PALACE OF JUSTICE.
When we say that the Palais-de-Justice was erected by Lewis XIIth, in 1499, as a court of exchecquer, which that prince had arranged should be held at Rouen, we must not comprehend that part of the building called the salle des Procureurs, or attorneys hall, which dates from 1493, and which was erected (as we have mentioned at the article exchange), as a place of meeting for the merchants of the town. Even at the present time, this hall calls forth the admiration of the best architects. Its length is one hundred and fifty feet, by fifty in breadth. Its lofty roof is not supported by a single pillar; the ingenuity of the work is here contrasted with its boldness of conception. The only ornaments which decorate the walls of the hall are elegant empty niches, which are detached in relief, and at equal distances. The principal staircase, which leads up to the salle des Procureurs, was erected a few years since, under the superintendence of M. Gregoire. The Conciergerie and prisons are situated under this hall.
Palais de Justice
The Palais-de-Justice, properly so called, forms as it were one side of a square, at the northern extremity of the salle des Procureurs. Its facade, which looks towards the south, is two hundred feet in length, and is ornamented with every thing that the architecture of the time possessed of the richest and most delicate. The angular pillars of the piers are covered with canopied statues and small steeples, which extend from the base to the summit; the numerous ornaments, which surround the windows, those which accompany and surmount the windows of the roof; the leaden balustrade which surrounds the roof, the arcades which form a gallery, and are carried along the whole of the entablature, lastly, the elegant octangular turret which occupies the middle of the facade and separates it into two equal parts, are of the greatest beauty and purity of taste, in spite of a certain mixture in the style, which characterizes the transition from gothic architecture to that of the renaissance, style which already began to be in use. The name of the architect, unknown till recently, is Roger Ango.
At the farther end of the salle des Procureurs is a door, which leads into the ancient Grand Chambre (great Chamber), in which the court of assizes are now held. This hall may be considered as the finest in the kingdom. The ceiling, which is divided into sculptured compartments, decorated with gilt bronze ornaments, is of oak to which time has given the appearance of ebony. The whole of the flooring was formerly covered with arabesques, according to the custom of the reign of Lewis the XIIth. From this floor, an ancient fire place which existed in the Chambre de Conseil, or Counsel Hall, a curious painting which the antiquarian Millin mentions in his national antiquities and on which witnesses were sworn have all disappeared.
On the exterior, only two parts of this elegant edifice, that which is exposed to the setting sun, and the middle one to the south, have retained their primitive beauty. The latter is now under repair and renovation. At the commencement of the last century, the modern portion of the building which faces the west, was erected. The front of this building fell to the ground on the 10th of april 1812, and brought down with it the whole ceiling, which was painted by the celebrated Jouvenet, who, having his right hand paralysed, painted with his left, and in a manner worthy of such a painter, the Triumph of Justice.
Considerable embellishments have taken place in the court of the Palais. The massive flight of stone steps, which led to the salle des Procureurs, and which especially hid from view the beautiful angular turret, has been removed. A new staircase has been erected at the middle of the facade, before the door of the prisons, the entrance to which, is at the side. This staircase is composed of a single straight flight, of five metres (fifteen feet) in breadth, and is crowned by a porch in the style of the building. The ancient wall, which closed the court on the side of the rue aux Juifs, has been replaced by a cast iron railing, in the gothic style. The front of the Palais being thus exposed to view, the aspect of the edifice becomes as imposing as picturesque. Behind the Palais-de-Justice, in the rue Saint-Lô, is a large building, which answers the purpose of a court of appeals, for the cour royale. The offices of the town-hall were established here during the revolution. It was formerly the residence of the first presidents of the parliament of Normandy.
TOWER DE LA GROSSE-HORLOGE.
The following inscription, which is engraved on a brass plate, and is perfectly well preserved, is placed above the door at the foot of the staircase.