fell in the insurrection of 1848. He is represented on his death-bed. The ribs of the ceiling spring from the canopies of niches, containing statues of saints and angels. Well-designed Ambries are sunk into the wall, and the furni- ture of the room consists of oaken presses, containing the precious church utensils and vestments, for which this Cathedral is celebrated. Here will be seen croziers, mitres, and crosses, sparkling with precious stones; the robes worn by Pius Vil., at the coro- nation of Napoleon I. ; several series of most gorgeous robes, profusely em- broidered in gold and silver; the mask of Archbishop Affre taken twenty-four hours after his death, the ball with which he was struck, and the two vertebrae that received it. At the sacking of St. Germain l'Aux- errois and the Archbishop's palace in 1831, the populace broke into the Sa- cristy of Notre Dame, and, headed by officers of the National Guards, de- stroyed every thing that came within their reach. The deplorable damage occasioned bj^ this barbarous onslaught was irreparable ; the coronation robes of Napoleon, and the splendid dresses he presented to the bishops and the chapter on the occasion of that cere- mony, memorials of it were torn up recklessly by the senseless mob, for the sake of the gold embroidery on them. They have, however, since been re- paired. To show the madness that ruled this demoniac raid, a celebrated artist who was making a most elaborate perspective picture of the interior of Notre Dame, having left it on the easel in the vestry, it was cut into a thousand pieces ! Such are some of the acts of violence enacted by ignorance and bru- tality led on by fanaticism. We have seen the like effects of ignorant fanati- cism displayed in the sacrilegious dilapi- dations at York and Canterbury, Eng- land ; and we may always look for them where such influence was excited. We now take leave of this grand old historic monument ; and hope that our readers, who have not had the pleasure of personally inspecting its points of attraction, will yet pay a visit to the brilliant French metropolis, and its Minster of Notre Dame de Paris.