similar to that of St. Séverin. The orientation of this church (like that of several medieval churches of Paris) deviates widely from the usual direction, being nearly north-east and south-west[1].
The Church of St. Gervais is a late but very beautiful edifice of this period. It is cruciform, with single side aisles and lateral chapels, a lady chapel appended to a polygonal apse, and a tower at the northern side of the choir. The western front is of the time of Louis XIII. The arches of this edifice are peculiarly light and lofty—so is the clerestory above them—and the roof, which covers a bold vaulting, is of un- usually sharp pitch, to be equalled only at Rouen or St. Denis. much glass of excellent character remains here, especially in the lady chapel, where it has been all preserved, and is the best of its date in the capital. One of the most remarkable features of the church is a magnificent pendant crown in the lady chapel, coming down from the central boss, and connected with the side ribs of the vaulting, in a manner that to the professional eye gives great pleasure, and with the uninitiated passes as a miracle of architectural prowess. Its size is unusually large, and for depth we have not seen it equalled, except in a similar instance at Caudebec in Normandy.
The Tower or St. Jacques de la Boucherie is all that remains of one of the principal flamboyant churches of the metropolis, and it is still the finest edifice of the kind in Paris. Its spire has long been destroyed, but its other parts are in good preservation: and the panelling, with flowing tracery and crocketed pinnacles, covering the sides and buttresses, and running up among the lofty windows, gives it a peculiarly rich effect. Immense gargouilles and upright figures of animals at the upper corners add to its picturesque, if not to its architectural, value.
The Convent of the Brothers of the order of Charity of our Lady, (afterwards of Augustinian, and finally of reformed Carmelite monks,) still exists: and in its cloister, which is nearly perfect, offers a good example of the Flam-
- ↑ The church of the famous abbey of St. Victor, a beautiful Flamboyant edifice, had the same orientation: so had those of the abbey of St. Antoine and the House of the Third Order of St. Francis. The Temple church was built a little to the south of the east: so also were the chapel of the Cordeliers, and the church of the Célestins. The Parisian churches of the seventeenth century followed no law of orientation: many were built north and south.
