A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Paris As It Was and As It Is

F >> Francis W. Blagdon >> Paris As It Was and As It Is




This most remarkable picture represents, on the fore-ground, near an
oak, a bull, a ewe with its lamb, and a herdsman, all as large as
life.


REMBRANDT.

N° 457. (Gallery.) _The head of a woman with ear-rings, and dressed
in a fur-cloak._

458. _The good Samaritan_.

465. _The Cabinet-maker's family._

466. _Tobias and his family kneeling before the angel Raphael,
who disappears from his sight, after having made himself known._

469. _The Presentation of Jesus in the temple._

The pictures, exhibited in the _Saloon_ of the _Louvre_, have
infinitely the advantage of those in the _Great Gallery_; the former
apartment being lighted from the top; while in the latter, the light
is admitted through large windows, placed on both sides, those on the
one side facing the compartments between those on the other; so that,
in this respect, the master-pieces in the _Gallery_ are viewed under
very unfavourable circumstances.

The _Gallery_ of the _Louvre_ is still capable of containing more
pictures, one eighth part of it (that next to the _Tuileries_), being
under repair for the purpose.[1] It has long been a question with the
French republican government, whether the palace of the _Tuileries_
should not be connected to the _Louvre_, by a gallery parallel to
that which borders the Seine. Six years ago, I understand, the
subject was agitated, and dropped again, on consideration of the
state of the country in general, and particularly the finances. It is
now revived; and I was told the other day, that a plan of
construction had absolutely been adopted. This, no doubt, is more
easy than to find the sums of money necessary for carrying on so
expensive an undertaking.

If the fact were true, it is of a nature to produce a great sensation
in modern art, since it is affirmed that the object of this work is
to give a vast display to every article appropriated to general
instruction; for, according to report, it is intended that these
united buildings, should, in addition to the National Library,
contain the collections of statues, pictures, &c. &c. still remaining
at the disposal of the government. I would not undertake to vouch for
the precise nature of the object proposed; but it cannot be denied
that, in this project, there is a boldness well calculated to flatter
the ambition of the Chief Consul.

However, I think it more probable that nothing, in this respect, will
be positively determined in the present state of affairs. The
expedition to St. Domingo will cost an immense sum, not to speak of
the restoration of the French navy, which must occasion great and
immediate calls for money. Whence I conclude that the erection of the
new Gallery, like that of the National Column, will be much talked
of, but remain among other projects in embryo, and the discussion be
adjourned _sine die_.

Leaving the _Great Gallery_, we return to the _Saloon_ of the
_Louvre_, which, being an intermediate apartment, serves as a point
of communication between it and the

GALLERY OF APOLLO.

The old gallery of this name, first called _La petite galérie du
Louvre_, was constructed under the reign of Henry IV, and, from its
origin, ornamented with paintings. This gallery having been consumed
by fire in 1661, owing to the negligence of a workman employed in
preparing a theatre for a grand ballet, in which the king was to
dance with all his court, Lewis XIV immediately ordered it to be
rebuilt and magnificently decorated.

LE BRUN, who then directed works of this description in France,
furnished the designs of all the paintings, sculpture, and ornaments,
which are partly executed. He divided the vault of the roof into
eleven principal compartments; in that which is in the centre, he
intended to represent _Apollo_ in his car, with all the attributes
peculiar to the Sun, which was the king's device. The _Seasons_ were
to have occupied the four nearest compartments; in the others, were
to have been _Evening_ and _Morning_, _Night_ and _Day-break_, the
_Waking of the Waters_, and that of the _Earth at Sun-rise_.

Unfortunately for his fame, this vast project of LE BRUN was never
completed. Lewis XIV, captivated by Versailles, soon turned all his
thoughts towards the embellishment of that palace. The works of the
GALLERY OF APOLLO were entirely abandoned, and, of all this grand
composition, LE BRUN was enabled to execute no more than the
following subjects:

1. _Evening_, represented by Morpheus, lying on a bed of poppies, and
buried in a profound sleep.

2. _Night_ succeeding to day, and lighted by the silvery disk of the
Moon, which, under the figure of Diana, appears in a car drawn by
hinds.

3. _The Waking of the Waters_. Neptune and Amphitrite on a car drawn
by sea-horses, and accompanied by Tritons, Nereïds, and other
divinities of the waters, seem to be paying homage to the rising sun,
whose first rays dispel the Winds and Tempests, figured by a group to
the left; while, to the right, Polyphemus, seated on a rock, is
calling with his loud instrument to his Galatea.

The other compartments, which LE BRUN could not paint, on account of
the cessation of the works, remained a long time vacant, and would
have been so at this day, had not the _ci-devant_ Academy of
Painting, to whom the king, in 1764, granted the use of the GALLERY
OF APOLLO, resolved that, in future, the historical painters who
might be admitted members, should be bound to paint for their
reception one of the subjects which were still wanting for the
completion of the ceiling. In this manner, five of the compartments,
which remained to be filled, were successively decorated, namely:

1. _Summer_, by DURAMEAU.

2. _Autumn_, by TARAVAL.

3. _Spring_, by CALLET.

4. _Winter_, by LAGRENÉE the younger,

5. _Morning_, or day-break, by RENOU.

The GALLERY OF APOLLO now making part of the CENTRAL MUSEUM, it would
be worthy of the government to cause its ceiling to be completed, by
having the three vacant compartments painted by skillful French
artists.

Under the compartments, and immediately above the cornice, are twelve
medallions, which were to represent the _twelve months of the year_,
characterized by the different occupations peculiar to them: eight
only are executed, and these are the months of summer, autumn, and
winter.

The rich borders in gilt stucco, which serve as frames to all these
paintings, the caryatides which support them, as well as the groups
of Muses, Rivers, and Children, that are distributed over the great
cornice, are worthy of remark. Not only were the most celebrated
sculptors then in France, GASPAR and BALTHAZAR MARSY, REGNAUDIN, and
GIRARDON, chosen to execute them; but their emulation was also
excited by a premium of three hundred louis, which was promised to
him who should excel. GIRARDON obtained it by the execution of the
following pieces of sculpture:

1. The figure representing a river which is under the _Waking of the
Waters_; at the south extremity of the gallery.

2. The two trophies of arms which are near that river.

3. The caryatides that support one of the octagonal compartments
towards the quay, at the foot of which are seen two children; the one
armed with a sickle, the other leaning on a lion.

4. The group of caryatides that supports the great compartment where
_Summer_ is represented, and below which is a child holding a
balance.

5. The two grouped figures of Tragedy and Comedy, which rest on the
great cornice.

In the GALLERY OF APOLLO will be exhibited in succession, about
twelve thousand original drawings of the Italian, Flemish, and French
schools, the greater part of which formerly belonged to the crown.
This valuable collection had been successively enriched by the choice
of those of JABAK, LANQUE, MONTARSIS, LE BRUN, CROZAT, MARIETTE, &c.
yet never rendered public. Private and partial admission to it had,
indeed, been granted; but artists and amateurs, in general, were
precluded from so rich a source of study. By inconceivable neglect,
it seemed almost to have escaped the attention of the old government,
having been for a hundred years shut up in a confined place, instead
of being exhibited to public view.

The variety of the forms and dimensions of these drawings having
opposed the more preferable mode of arranging them by schools, and in
chronological order, the most capital drawings of each master have
been selected (for, in so extensive a collection, it could not be
supposed that they were all equally interesting); and these even are
sufficiently numerous to furnish several successive exhibitions.

The present exhibition consists of upwards of two hundred drawings by
the most distinguished masters of the Italian school, about one
hundred by those of the Flemish, and as many, or rather more, by
those of the French. They are placed in glazed frames, so contrived
as to admit of the subjects being changed at pleasure. Among the
drawings by RAPHAEL, is the great cartoon of the Athenian School, a
valuable fragment which served for the execution of the grand
_fresco_ painting in the Vatican, the largest and finest of all his
productions. It was brought from the Ambrosian library at Milan, and
is one of the most instructive works extant for a study.

Besides the drawings, is a frame containing a series of portraits of
illustrious personages who made a figure in the reign of Lewis XIV.
They are miniatures in enamel, painted chiefly by the celebrated
PETITOT of Geneva.

Here are also to be seen some busts and antique vases. The most
remarkable of the latter is one of Parian marble, about twenty-one
inches in height by twelve in diameter. It is of an oval form; the
handles, cut out of the solid stone, are ornamented with four swans'
heads, and the neck with branches of ivy. On the swell is a
bas-relief, sculptured in the old Greek style, and in the centre
is an altar on which these words may be decyphered.

[Greek: SOSIBIOS ATÆNAIOS EPOIEI.]
_Sosibios of Athens fecit._

This beautiful vase[2] is placed on a table of violet African
breccia, remarkable for its size, being twelve feet in length, three
feet ten inches in breadth, and upwards of three inches in thickness.

It might, at first, be supposed that the indiscriminate admission of
persons of all ranks to a Museum, which presents so many attractive
objects, would create confusion, and occasion breaches of decorum.
But this is by no means the case. _Savoyards_, _poissardes_, and the
whole motley assemblage of the lower classes of both sexes in Paris,
behave themselves with as much propriety as the more refined
visiters; though their remarks, perhaps, may be expressed in language
less polished. In conspicuous places of the various apartments,
boards are affixed, on which is inscribed the following significant
appeal to the uncultivated mind, "_Citoyens, ne touchez à rien; mais
respectez la Propriété Nationale_." Proper persons are stationed here
and there to caution such as, through thoughtlessness or ignorance,
might not attend to the admonition.

On the days appropriated to the accommodation of students, great
numbers are to be seen in different parts of the Museum, some mounted
on little stages, others standing or sitting, all sedulously employed
in copying the favourite object of their studies. Indeed, the epithet
CENTRAL has been applied to this establishment, in order to designate
a MUSEUM, which is to contain the choicest productions of art, and,
of course, become the _centre_ of study. Here, nothing has been
neglected that could render such an institution useful, either in a
political light, or in regard to public instruction. Its magnificence
and splendour speak to every eye, and are calculated to attract the
attention of foreigners from the four quarters of the globe; while,
as a source of improvement, it presents to students the finest models
that the arts and sciences could assemble. In a philosophical point
of view, such a Museum may be compared to a torch, whose light will
not only dispel the remnant of that bad taste which, for a century,
has predominated in the arts dependent on design, but also serve to
guide the future progress of the rising generation.

[Footnote 1: In the great _Gallery_ of the _Louvre_ are suspended
about nine hundred and fifty pictures; which, with ninety in the
_Saloon_, extend the number of the present exhibition to one thousand
and forty.]

[Footnote 2: Whatever may be the beauty of this vase, two others are
to be seen in Paris, which surpass it, according to the opinion of
one of the most celebrated antiquaries of the age, M. VISCONTI. They
are now in the possession of M. AUBRI, doctor of Physic, residing at
N°. 272, _Rue St. Thomas du Louvre_, but they formerly graced the
cabinet of the _Villa-Albani_ at Rome. In this apartment, Cardinal
Alessandro had assembled some of the most valuable ornaments of
antiquity. Here were to be seen the Apollo _Sauroctonos_ in bronze,
the Diana in alabaster, and the _unique_ bas-relief of the apothesis
of Hercules. By the side of such rare objects of art, these vases
attracted no less attention. To describe them as they deserve, would
lead me too far; they need only to be seen to be admired. Although
their form is antique, the execution of them is modern, and ascribed
to the celebrated sculptor, SILVIO DA VELETRI, who lived in the
beginning of the seventeenth century. Indeed, M. VISCONTI affirms
that antiquity affords not their equal; assigning as a reason that
porphyry was introduced into Rome at a period when the fine arts were
tending to their decline. Notwithstanding the hardness of the
substance, they are executed with such taste and perfection, that the
porphyry is reduced to the thinness of china.]



LETTER XVIII.

_Paris, November 17, 1801._

The _Louvre_, the _Tuileries_, together with the _National Fête_ in
honour of Peace, and a crowd of interesting objects, have so
engrossed our attention, that we seem to have overlooked the
_ci-devant Palais Royal_. Let us then examine that noted edifice,
which now bears the name of

PALAIS DU TRIBUNAT.

In 1629, Cardinal Richelieu began the construction of this palace.
When finished, in 1636, he called it the _Palais Cardinal_, a
denomination which was much criticized, as being unworthy of the
founder of the French Academy.

Like the politic Wolsey, who gave Hampton-Court to Henry VIII, the
crafty Richelieu, in 1639, thought proper to make a present of this
palace to Lewis XIII. After the death of that king, Anne of Austria,
queen of France and regent of the kingdom, quitted the _Louvre_ to
inhabit the _Palais Cardinal_, with her sons Lewis XIV and the Duke
of Anjou.

The first inscription was then removed, and this palace was called
_le Palais Royal_, a name which it preserved till the revolution,
when, after the new title assumed by its then owner, it was
denominated _la Maison Égalité_, till, under the consular government,
since the Tribunate have here established their sittings, it has
obtained its present appellation of _Palais du Tribunat_.

In the sequel, Lewis XIV granted to Monsieur, his only brother,
married to Henrietta Stuart, daughter of Charles I, the enjoyment of
the _Palais Royal_, and afterwards vested the property of it in his
grandson, the Duke of Chartres.

That prince, become Duke of Orleans, and regent of France, during the
minority of Lewis XV, resided in this palace, and (to use Voltaire's
expression) hence gave the signal of voluptuousness to the whole
kingdom. Here too, he ruled it with principles the most daring;
holding men, in general, in great contempt, and conceiving them to be
all as insidious, as servile, and as covetous as those by whom he was
surrounded. With the superiority of his character, he made a sport of
governing this mass of individuals, as if the task was unworthy of
his genius. The fact is illustrated by the following anecdote.

At the commencement of his regency, the debts of the State were
immense, and the finances exhausted: such great evils required
extraordinary remedies; he wished to persuade the people that
paper-money was better than specie. Thousands became the dupes
of their avarice, and too soon awoke from their dream only to curse
the authors of a project which ended in their total ruin. It is almost
needless to mention that I here allude to the Mississippi bubble.

In circumstances so critical, the Parliament of Paris thought it
their duty to make remonstrances. They accordingly sent deputies to
the regent, who was persuaded that they wished to stir up the
Parisians against him. After having listened to their harangue with
much phelgm, he gave them his answer in four words: "Go and be
d----n'd." The deputy, who had addressed him, nothing disconcerted,
instantly replied: "Sir, it is the custom of the Parliament to enter
in their registers the answers which they receive from the throne:
shall they insert this?"

The principles of the regent's administration, which succeeded those
of Lewis XIV, form in history, a very striking shade. The French
nation, which, plastic as wax, yields to every impression, was
new-modelled in a single instant. As a rotten speck, by spreading,
contaminates the finest fruit, so was the _Palais Royal_ the corrupt
spot, whence the contagion of debauchery was propagated, even to the
remotest parts of the kingdom.

This period, infinitely curious and interesting, paved the way to the
present manners. If the basis of morality be at this day overthrown
in France, the regency of Philip of Orleans, by completing what the
dissolute court of Lewis XIV had begun, has occasioned that rapid
change, whose influence was felt long before the revolution, and
will, in all probability, last for ages. At least, I think that such
a conclusion is exemplified by what has occurred in England since the
profligate reign of Charles II, the effects of whose example have
never been done away.

Different circumstances have produced considerable alterations in
this palace, so that, at the present day, its numerous buildings
preserve of the first architect, LE MERCIER, no more than a small
part of the second court.

The principal entrance of the _Palais du Tribunat_ is from the _Rue
St. Honoré_. The façade, on this side, which was constructed in 1763,
consists of two pavilions, ornamented by Doric and Ionic pillars, and
connected by a lofty stone-wall, perforated with arches, to three
grand gates, by which you enter the first court. Here, two elegant
wings present themselves, decorated with pilasters, also of the Doric
and Ionic orders, which are likewise employed for the pillars of the
avant-corps in the centre. This avant-corps is pierced with three
arches, which serve as a passage into the second court, and
correspond with the three gates before-mentioned.

Having reached the vestibule, between the two courts, where large
Doric pillars rise, though partly concealed by a number of little
shops and stalls, you see, on the right, the handsome elliptical
stair-case, which leads to the apartments. It branches off into two
divisions at the third step, and is lighted by a lofty dome. The
balustrade of polished iron is beautiful, and is said to have cost
thirty-two workmen two years' labour. Before the revolution,
strangers repaired hither to admire the cabinet of gems and engraved
stones, the cabinet of natural history, the collection of models of
arts, trades, and manufactures, and the famous collection of
pictures, belonging to the _last_ duke of Orleans, and chiefly
assembled, at a vast expense, by his grandfather, the regent.

This second court is larger than the first; but it still remains in
an incomplete state. The right-hand wing only is finished, and is
merely a continuation of that which we have seen in the other court.
On the left hand, is the site of the new hall intended for the
sittings of the Tribunate. Workmen are now employed in its
construction; heaps of stones and mortar are lying about, and, the
building seems to proceed with tolerable expedition. Here, in the
back-ground, is a crowd of little stalls for the sale of various
articles, such as prints, plays, fruit, and pastry. In front stand
such carriages as remain in waiting for those who may have been set
down at this end of the palace. Proceeding onward, you pass through
two parallel wooden galleries, lined on each side with shops, and
enter the formerly-enchanting regions of the

JARDIN DU PALAIS DU TRIBUNAT.

The old garden of the _Palais Royal_, long famous for its shady
walks, and for being the most fashionable public promenade in Paris,
had, from its centrical situation, gradually attracted to its
vicinity a considerable number of speculators, who there opened
ready-furnished hotels, coffee-houses, and shops of various
descriptions. The success of these different establishments awakened
the cupidity of its wealthy proprietor, then Duke, of Chartres, who,
conceiving that the ground might be made to yield a capital
augmentation to his income, fixed on a plan for enclosing it by a
magnificent range of buildings.

Notwithstanding the clamours of the Parisian public, who, from long
habit, considered that they had a sort of prescriptive right to this
favourite promenade, the axe was laid to the celebrated _arbre de
Cracovie_ and other venerable trees, and their stately heads were
soon levelled to the ground. Every one murmured as if these trees had
been his own private property, and cut down against his will and
pleasure. This will not appear extraordinary, when it is considered
that, under their wide-spreading branches, which afforded a shelter
impervious to the sun and rain, politicians by day, adjusted the
balance of power, and arbiters of taste discussed the fashions of the
moment; while, by night, they presented a canopy, beneath which were
often arranged the clandestine bargains of opera-girls and other
votaries of Venus.

After venting their spleen in vague conjectures, witty epigrams, and
lampoons, the Parisians were silent. They presently found that they
were, in general, not likely to be losers by this devastation. In
1782, the execution of the new plan was begun: in less than three
years, the present inclosure was nearly completed, and the modern
garden thrown open to the public, uniting to the advantages of the
ancient one, a thousand others more refined and concentrated.

The form of this garden is a parallelogram, whose length is seven
hundred and two feet by three hundred in breadth, taken at its
greatest dimensions. It is bordered, on three of its sides, by new,
uniform buildings, of light and elegant architecture. Rising to an
elevation of forty-two feet, these buildings present two regular
stories, exclusively of the _mansarde_, or attic story, decorated by
festoons, bas-reliefs, and large Composite fluted pillars, bearing an
entablature in whose frieze windows are pierced. Throughout its
extent, the whole edifice is crowned by a balustrade, on the
pedestals of which vases are placed at equal distances.

In the middle of the garden stood a most singular building, partly
subterraneous, called a _Cirque_. This circus, which was first opened
in 1789, with concerts, balls, &c. was also appropriated to more
useful objects, and, in 1792, a _Lyceum of Arts_ was here
established; but in 1797, it was consumed by fire, and its site is
now occupied by a grass-plot. On the two long sides of the garden are
planted three rows of horse-chesnut trees, not yet of sufficient
growth to afford any shade; and what is new, is a few shrubs and
flowers in inclosed compartments. The walks are of gravel, and kept
in good order.

On the ground-floor, a covered gallery runs entirely round the
garden. The shops, &c. on this floor, as well as the apartments of
the _entresol_ above them, receive light by one hundred and eighty
porticoes, which are open towards the garden, and used to have each a
glass lantern, with reflectors, suspended in the middle of their
arch. In lieu of these, some of a less brilliant description are now
distributed on a more economical plan under the piazzas; but, at the
close of day, the rivalship of the shopkeepers, in displaying their
various commodities, creates a blaze of light which would strike a
stranger as the effect of an illumination.

The fourth side of the garden towards the _Rue St. Honoré_ is still
occupied by a double gallery, constructed, as I have already
mentioned, of wood, which has subsisted nearly in its present state
ever since I first visited Paris in 1784. It was to have been
replaced by a colonnade for the inclosure of the two courts. This
colonnade was to have consisted of six rows of Doric pillars,
supporting a spacious picture-gallery, (intended for the whole of the
Orleans collection), which was to have constituted the fourth façade
to the garden, and have formed a covered walk, communicating with the
galleries of the other three sides.

These galleries, whose whole circumference measures upwards of a
third of a mile, afford to the public, even in bad weather, a walk
equally agreeable and convenient, embellished, on the one side, by
the aspect of the garden, and, on the other, by the studied display
of every thing that taste and fashion can invent to captivate the
attention of passengers.

Copyright (c) 2007. famouswriterz.com. All rights reserved.