1841.1 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL, 



407 



ings of Egppt, Etruria, Greece, Byzantium,* and Pompeii. The 

 painted decorations of our own churches were all coloured over or other- 

 wise obliterated at the Reformation, (when sculpture, stained glassy 

 and many monumental brasses were also destroyed,) and the whitewash 

 of the churcdiwarden has served each year since to reader the dis- 

 covery of them more difficult. The spirit of restoration which now 

 prevails in many quarters, has brought numerous instances to 

 light, as in the Temple church in our own metropolis, to which as its 

 renovation has been commenced, we may soon hope to refer as an ex- 

 ample. 



At the Cathedral of St. Denis, near Paris, (the stone work of which 

 has been entirely restored,) traces of colour on the various architec- 

 tural members were found almost universally. The chapels and aisle 

 of the choir are consequently again adorned with colours, gilding and 

 arabesques. The coluunis are covered with leaves, foliage and shields, 

 the capitals being gilt : the vaultings are blue with silver stars upon 

 them in some parts, and in others trefoils and quatrefoils in red and 

 gold. Wherever it was practicable, it is said, they adopted the ori- 

 ginal painting as a guide, but this does not seem to have been the 

 case very generally.t The large rose window in the north transept 

 has been filled with stained glass from the establishment at Choisy le 

 Roi, and other windows for the cathedral are in progress of execution 

 at the same place. In the south transept one window is nearly com- 

 pleted, and presents a very indiiferent design commemorative of a 

 visit to St. Denis by the present king. 



For the church of St. Gervais in Paris, where considerable restora- 

 tions are in progress, two very excellent stained glass windows are in 

 progress at the Choisy works. While speaking of restorations it may 

 be mentioned that the cathedral of Notre Dame is about to undergo 

 a thorough repair and renewal. 51. H. Godde is the architect to whom 

 the honourable task is entrusted. 



The interior decorations of the Madeleine are making progress, but 

 are still far from being complete. The ceiling, which forms three 

 domes, is a mass of gilding, the flowers in the panelling being simply 

 backed with blue colour. The capitals of the columns and the face of 

 the tinted shafts are gilt, as is also the entablature. The sculptured 

 frieze presents some slight colourings successfully introduced. Coloured 

 marbles are profusely employed iu the lower part of the church, (as, 

 it may be mentioned, is the case in most of the modern French build- 

 ings,) and in the absis ; — the pavement is entirely of marble, and the 

 whole of the decorations of the most costly kind. Painting and sculp- 

 ture in their highest walks are called in to aid the general effect. 

 Several fine statues in marble are already in their places, and others 

 are in preparation. The semicircular portions of wall above the en- 

 tablature, enclosed by the pendenfives of the domes are appointed to 

 receive large paintings, indeed many of them are finished, and most of 

 them commenced. The mode adopted is that termed in France paint- 

 ing a la cire, and by us, encaustic painting: — a preparation of wax and 

 certain colourless resins kept in a state of fluidity by volatile oils, are 

 employed as the medium for the colours on heated walls. JI. Monta- 

 bert, author of a work entitled Traili- complet de la Peinture, was the 

 first writer who made known to the moderns this very ancient mode 

 of painting, and he himself executed many pictures in this way twenty 

 or five and twenty years ago, the whole of which continue, it is said, 

 without the slightest alteration. In France a veiy strong impression 

 exists in favour of its great superiority over Fresco, and as at this 

 moment (when the manner of decorating the new Houses of Parliament 

 excites so much interest, and is ready of so much importance to the 

 progress of the arts,) it is desirable that we should obtain all the in- 

 formation in our reach on the subject, so that the best mode may be 

 employed, I propose ofleriug hereafter a few detailed remarks on the 

 subject. Besides the Madeleine, Notre Dame de Lorette, St. Denis 



' Some time since il. Didron, the distinguished French antiquary, obtained 

 from the monks at Mount Athos a very curious M.S., relative to painting 

 Byzantine churches. It is wrtteu in Greek, consists of about 350 pages, and 

 is divided into three parts : the tirst treating of the mode of preparing the 

 colours and the ground work for frescoS: tlie second describing the liistorical 

 and allegorical subjects which may be represented, the attitude, costume, Ssc, 

 and the Ihird, the particular parts of the building appropriated to difier,:nt 

 figures. The text is ascribed to the IX. century, but this particular copy is 

 somewhat later. A translation of it lias been made, and will shortly be 

 printed. 



T No person interested in the preservation of specimens of ancient art, can 

 go through St. Denis, and intact through iew buildings in Paris, without 

 leeling how much gratitude is due to the memory of M. Alexandre Lenoir, 

 T\ho succeeded in rescuing from destruction during the Revolution, many 

 magnificent monuments of the middle ages, and preserving them until quieter 

 times, irlis son, M. Albert Leuoir, one of the government architects, and a 

 man of great talent and zeal, is now engaged on a fine work for t!ie ■■ Comite 

 HUtoriquc" entitled Statistique Monumentale de Paris, which his father's 

 collections will enable him to complete most efficiently. 



au Marais. the Ch.'deau of Fontainebleau, &c., contain specimens of 

 this method of painting. 



Mentioning Notre Dame de Lorette, I cannot avoid pointing it out 

 as an extraordinary instance of the application of the decorative arts 

 to church architecture, although it is now perhaps well known to all. 

 Large pictures fill the clerestory and the sides of the chapels, figures, 

 symbols, arabesques, and Latin texts on gold or other grounds, cover 

 every inch of wall, the Ionic columns which support tlie ceiling are 

 apparently covered with composition or varnish of a cream colour with 

 a high polish, the ceiling of the nave is formed into panels, each con- 

 taining an ornate flower, and is adorned with colours and gilding, — 

 chocolate, blue, and white, predominating. The choir is terminated 

 with a dome, the ndiole of which is painted. The cost of this extra- 

 ordinary building, which occupied fourteen years iu completion, and 

 called into requisition the talents of most of the principal artists of 

 Paris, was j;S2,000, — defrayed by the city of Paris.* 



Want of time prevents me from dilating further at this moment, or 

 the Column iu the Place de la Bastille, the restoration of the sculpture 

 in the portico of the Chamber of Deputies, the decoration of the Pan- 

 theon, the establishment of a Society of Architects in Paris,v and the 

 competition designs for a monumetit to Napoleon in the Hotel of the 

 Invalids, aiford ample matter for much comment. The last subject, 

 indeed, seems imperatively to demand a few words, as this proposed 

 monument has e.scited the greatest interest in France during the past 

 tw'elve months, and can hardly be said to be devoid of it here. 



More than eighty proje'.^ were received, notwithstanding a general 

 feeling against the competition prevailed in the minds of artists on 

 account of the profound silence which was observed by the Jlinister 

 of the Interior (to whom the designs were directed to be forwarded) 

 as to the names of those to whom the selection would be confided. 

 The designs, immediately after they were received, were exhibited 

 to the public without restriction, in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and at- 

 tracted great numbers of persons. They were nicely arranged, none 

 of the drawings were torn or injured in hanging, and all were seea 

 equally well — points to which, iu conjunction with the very important 

 step of public exhibition before making the decision, committees here 

 in similar cases would do well to attend. 



A subterranean chapel formed beneath the dome appears to be the 

 favourite idea. M. Visconti, M. Labrouste, M. Isabelle, M. Battard, 

 and others, have adopted it. la M. Visconti's design the chapel is 

 open at the top (being protected by a balustrade around it on the 

 pavement beneath the dome), and is approached by a subterranean 

 passage of great length opening into the C'otir Roijale, wdiere he pro- 

 poses to erect an equestrian statue of the Emperor. M. Labrouste's 

 chapel, on the contrary, is covered by an enormous shield of bronze 

 gilt, supported some few feet above the pavement by four white mar- 

 ble eagles, allowing a view of the sarcophagus containing the remains 

 of Napoleon, in the chapel beneath. The shield, wdiich is of elegant 

 design, would be 50 feet in length, and could hardly fail to produce a 

 striking eilect. 



M. Due exhibited a very beautiful enclosure of gilt bronze, sur- 

 mounted by an elaborate canopy, and containing a porphyry sarcopha- 

 gus. Two figures of white marble sit beyond the enclosure, and the 

 whole is surrounded by a balustrade. M. Feuchere had a model of 

 considerable merit representing an oblong temple of eight columns on 

 a stylobate, which is elongated at the four angles to receive figures. 

 Within the temple is the sarcophagus, and above it a statue of the 

 Emperor. 



M. Felix Duban has designed an elegantly simple sarcophagus on a 

 pliuth, against the sides of which latter stand figures. M. Victor 

 Lenoir has a very clever design, and the same may be said of those by 

 M. Morey and M. Bouchet. Mr. Goldicutt's design for the Nelson 

 monument has been worked on by several, and was produced in two 

 or three shapes. There was one projei for a colossal figure of the 

 Emperor nearly as high as the dome itself, and another (claiming 



■-' The following particulars may be interesting to some. When the city of 

 Paris detenr.ined on rebuilding the church of Notre Dame de Lorette (the 

 old church being much too small and mean for its position.) ten architects 

 were invited to send plans, namely M.M. Cariotie, Godde, Menager. C'ha- 

 tillon, Gauthier, Le l3as, Nepveu, Lec'ere, Provost, and Guenejin, all of 

 whom complied, with the exception of M. Godde. The commission appointed 

 to make the selection was composed of the following gentlemen: Count Cha- 

 brol de Volvic, president ; Viscount Hericart de Thury, Director of " 'I'ra- 

 vaux Publics," Fontaine, Hunault. llujot, Thibault, and Percier, architects_ 

 and members of the Academy, and M. Lirribe, Conservator of the objects of 

 art in the city of Pans, who acted as secretary. The design submitted by 

 M. Le Bas was selected, and reported on at the Hotel de Ville, April '23. 

 1S23 ; the first stone was laid August 25 m the same year, when a medal was 

 struck m commemoration of the occasion, and the consecration of the build- 

 ing took place December 15th, 1836. 



T The fast raseung was held January 24, 1811. 



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