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.