The present church is of Pointed and Classic architecture, the portal and faÇade being in the latter style.[91] Louis XIII. laid the first stone in 1616, Jacques de Brosse being the architect. A not very favourable, but tolerably just, opinion is passed upon it by our old friend Dibden:

"The next Gothic church to Notre-Dame in size and importance is that of S. Gervais, situated to the left, in the Rue de MonÇeau. It has a very lofty nave, but the interior is exceedingly flat and divested of ornaments. The pillars have scarcely any capitals. The choir is totally destitute of effect. Some of the stained glass is rich and old, but a great deal has been stolen or demolished during the Revolution. There is a good large modern picture in one of the side chapels to the right, and a yet more modern one much inferior on the opposite side. In almost every side chapel, and in the confessionals, the priests were busily engaged in the catechetical examination of young people previous to the first Communion on the following Sabbath, which was the FÊte Dieu. The Western front is wholly Grecian—perhaps about 200 years old. It is too lofty for its width—but has a grand effect, and is justly much celebrated. Yet the situation of this fine old Gothic church is among the most wretched of those in Paris. It is preserved from suffocation only by holding its head so high." The last remark is no longer applicable, as the church is now quite disencumbered from secular excrescences.

The interior is cold, dull, and dreary, almost the only part that relieves its monotony being the organ tribune, which is quaintly ornamented with Angels and Corinthian columns, a device of the 17th century. The statues of the Saints upon the altar are the work of Bourdin, a sculptor of the 17th century. The six candelabra and the cross of gilt bronze, belonging formerly to the abbey church of S. GeneviÈve, are among the bronze chefs-d'oeuvre of the 18th century. The stalls are finely carved, and bear various designs upon their bas-reliefs; but especially notable are the little histories upon the misereres: a writer at his desk; an architect measuring some blocks of stone, accompanied by his workmen; a baker putting his bread in the oven; a man stooping down with a fool's cap on his head; the vinedressers in a vat; a Genus sleeping upon a grave with his head resting upon a skull; two men squabbling; a shoemaker at his last, surrounded by a fine collection of foot-gear; two men roasting; a Syren, a crowned Salamander, a grotesque animal, a lion, and a pig gobbling in a gluttonous fashion; and finally a man in a boat traversing a river.

Some of the glass is fine, but much has been destroyed; and only the other day the Anarchists did their best to demolish the little which remains. In the choir the story of Lazarus, and the Pilgrimage to Mont Saint-Michel, were painted by Robert Pinaigrier, as well as the windows of the Lady Chapel; and another great vitrier, Jean Cousin, embellished S. Gervais with some beautiful golden-toned glass—The Martyrdom of S. Laurence, The Good Samaritan, and The Judgment of Solomon. On one fragment of the latter is the date 1531. The story is told most quaintly; Solomon sleeps surrounded by his books; and it is thus that he drinks in the wisdom which the Queen of Sheba, in the next panel, comes to enjoy.

Among the other subjects, we see S. Peter baptising Cornelius, surrounded by divers Scripture events. In the Lady Chapel a Tree of Jesse has survived, and also the Legend of S. Anne, attributed to Pinaigrier; but the latter is filled in with much that is modern—clever, but wanting in the vigorous drawing of the old glass painters, and the glorious transparency of the colours. One of the old panes shows us the Virgin weaving a curtain for the Temple, and being fed by an Angel. In this chapel there is a remarkable boss which descends from the vault. If is 6ft. in diameter, and falls 3ft.; and although iron has been used in its fabrication, it is, notwithstanding, a wonderful piece of masonry of the brothers Jacquet. It is a mass of carving—emblems of the Blessed Virgin; a fortified town (the Tower of David), and the Morning Star; attributes found in the offices of Our Lady.

A good many distinguished people were buried at S. Gervais: Scarron, more celebrated as having been the first husband of the notorious Mme. de Maintenon than for his writings; that excellent, but insufficiently appreciated painter, Philippe de Champaigne; Ducange, the antiquarian and historian; the chancellors Le Tellier, Louis Roucherat and Charles Voysin; archbishop Le Tellier of Reims, son of the chancellor and founder of the library of S. GeneviÈve; and the poet CrÉbillon, author of Rhadamistus, Electra, Catiline, and other tragedies. The only monument which remains is that of Le Tellier, who reposes in white marble upon a black marble mattress, with allegorical figures watching over his slumbers. It was the work of Mazeline and Hurtrelle, members of the Academy, but not otherwise celebrated, as is occasionally the case.

In one of the chapels of the nave is a 13th century bas-relief of Our Lord receiving His mother's soul as she expires, surrounded by the Apostles; a fine old picture painted upon wood, of various scenes from the Passion, formerly attributed to Albrecht DÜrer, but more probably by some master of the Flemish school. Many of the pictures by Lesueur, Bourdon, and Philippe de Champaigne, formerly in this church, are now in the Louvre.