Account of a Tour in Normandy, Volume 1Turner, Dawson
History
Account of a Tour in Normandy, Volume 1
Turner, Dawson
Architecture -- France -- Normandy; Normandy (France) -- Antiquities; Normandy (France) -- Description and travel
Respecting the contents of the sacristy, I can say little from my own
knowledge; but I find by Pommeraye, that, before the revolution, it
boasted of a large silver image of the Virgin, endued with peculiar
sanctity, a few drops of her milk, and a portion of her hair[88]; a
splinter of the true cross, set in gold, studded with pearls,
sapphires, and turquoises; and reliques of saints without number. Now,
however, it appears, that of all its treasures, it has preserved little
else except the shrine of St. Romain, and another known by the general
name of _Chasse des Saints_. The former is two feet six inches long, and
one foot nine inches high, and is of handsome workmanship, with a
variety of figures on the sides, and St. Romain himself at the top.
Formerly it was supposed to be made of gold; now I was assured by one of
the canons, that it is of silver gilt; but Gilbert[89], who is a plain
layman, maintains that it is only copper. Had it been otherwise, it
would have contributed to the ways and means of the unchristian
republic; but the democrats spared it, for they had well ascertained
that the metal was base, and that the jewels, which adorn it, are but
glass.--This is not the original shrine which held the precious relics:
the shrine in which they were deposited by the archbishop, William Bonne
Ame, when first brought to the cathedral, in 1090, was sold during a
famine, and its proceeds distributed to the starving poor; after which,
in 1179, Archbishop Rotrou caused another still more costly to be made;
but the latter was broken to pieces by the Calvinists, in 1562, and the
saint's body cast into the fire[90].
Thus, then, I have led you, as far as I am able; through the cathedral,
adjoining which, at the east end, stands the palace of the archbishop, a
large building, but neither handsome nor conspicuous, principally the
work of the Cardinal Georges d'Amboise, though begun by the Cardinal
d'Etouteville, in 1461. The rooms in it which are shewn to strangers are
the anti-chamber, commonly called _la salle de la Croix_, the library,
and the great gallery. This last, which is one hundred and sixty feet
long, is also known by the name of _la salle des Etats_. In it are
placed four very large paintings by Robert, an eminent French artist of
comparatively modern date. They represent the city of Rouen, the town of
Dieppe, that of Havre de Grace, and the archiepiscopal palace at
Gaillon. The view of Rouen represents in the foreground the _petit
Château_, and is on that account peculiarly interesting. All of them are
fine paintings, but much injured by the damp. In the anti-chamber are
portraits of seven prelates of the see, and among them those of the
Cardinal de la Rochefoucault, and M. de Tressan: our guide could name no
others.
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