The Churches of Paris, from Clovis to Charles XBeale, Sophia
History
The Churches of Paris, from Clovis to Charles X
Beale, Sophia
Church buildings -- France -- Paris; Paris (France) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
On the lower storey are colossal statues of the twelve Apostles, most of
them portraits, the S. Thomas being that of the sculptor Lassus. The
gables of the upper storey support Angels with the instruments of the
Passion. The crockets of the spire are _fleurs-de-lys_, and the whole is
resplendent with gilding. The summit of the _chevet_ is surmounted by a
huge Angel, in lead, holding a processional cross. There was an idea,
never carried out, of making this statue turn round mechanically upon a
pivot during the twenty-four hours, that it might present the symbol of
salvation successively to all quarters of the city. The masks upon the
pedestal of this figure are all portraits of the artists and workmen
engaged upon the restoration of the chapel, posing as the Kings of
France. The oratory, erected by Louis XI., between the two buttresses of
the fourth bay, upon the south side, is decorated with niches and
corbels of human heads.
The vaulting of the lower chapel is supported by fourteen single-shaft
pillars, surrounded by foliated capitals of various designs. The walls
are decorated with arcading, terminated at the east end by an apse. The
two columns without capitals were added at the same time as the apsidal
tribune in the upper chapel. The decoration is in imitation of the
original 13th century work, some of which, a fragment of an
_Annunciation_, was discovered in removing the remains of some later
work in a style utterly at variance with the architecture, by Martin
Fréminet, painter to Henri IV. and Louis XIII. In 1691 the tracery of
the windows and the stained glass were destroyed and replaced by white
in order to give extra light. Formerly there were seven altars and a
font in the lower chapel, Boileau, whose father had a house in the court
of the palace, being amongst those who were baptised there.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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