But the magnificence with which Dagobert rebuilt and endowed S. Denis completely eclipsed the work of the maid of Nanterre; and so effectually was the king looked upon as the founder of the abbey that, up to the dissolution of the monasteries, the monks celebrated his festival upon the 19th of January with great solemnity and splendour. It was about the year 630 that Dagobert undertook the rebuilding of the church, which is said to have been decorated with precious marbles, magnificent bronze doors, and gold and silver vessels enriched with precious stones. These latter, and the shrine of the Saint, as well as the great cross at the entrance of the choir, were the work of the famous artificer in metals, S. Eloy, who was also the maker of the shrines of SS. Martin, Germain, and Geneviève. These, and, in fact, all this great smith's works (as far as is known) have perished; but his memory is still preserved by pictures and sculptures representing some of the legendary incidents of his life. In the Firenze Academy is a picture by Botticelli, and at the church of Or San Michele is a statue and a bas-relief, both of which represent one of the great events of the Saint's life. A horse having been brought to him to be shod, the animal proved restive, and the Saint being exercised in his mind as to how he should keep the beast still, bethought him of an excellent plan. He calmly cut off the leg, and placing it upon his anvil, fastened on the shoe; this done, he replaced the leg upon the horse, to the amazement of the beast and the edification of his owner. Another picture, painted for the Company of the Goldsmiths, represents S. Eloy under the form of Benvenuto Cellini, presenting a shrine to King Dagobert, who figures in the costume of François I^er. In 754, Pépin and his queen Berthe, after being anointed at S. Denis by Pope Stephen II., began the reconstruction of the Merovingian church which Charlemagne finished and dedicated in 775. From that year until the 12th century, little is known of the history of the abbey. Like all churches and monasteries in the north of France, it was probably destroyed, and its lands laid waste by the invasions of the Northmen and the disastrous civil wars which characterised the end of the Carlovingian dynasty, for nothing remains of the magnificence of the churches of Dagobert and of Charlemagne but a few columns and marble capitals in the crypt. [Illustration: TOMB OF HENRI II. IN THE VALOIS CHAPEL BUILT BY PHILIBERT DELORME.]