Théodore Licquet

“ The modern building which stands near the northern transept of the church of Saint-Ouen was the dormitory of the monks. It is now the town hall. The offices occupy the ground and first floor, the library and gallery of paintings the second. The great stair-case is remarkable for its elegance and lightness; it has been compared to that at Somerset house. On the first landing we find in a niche, the statue of Lewis XVth in his youth, from the chisel of Lemoine. ”

“ In another chapel of the choir, opposite to the former, is Jesus-Christ in the temple, overthrowing the tables of the money-changers; beside it, is the rich man at table; Lazarus is at the outside of the door. The stained glass of these two chapels belonged to Saint-Maur. Most of them, from the richness of their coloring, and the perfection of their execution, are very remarkable.
Under the dome at the lop of the nave, are five different fresco, paintings which represent different acts relative to the life of the patron of the church. One represents the consecration of Saint-Romain as bishop ”

“ Its length is one hundred and fifty feet, by fifty in breadth. Its lofty roof is not supported by a single pillar; the ingenuity of the work is here contrasted with its boldness of conception. The only ornaments which decorate the walls of the hall are elegant empty niches, which are detached in relief, and at equal distances. ”

“ It will be useless for the traveller, when he has reached the top of the hill, to look for the ancient abbey of the Sainte-Trinité-du-Mont, the chapel of the priory of Saint-Michel, or the fortifications, in which the marquis of Villars withstood the attacks of Henry IVth; nothing of them remains at the present day, except two remnants of a wall, which threaten to fall on the traveller, who is imprudent enough to approach too near them. ”

“ Saint-Vincent is a handsome production of the renaissance. The architecture of the interior is light and gracious, if we except the ornaments, which are not in very good taste, and which have been fastened on the pillars of the choir, in the middle of the last century, after the designs of the architect De France. ”

“ The great demand of families, to obtain a piece of ground, on which to erect a monument on the tomb of a relation, had caused a great diminution of ground for interments; the municipal administration therefore took measures to prevent the consequences of it. On the proposition of the marquis de Martainville, then mayor of the town they determined, on the 24th april 1823, that a monumental burying should be established on the east of Rouen, on a portion of the hill of Fir-Trees which was barren, and could be disposed of without any loss. ”

“ It is thought generally, however, that Saint-Romain, constructed one of the churches, which succeeded each other on the site of the Cathedral, but, they were deceived who have said that this bishop extirpated paganism from Rouen, and from the province. Saint-Ouen, who came after Saint-Romain, found the people clownish, superstitious, and idolatrous, in consequence of the negligence of some bishops, his predecessors. The inhabitants of the neighbouring country, were coarse, cruel and dishonest; morals and the sciences were cultivated only among the higher classes of society. ”

“ On the 30th of july 1838, being guided by historical traditions, they had the idea to dig at the spot marked by the inscription to Richard, and discovered the statue which formerly decorated his tomb. This statue, which is hewn out of a single block of very fine free stone, has been deposited provisionally in the chapel of the Virgin. It is six feet and a half long, and represents king Richard in a recumbent posture, his head supported by a square cushion, wearing a crown enriched with precious stones; his feet are supported by a crouching lion. ”

“ As to the destruction of a temple dedicated to the pretended idol Roth, I think I have proved in an other work [2] , first, that there never existed an idol of that name, neither was the temple situated on the ground occupied by the church of Saint-Lo; secondly, that this temple was demolished by Saint-Romain, nearly four hundred years later. [Pg 6]
Nothing very remarkable happened at Rouen, under the successors of Saint-Mellon, until Saint-Victrice. But, here commences a new era for the town. Its population increases, its reputation extends, the temples of the true god are multiplied ”

“ The church of Saint-Godard, when suppressed at the second circumscription of the churches of Rouen, saw all its ornaments and riches pass to the parishes of Saint-Ouen and Saint-Patrice. Amongst the ornaments, we will mention its admirable painted windows, which were the finest in France, according to Farin and Levieil, [17] whose opinion has become an authority. ”

“ To the left, when facing the door, we perceive a man without [Pg 52] his head, negligently leaning on his elbow: in his right hand a head is seen, which is that of a pig.
If we wish to view the northern side, we must enter the cour de l'Albane. [12] The collateral chapels are lighted by nine windows, which are surmounted by different ornaments. We also perceive, on some of the lower windows of the tower of Saint-Romain, the round arch of the XIth century; from which one may conjecture that this portion of the tower was spared from the conflagration, in the year 1200. ”

“ This sort of industry is very ancient in Rouen, and has never been established in any other part of the town. On the 22nd of march 1560, the parliament issued an act, ordering all the tanners to remove their establishments to the Eau-de-Robec; but, they said that they required clear water to carry on their trade, and therefore, were allowed, by order of the king, to remain on the Renelle. This rivulet comes from the Gaalor spring, and flows from the fountain of the Bailliage, almost in a straight line to the Seine, into which it falls. ”

“ The searches which have taken place in different parts of the departement, and especially in the roman theatre at Lillebonne, have produced the greater number of antiquities. A great many others are through the generosity of private individuals. This museum contains statues, busts, bas-reliefs, fragments of architecture, sarcophagi, urns of marble and stone; vases of bronze, glass and baked earth; gallic and roman medals, pieces of french coins, seals of the middle ages, stained glass, arms, pieces of furniture, utensils and ornaments of different ages. ”

“ This abbey, which was founded and endowed by the pious lady Aimeline, and enriched by the liberalities of Robert-the-Magnificent, this once famous monastery, which was honoured by the protection of kings, is now a confused sort of inclosure and inhabited by workmen of different kinds. Dirty courts and buildings in ruin have been for a long time the only remains of the interior of Saint-Amand. Some parts nevertheless have escaped destruction. ”

“ Général, receives each year on an average about five or six hundred foundlings. A tour is always ready at one of the entrances to receive them. Once a week, two coaches filled with these unfortunate little creatures, are sent off one into the country called the pays de Bray, the other to that called the Roumois, where they are left with agents who are charged to leave them with the nurses. In each of those communes, doctors are employed by the administrative commission to visit them in case of sickness.
We perceive, the front of the church of the hospital, from the boulevard Martainville. ”

“ The partition wall is from the liberality of Philip de la Rose, chief-archdeacon, and was erected in the year 1473 according to Farin, but 1479 according to Pommeraye [10] .
Leaving now the inside of the cathedral let us examine the exterior of this admirable edifice. Here, details are impossible; we must see the whole mass, to [Pg 47] form an idea of it. Who could number so many pieces of sculpture, capitals, sculptured galleries, bas-reliefs, and ornaments, which are multiplied under all forms? Historical explanations are those only which can be offered to the reader. ”

“ From this new platform, the pyramid will rise majestically in the air, and of it we already discover thirteen floors (the pyramid will be completed with one more) , each of four metres fifty centimetres, that is to say a height of fifty eight metres, or about one hundred and eighty feet. The spire of the church was first erected of stone but was overthrown by the electric fluid, after that, it was twice built of wood, and both times it became the prey of the flames; to rebuild it with wood would have been gathering materials for a third fire, but now it is made of cast iron and in open work. ”

“ The first, without doubt, is the monument of the archbishop Saint-Romain, which is of granite, and forms, if I may say so, the high altar in the choir, as the top of the high altar covers the monument, which is elsewhere very plainly seen. It was formerly in the crypt of Saint-Godard, where Saint-Romain was buried. It was brought afterwards to this church on the 20th february 1804. The ashes of the illustrious prelate had been dispersed by the calvinists, in 1562. ”

“ The court, which is before the porch of the librarians, was formerly a burying ground. They ceased to inter, because a murder had been committed in it and it had not been purified. This entrance to the church is ornamented with an infinite number of bas-reliefs, some representing subjects from the bible, others extremely comical and even licentious; several of these sculptures have of late been cleaned to be moulded. ”

“ Orphans, who are found without means of existence, are brought up in the same way as those who are abandoned; excepting, that they are maintained at the expence of the communes to which they belong; while at the same time the others are chargeable to the departement; excepting however the assistence of the communes. The establishment provides the baby linen and clothing for the use of the foundlings; it likewise pays all the expenses of feeding and education of these children, as long as they remain in the hospital. ”

“ «He rolls the stones with his own hands, he carries them on his shoulders.»
This town continued its career peaceably during nearly a century, until Saint-Godard succeeded to the episcopate. Then we come to a great historical transition.
Roman power had been long struggling against the encroachments of the Francs in Gaul. Clovis, conquers the provinces situated between the Somme, the Seine and the Aisne; the monarchy commences, and Rouen becomes a French town. ”

“ Above the entablature, the equestrian [Pg 40] statue, of the senechal, in white marble is placed. On each side of the arcade, which contains this statue, are four cariatides crowned with flowers, and representing: the two to the right, prudence and glory; those to the left, victory and faith. On the frieze, under some figures bearing festoons, we find this motto: tant grate chevre que mal giste. The coping is an attic forming a niche, in which is placed an alabaster statue; it holds a sword and represents power, according to some, justice and prudence, according to others. ”

“ The Hospice-Général has been successively enlarged at different periods. Lately, they have made a considerable purchase of land, and erected vast buildings. Its population is of about two thousand individuals. Although under the same administrative commission as the Hôtel-Dieu, it has its particular director, who acts under [Pg 135] the superintendance of the commission, which commission is subject to the public administration.
The care of foundlings is one of the principal attributes of the Hospice-Général. ”

“ We now only find the marks of the fixtures which fastened [Pg 38] it to the monument. At each end of the recumbent figure, are two statues of women in alabaster. Diana of Poitiers in the dress of a widow, with her arms crossed, is kneeling at the head. At the feet, is that of the virgin holding the infant Jesus: it was according to general opinion, of the time of Pommeraye, who speaks of paintings, figures, tapers and chaplets suspended round the latter statue. There were two inscriptions, one in prose, the other in verse. Both were erased at the revolution, but they have been replaced since ”

“ We find in the [Pg 9] preface to the life of Saint-Eloi by Saint-Ouen, that, even in the VIIth century, they read authors of whose works nothing now remains.
Saint-Ouen, founded or enriched a great many religious establishments in Rouen and its environs. It was under his episcopate, that a monument was first raised to Saint-Nicaise within the walls of Rouen. He also caused to be built the celebrated abbeys of Fontenelle (since Saint-Wandrille) , Jumiéges, and Saint-Austreberthe.
In the time of this archbishop, there was a state prison near the end of the rue de la Poterne. ”

“ Farin and some other authors have said that this had been an ancient temple of Adonis; nothing however proves, or justifies such an assertion; and we only see in [Pg 97] this, a popular tradition on which we must not rely.
Formerly this little church was very curious in some of its portions. It is the only one in Rouen, which offers the three semi-circular absides, which we find in most of the monuments of the XIth century. The middle is the highest and projects farther out than the other two. ”