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Matilda Betham-Edwards - Holidays in Eastern France
without envy. This little Museum - as, indeed, the Treasury may be called - exposed at the Paris
Exhibition of 1867 one of its richest objects, the reliquary of St. Bernard and St. Malachi, a chef-d'oeuvre
of the twelfth century; but as some of the jewels were stolen upon that occasion, nothing this year, very
naturally, found its way from Troyes Cathedral to the Trocadero.
Close to the Cathedral are the Town Library, Museum, and Picture Gallery, the two first well worth
careful inspection. The famous Library has largely contributed to the historic galleries of the Trocadero;
but, nevertheless, many exquisite specimens of binding, printing, and illuminating remain; whilst the
windows are adorned with most curious and beautiful old glass paintings from the hand of the gifted
Linard Gonthier before mentioned. It is hardly necessary to say that strangers are admitted to all the
privileges of the reading-room without any form whatever. The library contains a hundred and some odd
thousand volumes, besides between two and three thousand rare MSS.
The present population of Troyes is forty thousand; and I am not aware of any small town in England so
well off in the matter of books. The Museum is divided into several sections, and, though of recent date,
it possesses some interesting and valuable collections. Near the Library and Museum is the most
beautiful old church in Troyes, St. Urbain, but as it is unfortunately in the hands of the restorer, we can
see nothing of the interior, and the splendid Gothic facade is partly hidden by scaffolding. The traveller
may next proceed on a voyage of discovery, coming upon the picturesque Hotel de Ville; quaint relics of
mediaeval architecture, and half a dozen old churches, all noteworthy from some point of view.
It is impossible to do more than suggest the rewards that await such an explorer. Troyes, like Angers and
Poitiers, abounds in architectural treasures and historical souvenirs; and all these cities cannot be visited
too soon. Restoration and renovation are here, as elsewhere, the order of the day, and every year takes
something from their character and charm. Two objects, particularly striking amongst so many, shall be
mentioned only, as no mere description can convey any idea of the whole. The first is the entrance hall of
the Hotel Vauluisant, the features of which should be photographed for the benefit of art-schools and
art-decorators generally. The first is a magnificent oak ceiling; the second, a Renaissance chimney piece
in carved wood, no less magnificent. The solidity, richness of design, and workmanship of both ceiling
and mantel-piece afford an invaluable lesson to artists, whilst beholders can but examine them without a
feeling of sadness.
How little we have in modern art-furniture and decoration to be compared with such an achievement:
Here we find that cost, labour, and display went for nothing, and artistic perfection alone was aimed at.
Not far from the Hotel Vauluisant is Ste. Madeleine, the most ancient church in Troyes, originally
Gothic, but now, what with dilapidations and restorations, a curious medley of all various styles. To its
architecture, however, the traveller will pay little heed, his whole attention being at once transferred to
the famous jube, or rood-loft, or what passes by that name. Bather let me call it a curtain of rare lace cut
out in marble, a screen of transparent ivory, a light stalactite roof of some fairy grotto!
On entering, you see nothing but this airy piece of work, one of the daintiest, richest creations of the
period, the achievement of Juan Gualde in the sixteenth century. The proportions of the interior seem to
diminish, and we cannot help fancying that the church was built for the rood-loft, rather than the
rood-loft for the church, so dwarfed is the latter by comparison. The centre aisle is indeed bridged over
by a piece of stone-carving, so exquisite in design, so graceful in detail, so airy and fanciful in
conception, that we are with difficulty brought to realize its size and solidity. This unique rood-loft
measures over six yards in depth, is proportionately long, and is symmetrical in every part, yet it looks as
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