Morris tribune., 1883-09-01
The Cathedral of Bourges.

Above the porches. which give the
measure of it's width, the front rears it
self, piles itself, on great scale, carried
up by galleries, arches, windows, sculp-
lures, and supported by the extraordi-
narily thick buttresses of which have
spoken, and which, though they embel.
fish it with deep shadows thrown side
wise, do not improve its style. The por-
tails, especially the middle one, are ex-
tremely interesting; they are covered
with curious early sculptures. The mid
die one, however, must describe alone.
1t has no less than six rows of figures
The others have four-some of which,
notably the upper one, are still in their
places. The arch at the top has three
tiers of elaborate imagery. The upper
of these is divided by the figure of
Christ in Judgment, of great size, stiff
and terrible, with outstretched arms.
On either side of him are ranged three
or four angels, with the instruments OF
the Passion. Beneath him in the second
frieze stands the angel ofjustice, with his
scales, and on either side of him is the
vision of the last judgment. The good
prepare, with infinite Utilization and
complacency, to ascend to the skies,
while the bad are dragged, pushed,
hurled, stuffed, crammed into pits and
caldrons of fire. There is charming
detail in this section. Beside the angel,
on the right, where the wicked are the
prey of demons, stands little female
figure. that of a child. who. with hands
meekly folded and head gently raised,
waits for the stern angel to decree upon
her fate. In this fate, however. a dread
full big devil also takes a keen interest.
He seems on the point of appropriating
the tender creature. He has face like
goat, and an enormous hooked nose.
But the angel gently lays hand upon
the shoulder of the little girl-the move
ment is full of dignity-as if to say, mo,
she belongs to the other side" The
frieze below represents the general
resurrection, with the good and
the wicked emerging from. their
sepulchers. Nothing can be more quaint
and charming than the difference shown
in their way of responding to the final
trump. The good get out of their tombs
with certain modest gayety, an aIacrlty
tempered by respect; one Ct them
TERED himself. You may know the
wicked, on the other hand, by their ex-
IRENE shyness; they crawl out slowly
and fearfnlly; they hang back and seem
to say, "Oh, dear!" These elaborate
sculptures, full of ingenious intention
and of the reality Of early faith, and IN
a remarkable state of preservation; they
bear no superficial signs of restoration
and appear scarcely to have suffered
from the centuries. They are delight
fully expressive; the artist had the ad-
vantage of knowing exactly the effect he
wished to produce. The interior Of the
has a great simplicity and
majesty, and above all tremen-
dous height. The nave is extraordi-
nary in this respect; it dwaris
everything else | know. should add,
however, that / am in architecture al
ways of the opinion of the last speaker.
Any great building seems to me, while
l look at it, the ultimate expression. At
any rate during the hour that | sat gaz-
ing along the high vista of Bourges, the
of the great vessel correspond
ed to my vision Of the evening before.
There is tranquil largeness, kind of
infnitude about such an edifice; it
soothes and purifes the spirit, it illumi-
mates the mind. There are two sisles
on either side, in addition to the nave
five in all-and, as / have said, there
are no transepts; an omission which
lengthens the vista, so that from my
place near the door the central jeweled
window in the depths of the perpend1c-
ular choir seemed mile or two away.
The second or outward of each pair
of aisles is too low, and the first too
high. Without this inequality the nave
would appear to make an even more
prodgious fight, The double aisles
pass all the way around the choir, the
of which are Unfortunately rich
IN magnificent old glass. have seen
glass as fine in other churches, but |
think | have never seen so much of it
at once.-Henry James in September At
lantic.