Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-05


good son and elder brother, Louis. has been
known for ages as one of the great kings
of France and for his piety as king and
crusader the church and the consensus of
his race has recognized him as saint.
And now, in these last days, his memory
Is also embalmed in the name Of flourish
ing and enlightened city, thousands of miles
from the palace he inhabited, in land of
whose existence he was ignorant.
A Fitting Time.
This city which bears his name Is st.
Louis; and it seems peculiarly fitting, in
the year when ST. Louis Is preparing It's
worlds fair, that these authentic portraits
last discovered, after half a thousand years
Of ignorance Of what their faces looked
like.
The palace in whose chapel these por-
traits were originally placed and have now
been discovered Is the greatly altered and
rebuilt chateau Of st. Germain-en-Laye,
less than an hours railway trip from Paris,
and beautifully situated high on the bank
Of the winding River Seine. No king of
France has made 1t his residence since
Louis XIV abandoned it for Versailles, and
1t is at present a state museum.
Naturally, one of the first thoughts has
been to have casts of the heads made for
the st. Louis exposition. Recently, when
! spoke to the learned director of the mu-
scum, NJ. Salamon Reinach. he had not
yet received any formal applicat on for
such castings, but he showed himself benev-
olently disposed to receive them when they
come. Meanwhile, thanks to Mr.. Reinach's
courtesy and to the skill of Monsieur
Faron the librarian-guardian of the Mu-
scum of st. Germain-en-Laye, am able to
present you with two very perfect photo
graphs as samples. For the first time in
certainly 500 years, and probably much
longer, the world now knows what st.
Louis really looked Ike and can gaze upon
the features of the beautiful and wise
Blanche of Castillo, his mother
fcty Of fl,a hot
some difficulties. Placed at the crossings
of the pointed arches of the Gothic roof of
the old chapel, very high up, they seem to
be humbly supporting it on their heads
and this Is doubtless the idea-to show
King Louis, his mother, brothers and SIS
ter as the founders and supporters of this
chapel in particular and the champions of
Christianity in France in general
To photograph them it was necessary to
raise the apparatus to the scaffolding on
which the workmen stood to clear the
heads Of the stucco that covered them.
How Little We Know.
How considerable the find has been will
appear when we consider how astonishing
ly little is accurately known of the fconog
raphy Of this interesting family. Apart
from the prOfiles on few rare coins we
have had up till now only the traditional
face of St. Louis as agreed on and followed
by painters. Again, it. is surpris ng how
little is authentic in the information we
M. Solomon Renacfi says:
Il know Of no text relating to the con-
struction of the Chapel Royal, which lifts
itself up inside the plan of the present
chateau of st. German. But a very an
cient tradition of the locality affirms that
this chapel was raised under the reign of
st. Louis and consecrated to ST. John the
Baptist.
"'Viollet-le-Duc was able to precise more
than this. thanks to the profound studies
of the edif1ce which he made in concert
with Millet. Thus he proved that the
chapel is anterior (but only by a few
years. to the st. Chapelle in Paris. and he
thought himself able to attribute it to an
architect of the Champagne School because
of numerous analogies with the Cathedral
Of Rheims. According to VioIlet-le-D Due
built between 1885 and 1915, and this date
has been admitted without contradict on.
''The article of Violet -le-Duc, published
in his dictionary, is the only one of original
research on the subject 1 know Of. CON
tinued Monsieur Reinach. AT the epoch
In which the illustrious archaeologist wrote
the restoration of the Chateau of st. Ger
main was just commencing, under the d.
rection of Millet. The chapel was still dis
figured by the unhappy additions made at
various times from the sixteenth century
On, and Millet, to whom Viollet-le- Due owed
the elements of his work, had at that time
no knowledge of the magnificent rose win
dow of the western front, which, cove ed |
up by. the constructions of Francis /, was
discovered (by Millet HIMSELF only in 1874 |
Nor did he know anything, OF course. of |
these delightful portraits
THE restoration OF the chapel was com
pleted by Monsieur Daumet as late as the |
year 1900. and at this date only was it |