A cameo (sardonyx) head of Augustus, formerly one of the gems of the reliquary containing the skull of S. Hilary. The reliquary was in the form of a mitred head, after the manner of that of S. Denis. The shoulders were vested in a cope, and this cameo set in the centre of the orphrey. The reliquary was made during the administration of Jérôme de Chambellan, grand prior from 1583 to 1606, but part of the mounting holding the pearls and stones seems to be of earlier date. There are three sapphires and three imitation rubies, separated by six bouquets composed of three pearls.[60]
A little chalcedony bust of Annius Verus as Bacchus, inscribed: Verinus consulis probat tempora. The bust bears a striking likeness to some medals and coins of the little son of Marcus Aurelius. It was the custom of the Roman consuls to send presents upon their appointments; thus, in sending this bust to a friend, some consul engraved the inscription, which signifies: The little Verus will remind you of my consulate. In the list by Dom Félibien of the treasury at S. Denis, this is called: Tête d'un enfant faite d'une agate orientale.
One of the most precious of the treasures was the Bacchic cantharus, called the Cup of the Ptolomies. It is a sardonyx cup upon a pedestal, with handles of vine stalks, and covered with bas-reliefs. It is supposed to have gained its name from having belonged to Ptolomy XI., the husband of Cleopatra, who bore the surname of Dionysos or Bacchus. From the subjects of the bas-reliefs, it was undoubtedly consecrated to Bacchus. It has also been called the Cup of Mithridates, as having perhaps belonged to the celebrated collection of vases formed by the famous King. Singular though it may appear, this cup dedicated to Bacchus was given to S. Denis by one of the Carlovingian Kings; was it some blundering over the names, Dionysos and Dionysius? The gold foot was added to give it the form of a chalice, says Tristran de Saint-Amant, and the "grossier distique latin," placed upon this foot, "était profondément gravé sur l'or et la gravure remplie d'émail de couleur d'acier braze." The following inscription is easily read in the engraving in Félibien's history, but not the date: Hoc vas Christe tibi mente dicavit tertius in Francos regmine Karlus.[61]
It has been thought that it was Charles the Simple who made the donation, but Félibien remarks that Charles le Gros as well as Charles le Chauve were also designated Charles III. In any case, it is known to have been in the treasury as early as the 9th century. In 1790, it was placed in the Cabinet de Médailles, but some years after it was stolen with the great cameo and other valuables. The thieves were arrested in Holland, and the cup and the cameo restored to the Bibliothèque; but the mounting of the latter and the foot of the cup had been melted up. According to a tradition referred to by Marion de Mersan, the queens of France drank consecrated wine from this cup upon their coronation day. Another tradition asserts that Henri III., in direful need of money, borrowed the cup, and pawned it to the Jews of Metz for a million of livres tournois.
A beautiful aqua-marine bust is the authentic portrait of the daughter of Titus, wife of Flavius Sabinus. It is signed Evodus, the name of a Greek artist known by two other signed gems. It formed part of the reliquary known as escrain or oratoire de Charlemagne. Félibien speaks of it thus: "Ce reliquaire n'est qu'or, perles et pierreries. Sur le haut est répresentée une princesse que quelques uns estiment être ou Cléopâtre, ou Julie, fille de l'empereur Titus." Some of the stones are gone, but one of the remaining sapphires is an antique intaglio representing upon one side a dauphin, and upon the other a monogram surmounted by a cross of the 5th or 6th century. The letters of the monogram are ΜΑΘΥ, possibly the initials of the owner, or the designation of the Virgin: ΜΑΡΙΑ ΜΗΤΗΡ ΘΕΟΥ (Marie, mère de Dieu).
The Coupe de Chrosroës I., King of Persia, of the dynasty of the Sassanides (531-579) is of transparent rock-crystal, engraved with a representation of the King sitting upon his throne. In the history of the abbey, published in 1625, by F. I. Doublet, we find this cup mentioned as having been in the treasury, under the name of Solomon's cup, for more than ten centuries, "et donnée par l'Empereur et Roy de France Charles le Chauve." How it got into the hands of the King is not known. Chrosroës was defeated by Justinian, general of Tiberius Constantine, Emperor of the East; so that possibly the cup found its way to Constantinople after the battle. Félibien's description of it is: "Espèce de sous-couppe d'or ornée de crystaux de différentes sortes de couleurs. Au milieu l'on y voit un Roy assis dans son trône."
Such are a few of the treasures formerly at S. Denis. The church is lovely now, garnished only with its tombs and glass; what it must have been upon a great festival a couple of hundred years ago, or still farther back, imagination must be left to picture to itself. Even now, upon the fête of the Saint (October 9th), the effect of the procession, as it winds up and down the aisles and steps, is very fine, and quaint, too; for the Suisses wear black hats and feathers, cloaks, breeches, and stockings, after the style of Lawrence's "Kemble as Hamlet"; indeed, they seem to be the Dane, according to the courtly painter, personified. The costume of the boys, also, is different to that of the other churches. They wear violet cassocks, white cottas, scarlet capes with yellow edges, and red skull caps. The whole affair, the old canons bearing the relics, the boys in their quaint attire, the old-world vergers and beadles, the lights few and far between in the great dim church, the vistas of arched aisles ending in darkness, and the sparse congregation, give the impression of some period long before the end of this prosaic 19th century. The châsses are in their old places upon the raised apse behind the altar; but they are of no artistic value. The setting of the jewels is there, but the jewels are gone. The church remains one of the grandest of its date, but its contents have been mended, patched, and re-made. Still, it is an exquisitely beautiful relic, left us by the ages of Faith.
S. Denis still goes barefoot, but not for love. Stern necessity keeps it so, or thrusts its cold feet into wooden shoes. It carries its red flag also, and waves it menacingly at all who love peace and quiet. Likewise, it perambulates in processions; but its relics are rags and hungry children. From a haven of rest, raised up with perhaps some grains of foolish superstition; from an artistic centre of all that was beautiful; from the trysting place of enthusiasts, diluted probably with a certain amount of bigotry, S. Denis has become faithless, hopeless, and restless; bigoted in its excessive Communism, unjust in its perversion of true Socialism, flaunting its Anarchic oriflamme in the face of law and order. It is a strange contrast; but perhaps the cause and effect are nearer allied than is generally supposed.