CONSTABLE OF MONTMORENCY AND HIS FIVE SONS, MONTMORENCY CHURCH (16th Century).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.
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 fourthon 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 hasin 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 is generally visited because of its fine château, 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 château which lures us hither, but the parish church down in the town that nestles at the foot of the castle walls. The château 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 château has lost most of its charm; if you wish to inspect it you must obtain a carte d’entrée 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. Thischurch 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 château, 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 easternwindows, 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 château; 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 château of Ecouen.
At one time or another during our glass pilgrimages we have happened upon examples of other mediæval 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 château 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 château andgrounds. 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 Château of Ecouen upon the order of Constable Annede 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 Condé, 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 château 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 certainadvantages 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.
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. Thearchitect’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.
“TREE OF JESSE” ST. ETIENNE, BEAUVAIS (16th Century).“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.
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.
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. Itmust 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 ofSavoy. 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 windowswere 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 fairOn the carved western front a flood of lightStreams from the setting sun, and colours brightProphets, transfigured Saints, and Martyrs brave,In the vast western window of the nave;And on the pavement round the tomb there glintsA chequer-work of glowing sapphire-tints,And amethyst, and ruby—then uncloseYour 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!”
So sleep, forever sleep, O marble Pair!Or, if ye wake, let it be then, when fairOn the carved western front a flood of lightStreams from the setting sun, and colours brightProphets, transfigured Saints, and Martyrs brave,In the vast western window of the nave;And on the pavement round the tomb there glintsA chequer-work of glowing sapphire-tints,And amethyst, and ruby—then uncloseYour 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!”
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 mediæval 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 thecountry’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.
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 château, type of the best mediæval architecture. To the glass lover, however, the chief and almost the only attraction of the province is the cathedral at Tours (see page51). 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 Château de Chinon. The chapel in which we find this glass was formerly part of the Château 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 peculiarvalue 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 château, 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 thefact 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 châteaux which make a trip through Touraine so enjoyable.
DEDICATION OF PARIS STE. CHAPELLE AT CHAMPIGNY-SUR-VEUDE.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 page26).
Panel containing kneeling donors not shown. 16th century glass picture of a 13th century event. (See page26).
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.
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 CenturiesParis—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—Alençon—21—Sées—64—Verneuil—54—Chartres—88—Paris.Paris—555—Quimper.
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—Alençon—21—Sées—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.
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.
KILOMETRESFROM PARISEpochsPage192Alençon16th Century180131Amiens13th “112302Angers13th “55302Angers15th “175701Auch16th “290168Auxerre13th “7478Beauvais16th “281466Bourg16th “285227Bourges13th “42227Bourges15th “151161Caudebec16th “245160Chalons13th “87160Chalons16th “233279Champigny-sur-Veude13th “29236Chantilly16th “27788Chartres13th “6788Chartres14th “188383Clermont-Ferrand15th “160117Conches16th “23918Ecouen16th “274124Elbeuf16th “26194Evreux14th “137410Eymoutiers15th “16499Grand-Andely16th “258129Laon13th “103393Limoges14th “169214Mans (Le)13th “60214Mans (Le)15th “17845Montfort l’Amaury16th “23618Montmorency16th “270289Moulins15th “15597Nonancourt15th “187334Poitiers13th “47334Poitiers14th “172167Pont-Audemer16th “242114Pont de l’Arche16th “263555Quimper15th “191145Rheims13th “92368Riom15th “157133Rouen14th “144133Rouen16th “249176St. Quentin13th “107180Sées14th “180112Sens13th “77112Sens16th “21895Soissons13th “99233Tours13th “51156Troyes13th “82156Troyes16th “222118Verneuil15th “1855Vincennes16th “215
1. 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.
2. Page numbering of the List of Illustrations has been changed from the original to reflect the final placement of the illustrations in this e-text.