Paris: Grant Allen's Historical GuidesAllen, Grant
History
Paris: Grant Allen's Historical Guides
Allen, Grant
Paris (France) -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- Guidebooks
Now walk up the =R aisle=. Everything in this church is, of course,
comparatively modern, but still rich in symbolism. Most of the chapels
have their names inscribed upon them—an excellent feature. The first,
containing Franciscan Saints, has a good modern stained-glass window,
representing the Saints and Patrons of the Order—St. Francis, St.
Louis, etc. Observe the frescoes in the various chapels, and note their
applicability to the saints to whom they are dedicated. I need not now
enlarge upon this point. For example, the chapel of the Souls in
Purgatory has a relief of Christ bound to the pillar—_His_
purgatory—(a portion of it is preserved here) and a fresco representing
mourning souls below, with triumphant ones in heaven. Observe from this
point the beautiful Renaissance detail of the aisles and of the vaulting
in the ambulatory, or passage behind the choir. Do not overlook the
chapels of St. Agnes (co-patroness) and St. Cecilia, the inventress of
the organ and patroness of music. The =transepts= are very short, but
are decorated with good rose-windows and other excellent semi-Gothic
detail. Walk round the =ambulatory=, noticing as you go the various
chapels with their polychromatic decoration and their appropriate
frescoes. Thus, that of St. Anne contains a representation of the Saint
educating her daughter the Virgin. Note also on your L as you go the
delicate work of the choir-screen, and the excellent vaulting and
decoration of the lofty =choir=. The Lady Chapel behind the choir is not
wholly pleasing. It contains a good 18th century statue of the Virgin
and Child by Pigalle. Observe particularly in the North part of the
ambulatory the chapel of Ste. Geneviève, with scenes from her legend.
The chapel of St. Louis, next it, contains excellent modern frescoes
from his life, by Barrias, and a fine stained-glass window of his
education, with his mother, Blanche of Castille, looking on, beneath a
canopy marked with fleurs-de-lis and the three castles of Castille. One
fresco represents him taking the Crown of Thorns to the Sainte Chapelle.
Observe these little historical reminiscences: they add interest.
Pleasing reliefs in the =North transept= of St. Cecilia and King David,
representing music, for which this church has always been celebrated,
especially on St. Cecilia’s Day and Good Friday. They stand for Psalms
and Hymns—the Jewish and the Christian psalmody. Notice, again, the
figure of St. Agnes with her lamb, between the doorways, a tribute to
the earlier dedication of the building. Above it, good stained-glass
window of the Annunciation, with traditional details. (Do not be content
to notice merely the points to which I call attention, but observe for
yourself as you go the other figures, with their meaning and connection.
To spell it all out is half the pleasure.) Above the Holy Water vessel
in this Transept is a figure of Pope Alexander I, who first sanctioned
the use of Holy Water, accompanied by angels. Beneath it, the baffled
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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