The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-29

wonderful framing of carved wood Of most
exquisite execution which harmonizes ex-
cellently with the whole.
a-DATE OF THE TWO
Pons de Gontaut fought in the Italian
campaign of l4g4. was present, at the battle
of Fornovo. LAOS, and on his way back, dur
ing a stay at Rome lin the same year,, OBJ
tanned from Pope Alexander vi. a bull au-
thorizing him to found a private chapel
with the name Notre Dame de Pitie de
Biron. As soon as he returned TO France.
consequently at the end of 1895 or ~ina14g6,
he had the Notre Dame de Pitie and the
Entombment executed.
The dress of Pons do GOntaut, his head
gear and his helmet, in the group of the
Notre Dame de Pitie lead us to fix on IA date
close to 1900, that is to say the ome
when the famous Solesmes ~EntOmbment"
was finished, which is dated 1885.
l.-cAPITAL IMPORTANCE or THE BIRON
MONUMENTS n CONCLUSION.
The monuments at BiroH are incompa-
rable in their style. their finish, the elevated
sentiment that marks them. and especially
in their unity.
All the figures stand together and are in
the same style; they are of the same work.
manship. and from zach one az from the
whole there proceed impressions Of great
ness. of piety and of grief. such as are found
in no other monument of the Passion Of Our
Lord and which are the marks of the work
of a great master.
In conclusion it may be said that this
work is one of the most beautiful OF, it's
kind that the fifteenth century produced in
France. and il, proceeding by elimination.
we come to ask who could be the author
OF it the conclusion is that only Michel
Colomb could have produced suchA mas
terpiece.
II is with the most profound regret and
with a keen sense Of humiliation that the
writer records the conviction that this
glorious monument is forever lost to France
and that even now it reposes in an American
museum. G.. b.
The Chatcaa de BtTOn ami It's Chapel.
The Chateau of Biron. situated on the
boundary between P6rigord and Agenais.
though less known 20 ~archeologists and
less famous than other feudal mansions Of
the same period. il no less interesting in
| the details Of its construction. almost every
one of the great periods Of French archi-
lecture having left it's mark on il. and
has. moreover. the merit of being'still I'M
touched in many parts.
Some of the buildings in the very centre
Of the chateau seem to belong 10 the twelfth
century; particularly the wall Of a keep
with strong counterforts must have be-
longed to that original castle Of Biron
which the A~lbigensians took is 1911 and
Simon de Montfort r~ecaptured the follow
ing year.
Added to undoubtedly in the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries. the chateau played
animportant part in the English wars. but
was taken and burned by the English in
ilai II was during the second half of the
fifteenth century that Biron was repaired
and much enlarged. The work was prob
ably under way when ons dc Gontaut was
obliged to accompany Charles VIII. on his
expedition across the Alps. On his return
the work was continued by the excellent
masters Of Gothic art who had bad it in
hand, though perhaps here and there
their work was adorned by some detail
following the fashion of Italy.
The private Canonry chapel which AleN an
der VI. had authorized was Pons Gle Gon-
taut's architectural contribution between
his return from Italy and the date OF his
death and the conseCratiOn Of the chapel
in 1924. There arc two churches. one above
the other; the lower served az a Parish
church, the upper was the seignorial chapel
and was used as a Itinerary chapel. Al
most nothing in the construction or decoTa-
ton shows a concession 20 modern fashions.
These appear occasionally, as. for instance.
in the window of the enhance tower.
la Vlo ,Nttran nf tho plnas1ca1 pp0tfftrtHc
that followed the home OF Pous de Gon,aut