Rouen, Its History and Monuments | Page 5

edifice.
It is then from that period that the actual Cathedral dates.
I need not add that this immense edifice, such as we see it at present, is the work of several centuries, beginning in the XIIIth and finishing in the XVIth, excepting that portion which forms the base of the tower of Saint-Romain, and which is much more ancient.
The length of the Cathedral, in the inside, from the great portal to the extremity of the chapel of the Virgin, is four hundred and eight feet (about four hundred and fifty english); the chapel of the virgin is eighty eight feet in length; the choir is one hundred and ten, and the nave two hundred and ten. The entire breadth of the edifice from one wall to the other is ninety seven feet two inches; namely, the nave twenty seven feet; thickness of each pillar, seven feet eight inches, each aisle fourteen feet, the chapels thirteen feet five inches. The height of the nave is eighty four feet; that of the aisles is forty two feet, the transept is one hundred and sixty four feet in length, by twenty six in breadth. In the centre is a lantern, at the height of one hundred and sixty feet under the key-stone, and it is supported by four large pillars, each being thirty eight feet in circumference, and composed of thirty one columns, which are grouped together; above the arcades of the nave, there is a very narrow gallery. The edifice is lighted by one hundred and thirty windows.
There are amongst the stained glass windows, several which deserve to be, particularly noticed. I will here point out their places, after the work of E.H. Langlois, on stained glass, and that of Gilbert on the Cathedral[4].
?Left aisle, in going up, opposite the fourth arcade of the nave: upper panes occupied by several subjects taken from the life of saint John the baptist, saint Nicolas, etc. We may remark curriers or tanners, and, near a sort of gallery supported by columns, a stone cutter and a sculptor making the capital of a column. A little farther up, we perceive a church supported by arches, in the construction of which, several masons are busily employed. Near it, is a woman kneeling, and holding up with both her hands the plan of a gothic window.
Same aisle, in going up, and opposite the fourth arcade of the nave: a window occupied with subjects relative to the life of saint Sever.
Left aisle of the choir, opposite the fourth arcade: a window entirely occupied with the life of saint Julian-the-hospitaller.
Same aisle, between the semi-circular lateral chapel and the chapel of the Virgin: two windows, representing the life of Joseph, the son of Jacob. We may still read, although with difficulty, the name of the painter and glazier. It is inscribed on a phylactery, in the following manner:
CLEMENS VITREARIUS CARNOTENSIS M ...
On the other side of the choir, between the chapel of the Virgin and the semi-circular lateral chapel: two windows, one representing the Passion; the other the life of a saint. He is almost entirely represented naked from the head to the waist, and on horseback. Semi-circular chapel of the southern transept in the corner of the window, the martyrdom of saint Laurent.?
All these windows date from the end of the XIIIth century. The most curious is that representing the life of saint Julian-the-hospitaller.
The Cathedral contains likewise several fine specimens of windows of the time of the renaissance. We must remark, especially, those which represent the life of saint Romain, in the chapel dedicated to that bishop and those which decorate the chapel of saint Stephen. We perceive, in the latter, saint Thomas touching the wound of Jesus-Christ; Christ preaching in the desert; Christ appearing to Mary-Magdalen; etc.
The edifice is also lighted by three large roses (circular windows); two at the extremities of the transept and the other above the organ. Of these three windows the western is by far the finest. In the centre of it, the Eternal Father is represented as surrounded by a multitude of angels having each different musical instruments, around it are ten figures of angels, each holding an instrument of the Passion.
The present organ of the Cathedral is a large sixteen feet one, and is placed beneath the western circular window. It was made by Lefevre, the celebrated organ maker in Rouen, in 1760.
The choir is surrounded by fourteen pillars. Before 1430, its upper part was only lighted by a small number of narrow windows. Since that time, it has been lighted by the fifteen large windows, which we now see. In 1467, under the cardinal d'Estouteville, the chapter caused stalls to be made, which are very curiously sculptured.
A stone screen, of a style which harmonized with the rest of the edifice formerly ornamented the