Taken in their order they are: Saturn, with a scythe in his hand and serpent round his arm, devouring a child, and the zodiacal signs Aquarius and Capricornus at his feet; Jupiter, holding a lighted torch, with Sagittarius at his feet; Mars, armed from head to foot, surmounting Cancer and Aries; the Sun, personified by Phœbus with flowing mantle, a lion at his side; Venus, clothed only in her hair, surmounting Taurus and Balœna; Mercury, with wings on his head and heels, the caduceus in his hand, Virgo and Gemini at his feet; the Moon, represented by Diana bearing a crescent; below her Scorpio.
The escutcheons on the wall at the back of this façade bear the initials of Régnault Féret, who completed the mansion. In the second court there are still vestiges of the chapel of this family.
At No. 142 of the same street, the entrance to the Cour Maupinot (one of the numerous cours which have survived in Rheims) is framed in pilasters, the carved entablature of which supports a triangular pediment (photo below).
The Rue Barbâtre is continued by the Rue des Salines, which leads to the Place St. Nicaise.
ENTRANCE TO MAUPINOT COURT. THE DOORWAY IS RENAISSANCE,
142, Rue du Barbâtre. See Itinerary, p. [95]
The Place St. Nicaise was destroyed by the bombardments of April-August, 1918. It took its name from the celebrated Bishop of Rheims, who, with his sister St. Eutropia, was put to death by the Vandals in 407.
The Church of St. Nicaise, rebuilt in the 13th century by Libergier and Robert de Coucy, was destroyed at the time of the Revolution. Amongst other curiosities it contained a loose pillar, which Peter the Great had pointed out to him at the time of his journey through Rheims.
At the corner of the Place St. Nicaise, between the Boulevard Victor-Hugo and the Rue St. Nicaise, is the entrance to the Champion Cellars, in which the Dubail school was installed during the war (see p. [24]).