Paris as It Was and as It Is: A Sketch Of The French Capital, Illustrative Of The Effects Of The RevolutionBlagdon, Francis William
History
Paris as It Was and as It Is: A Sketch Of The French Capital, Illustrative Of The Effects Of The Revolution
Blagdon, Francis William
Paris (France) -- Description and travel
Columns, arabesque ceilings charged with gilding, light pieces of
sculpture applied on blue and violet grounds, imitating cameo, china,
or enamel; every thing excites astonishment, and concurs in calling
to mind the first epoch of the regeneration of the arts in this
country.
The ideas of the amateur are enlivened in this brilliant apartment:
they prepare him for the gratification which he is going to
experience at the sight of the beautiful monuments produced by the
age, so renowned of Francis I. There, architecture predominates over
sculpture; here, sculpture over architecture.
The genius of RAPHAEL paved the way to this impulse of regeneration:
he had recently produced the decorations of the Vatican; and the
admirable effect of these master-pieces of art, kindled an enthusiasm
in the mind of the artists, who travelled. On their return to France,
they endeavoured to imitate them: in this attempt, JEAN JUSTE, a
sculptor sent to Rome, at the expense of the Cardinal D'AMBOISE, was
the most succcessful.
First, we behold the mausoleum of LOUIS D'ORLÉANS, victim of the
faction of the Duke of Burgundy, and that of his brother CHARLES, the
poet. Near them is that of VALENTINE DE MILAN, the inconsolable wife
of the former, who died through grief the year after she lost her
husband. As an emblem of her affliction, she took for her device a
watering-pot stooped, whence drops kept trickling in the form of
tears. Let it not be imagined, however, that it was on account of his
constancy that this affectionate woman thus bewailed him till she
fell a victim to her sorrow.
LOUIS D'ORLÉANS was a great seducer of ladies of the court, and of
the highest rank too, says Brantome. Indeed, historians concur in
stating that to a brilliant understanding, he joined the most
captivating person. We accordingly find that the Dutchess of Burgundy
and several others were by no means cruel to him; and he had been
supping tête-à-tête with Queen Isabeau de Bavière, when, in returning
home, he was assassinated on the twenty-third of November 1407. His
amorous intrigues at last proved fatal to the English, as you will
learn from the following story, related by the same author.
One morning, M. d'Orléans having in bed with him a woman of quality,
whose husband came to pay him an early visit, he concealed the lady's
head, while he exhibited the rest of her person to the contemplation
of the unsuspecting intruder, at the same time forbidding him, as he
valued his life, to remove the sheet from her face. Now, the cream of
the jest was, that, on the following night, the good soul of a
husband, as he lay beside his dear, boasted to her that the Duke of
Orleans had shewn him the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen:
but that for her face he could not tell what to say of it, as it was
concealed under the sheet. "From this little intrigue," adds
Brantome, "sprang that brave and valiant bastard of Orleans, Count
Dunois, the pillar of France, and the scourge of the English."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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