tower is pure Lancet, rising one stage, diminished and unbuttressed, above the roof of the nave, the lower part has double buttresses. There is a western doorway enriched with shafts and tooth moulding, set under a high pediment, above this is a single small lancet window. The belfry stage is quite unlike any other which I have seen in the county; it contains two long lancets with banded jamb-shafts not grouped under an arch. Above is a row of quatrefoils, an early example. The spire is either Decorated or Perpendicular--I have unfortunately no note of the details which would decide the point,somewhat taller than usual, with small squinches, and no great projection to the crocketed spire-lights; I hardly know a prettier example, and the composition of the tower stands quite by itself. THE ECCLESIOLOGICAL MOVEMENT IN FRANCE, BY MM. LASSUS AND VIOLLET LE DUC. No. I. THE SAINTE CHAPELLE, ETC. BY M. LASSUS. WE have very great satisfaction in informing our readers that we are enabled to promise them a series of articles, of no ordinary interest, of which we present them with the first in the present number. The two gentlemen, whose reputation is so firmly, deservedly, and universally established, as the leading ecclesiological architects of France, have in the kindest and most ready manner consented to furnish us with articles descriptive of the works of restoration and construction on which they are engaged, illustrated by woodcuts drawn by them, and engraved under their superintendence. We are sure we need not expatiate upon the pleasure with which we make this announcement. The following letter, by M. Lassus, is introductory to more detailed descriptions of his works. M. Viollet Le Duc promises us articles upon the cathedrals of Paris and Amiens, of which he has the restoration,the latter, alone; the former, in association with M. Lassus. We have, upon reflection, thought it preferable to present their contributions in a translated form. 64 66 Paris, December 10, 1849. SIR,-Truly, that intercommunion of ideas which naturally establishes itself between men who, though strangers to each other, yet are pursuing the same common object,-the study of an art which has been for so long neglected, is very remarkable. "Unacquainted with each other as we are, yet it will give me the greatest pleasure to answer any questions you may wish to address to me. "I am ignorant, Sir, whether you have the same hard struggle in your country against the educational body as we have in ours, from whom we meet with the most obstinate and determined opposition. "You must, doubtless, have seen the famous manifesto published by our Academy against all those who should have the misfortune to discover that our monuments of the middle ages could be possessed of any degree of merit, and could furnish useful lessons to architects. We are still at the same point: on one side the partisans of the Antique, headed by the Academy; on the other the sincere admirers of Gothic, and with them, fortunately, a large portion of the public. However things may turn, one may say already that our cause is won, and the recent inauguration of the Sainte Chapelle, of which you have asked me for some account, has greatly aided that result. During nineteen days, the crowd never ceased pressing through the portal of the beautiful chapel, built by Pierre de Montereau; during nineteen days the most real admiration was felt by the thousands of curious, who with the slowest footsteps wandered along the pathway apportioned to the visitors. One can hardly form an idea of the immense impression produced upon the crowd by the boldness of that lofty vaulting, so gracefully supported upon light pillars; the richness and splendour of that wall of harmonious windows which surround the edifice, and also the beauty of the sculptures, so abundant and varied. And yet, Sir, notwithstanding all the efforts I had made to render this movement subservient to the performance of religious worship, there still remained an immense deal to do to bring the Sainte Chapelle to a nearer approach to what it was in the time of S. Louis. First it was necessary to replace the pavement of encaustic tiles by a carpet; then all the lower parts of the windows were no longer in existence, and were only covered by Gobelin tapestry. Only four of the statues of the Apostles could be replaced, and then there were the fittings, the altar, the shrine, the baldachin, in which painted wood, plaister, papier maché, provisionally replaced stone, marble, brass, gold, and jewellery. So that you see, Sir, the Sainte Chapelle of 1849 was very different from that of 1249; and yet the eulogies of the public have not done it injustice, incomplete as it was, and the chef-d'œuvre of Pierre de Montereau was appreciated and consecrated by the general admiration. "You will easily understand, Sir, the eagerness with which I seized the opportunity which presented itself, of giving an idea,-incomplete it is true, but still exact as far as it goes,-of the decoration of a chapel of the thirteenth century. It also gave me the means of studying the effect of the different moveable fittings, which I am now on the point of having executed, in a careful and definitive manner. And then it appeared to me that it was an excellent opportunity of pleading the cause which we advocate, and of propagating our archæological doctrines. Besides, at the moment when I was protesting with earnest entreaty against the destruction of the buildings which have just been patched up in so deplorable a way, close to the Sainte Chapelle, it seemed to me very useful to bring forward, as much as possible, the importance of this admirable edifice. "I have every reason to be thankful for the result. It would now be quite impossible to treat the Sainte Chapelle as it would have been a few years ago, as I have every reason to hope that I shall end by obtaining a favourable verdict in this grave affair. Yet the municipal administration raise numerous objections, and I meet with a formidable opposition from that quarter. However, I have the support of the Commission named by MM. the Ministers of Public Works, and of the Interior, and you will be able to judge by its reports to the minister, of the ridiculous propositions which the Municipality seems determined to maintain. "At its last sitting the Commission persisted in its opinions, and the affair is soon to be submitted to the inspection of the Conseil General. At any rate, if I do not succeed, I shall have done my duty, and used all the means in my power. Before changing the subject, I think I ought to acquaint you with a very important discovery which I made some months ago in the lower chapel; I mean a painting on the wall, found under three layers of whitewash, in a perfect state of preservation. 66 What is most curious is, that this painting, in which one meets with the frequent use of the most fragile colours, such as lake, can be neither a fresco, nor a distemper, nor a painting upon wax. There is, indeed, no plaistering on the stone; rubbing cannot make it glisten, and no change is perceptible from the covering of any portion either with oil or with water. ⚫ Our present Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, M. Dumas, had been commissioned by the late Minister of Public Works, to analyse this curious painting, but the recent political events interfered with this arrangement, and the care of this examination has been confided to a very clever chymist, although he does not boast of the same general European reputation as M. Dumas. I am awaiting the result with curiosity, and the more so, as several learned persons have pretty nearly convinced themselves that this painting, the style of which clearly belongs to the latter half of the 13th century, is executed in oils; which would prove that the invention of that mode of painting was much earlier than the time of John de Bruges, to whom it is generally attributed. It is at all events certain, that the Monk Theophilus, speaks very distinctly in his work of the mode of Mural Paintings in Oils: only it is very probable that this process then very imperfectly known, was only employed for grounds or other accessory parts, and if John Van Eyck did not entirely invent Oil Painting, he at least carried it to a degree of perfection which has never been surpassed since. "As I have happened to allude to this artist so justly celebrated, I really must observe, that I consider him, independent of his skill as a painter, as our master in every thing, and that I look upon him as the first and most learned of archaeologists. You would certainly be of my opinion Sir, if you could see the wonderful little picture, which I am at this moment having re-produced by one of our most celebrated miniaturists, M. Ledoux. In this picture, which belongs to one of my friends, M. Nau, Architect of the Cathedral of Nantes, the Brugesian artist gives the most evident proofs of his archæological knowledge. The Virgin forms the principal subject of the picture, and in the back ground is represented a Church of the 14th century, in which one finds delineated with remarkable precision all the details which mark the constructions of that period, and yet that Church is clearly an imaginary one. The graceful Crown on the Virgin's head would alone be considered a chef-d'œuvre of good taste and execution. "In any case, and whatever may have been the process employed, it is very difficult to explain the perfect preservation of the painting found in the lower part of the Sainte Chapelle. When M. Dumas made his rapid inspection, an idea struck him that the painter had perhaps made use of vitrified colours, such as cobalt and smalt, and it is very likely, that this supposition may be confirmed by the experiments. "The subject represented is that of the Visitation, the two figures of the Angel and of the Virgin each fill up one compartment of a blank window, and above in the rosace is depicted the Virgin seated, holding the Infant JESUS on her knees. The artist evidently wished to imitate a painted glass window, and it gives wonderful assistance and information towards the restoration of the glass of the lower Chapel, which has all been destroyed. "I cannot turn from our good town of Paris to speak to you of the buildings I am erecting in the provinces, without a few words in explanation of the works which are at this moment going on in the Cathedral of Paris under my direction and that of my colleague and friend Viollet Le Duc. These are of two distinct classes, of works of restoration and works of construction in the building of an entirely new sacristy. Of the former, we first directed our attention towards consolidating the different parts which had suffered most, and then towards restoring the architectural forms and the sculpture, carefully searching for the smallest traces of what might have existed. In the second class, we had full liberty of action and without tying ourselves to the mere copying of such and such forms, of the edifice to which we were annexing it, we have sought to harmonize our style with those portions of the building which were nearest to our new construction. "The restoration of the Cathedral has given us the opportunity of executing on a large scale, statuary of the 13th century, and to arrive at a more certain result we have established workshops of Sculpture in the timber yard itself of the Cathedral, and moreover an artist who has long devoted himself to the study of the sculpture of the middle ages, has been charged with the direction of the entire work. All the sculptures have been executed from our designs, and already the twelve statues of the Apostles of the portal are finished, and they have in hand at this moment the bas-reliefs of the central door, so shamefully mutilated by Soufflot. We have every reason to congratulate ourselves in the spirit of emulation and of harmony which exists, in consequence of the determination we took to unite the sculptors charged with these works in ateliers where it is easy for us to surround them with all the assistances they may require. "As to the new Sacristy, the building of it is quite completed as well as the sculpture, both exterior and interior, and we have only now to occupy ourselves with the windows and the moveable fittings, but I will not enlarge any more upon the subject, as I know Viollet Le Duc in |