Plate 45. Church of Léry, near Pont-de-L'Arche.
West Front.
Plate 46. Church of Léry, near Pont-de-L'Arche.
Interior.
In the interior (plate [forty-six]) it is impossible not to be struck with the extraordinary simplicity and solidity of the whole. The only aim of the architect appears to have been to erect an edifice that should last for ever. A double row of pillars and arches separates the nave into three parts of unequal width; and another arch, of greater span, divides it from the chancel. The arches are in every instance devoid of mouldings; the capitals are altogether without ornamental sculpture of any description; and the pillars are even unsupported by bases. Indeed, the pillars are nothing more than rounded piers; and they are not less remarkable for their proportions, than for their simplicity, their diameter being equal to full two-thirds of their height. Hence it is scarcely possible not to entertain the suspicion that the floor may have been raised; but there is nothing in the appearance of the church to justify such an idea. It is scarcely necessary to mention, that the figures of saints placed upon brackets against the spandrils of the arches, are all modern. Their execution is wretched; and its imperfection is rendered but the more apparent, by their having been painted in imitation of living nature. The string-course, which runs immediately above their heads, is placed in a very uncommon situation. It is composed of the nail-head ornament, in itself a sufficient proof of its antiquity; and also, as is observed by Mr. Cotman, of such rarity in Normandy, that he does not recollect to have met with another instance of it.
The windows of the church of Léry were formerly filled with painted glass, representing very curious subjects, taken from the life of St. Louis; but every vestige of the kind has now disappeared. From the church-yard, which stands upon a considerable elevation, immediately above the banks of the Eure, are seen, upon an opposite hill beyond the river, the ruins of the once celebrated convent, known by the name of the Priory of the Two Lovers.
FOOTNOTES:
[79] Recueil de quelques vues de sites et Monumens de la France, spécialement de Normandie, et des divers Costumes des Habitans de cette Province.—Of this work, the first number, containing eight plates, appeared in Rouen, in 1816; but, unfortunately, it did not meet with sufficient encouragement to be ever followed by a second.
[80] See Howlett's Plan and Views of the Abbey Royal of St. Denis, plate 6.
[81] See [plate 48].