Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/640

622 department—the IIaute Vienne. Ilis rleanist tendencies and his objections to the republic were strong, and though he at ﬁrst supported Thiers, he afterwards became a leader of the opposition to the president. He died,however, before Thiers was actually driven from power. Saint—Marc Girardin was one of the most distinguished of the many writers whose political and literary activities combined have raised them to distinction in France during this century, but to whom there cannot be assigned the highest rank either as politicians or as litterateurs. His political claims were not above those of a vigorous and intelligent journalist. IIis professorial lectures were popular and well attended; his literary knowledge was wide, and included German and Italian; his criticisms, on which his claims as a man of letters rest, were acute and well expressed, but not remarkable for great subtlety or novelty of thought or style.

1em  GIRARDON, (1628–1715), a sculptor whose works are typically characteristic of the epoch of Louis XIV., was born at Troyes in 1628, and died in the Louvre in 1715. As a boy he had for master a joiner and wood-carver of his native town, Baudeslson by name (Ai'cll. dc l’Art Francois, v. 4), under whoni he is said to have worked at the chateau of Liébault, where he attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier. ly the chancellor’s inﬂuence Girardon was ﬁrst removed to Paris and placed in the studio of Francois Anguier, and afterwards sent to Home. In 1650 he re- turned to France, and seems at once to have addressed him- self with something like ignoble subserviency to the task of conciliating Le Brun, who owed his start in life to the same patron. Girardon is reported to have declared himself incapable of composing a group, whether with truth or from motives of policy it is impossible to say. This much is certain, that a very large proportion of his work was carried out from designs by Le Brun, and shows the merits and defects of Le Brun’s manner—a great command of cere- monial pomp in presenting his subject, coupled with a large treatment of forms which if it were more expressive might be imposing. The court which Girardon paid to the “premier peintre du roi” was rewarded. An immense quantity of work at Versailles was entrusted to him, and in recognition of the successful execution of four ﬁgures for the Bains d’Apollon, Le Brun induced the king to present his protege personally with a purse of 300 louis, as a distinguishing mark of royal favour. In 1650 Girardon was made mem- ber of the Academy, in 1659 professor, in 1674: “ adjoint an rectcur,” and ﬁnally in 1695 chancellor. Five years before (1690), on the death of Le Brun, he had also been appointed “inspecteur general des ouvrages de sculpture”— a place of power and proﬁt. In 1699 he completed the bronze equestrian statue of Louis XIV., erected by the town of Paris on the Place Louis le Grand. This statue was melted down during the Revolution, and is known to us only by a small bronze model (Louvre) ﬁnished by Girardon himself. His Tomb of Richelieu (church of the Sorbonne) was saved from destruction by M. Alexandre Lenoir, who received a bayonet thrust in protecting the head of the cardinal from mutilation. It is a capital example of Girardon’s work,- but amongst other important Specimens yet remaining may also be cited the Tomb of Louvois (St Eustache), that of Bignon (St Nicolas du Chardonneret), and decorative sculptures in the Galerie d’Apollon and Chambre du roi, in the Louvre. Although chiefly occupicd at Paris, Girardon never forgot his native Troyes. In the llotel de Ville is still shown a medallion of Louis XIV., and in the church of St llémy a bronze cruciﬁx of some importance,— both works by his hand. In 1850 M. Corrard dc Breban, who has given much time to researches concerning artists native to the town of Troyes, published a Notice sur la Tic et les mwres dc Girardon.  GIRDLE, a band of leather or other material worn round the waist, either to conﬁne the loose and flowing outer robes so as to allow freedom of movement, or to fasten and support the garments of the wearer. In southern Europe and in all Eastern countries the girdle was and still is an important article of dress. Among the Romans it was used to conﬁne the tmzica ; and so general was the custom that the want of a girdle was regarded as strongly presumptive of idle and dissolute propensities. It also formed a part of the dress of the Greek and Roman soldier; the phrase cin- gulum (lcponere, to lay aside the girdle, was as equivalent to quitting the service. It was used as now in the East to carry money in; hence 207mm perdere, to lose one’s purse. Girdles and girdle-buckles are not found in early Celtic interments, nor are they frequent in Gallo-Roman graves. But in Frankish and Burgundian graves they are almost constantly present, often ornamented with plaques of bronze or silver, and the clasps and mountings chased or inlaid with various ornamental designs, occasionally including ﬁgures of the cross, and rude representations of Scripture subjects. In later times girdles are frequently represented on brasses and monumental efﬁgies from the to the . They were either of leather or of woven materials, often of silk and adorned with gold and gems. The mode in which they were worn is shown on the efligies ; usually fastened by a buckle in front, the long free end of the girdle was passed up underneath and then down over the cincture, and through the loop thus formed the orna- mented end hung down in front. Among the sumptuary regulations of Edward III. there were prohibitions against wearing girdles of gold and silver unless the wearer were of knightly rank or worth £200 a year. Similar regulations against extravagance in girdles are occasionally found to the . The brasses of the present many beautiful examples of ladies’ girdles, which were often worn like that of the knight with the ornamental end hanging down in front, sometimes with both ends depending from a large clasp or ornamental fastening in the centre. Allusions to the girdle are common in the poetry of the and. The purse, the dagger, the rosary, the pen and inkhorn and the bunch of keys were carried suspended from it, and hence it was an ancient custom for bankrupts or insolvent persons to put off and surrender their girdles in open court. It is recorded that the widow of Philip I., duke of Burgundy, renounced her right of succession by putting off her girdle upon the duke’s tomb. The girdle, which was a very important element in the dress of the Levitical priesthood, does not appear as an ecclesiastical vestment in the Christian Church until the. Germanus, who died in, mentions the girdle worn by deacons ; and Hrabanus Maurus in the speaks of the girdle as one of the regular vestments, and refers to its symbolism. Some centuries later the church had to discountenance extravagance in this article of attire, and splendour in the decoration of girdles was denounced as secular and unbeﬁtting the ecclesiastical character.