Panorama of the seven bridges
As this
article is being written, the iconic Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, continues
to burn, the images of the building devastation heartbreaking for Parisians,
Christians, and all those who love and appreciate historic architecture. As stewards of a Chicago landmark (designed
by H. H. Richardson, who received his architectural training at L’Ecole des
Beaux Arts in Paris), we sympathize with all those who are impacted by the
irreplaceable loss of this internationally significant architectural
treasure.
John and
Frances Glessner and their daughter Fanny (accompanied by her paid companion
Miss Scharff) had the opportunity to visit Notre Dame during a trip to Europe in
the early part of 1890. Below are selected
excerpts from the Glessner journal (written by John Glessner) detailing their time in Paris. (All images, other than that of Notre Dame
Cathedral, taken from an album of photographs assembled by the Glessners during
their trip).
Place de la Concorde
Monday
February 24, 1890 (in Havre):
“At 7:30am
left by train for Paris . . .Had telegraphed Hotel Baida to send man to meet us
at RR station in Paris and soon after arrival were comfortably placed in our
hotel with two good sunny communicating rooms, fire lighted etc. . . We went
for a long drive through Paris. . . We drove for four hours through places of
great interest – only stopping once or twice.
We were most impressed by the Madeleine, Notre Dame, Arc de
Triomphe. We drove on the Champs Elysses
to the Bois de Boulogne to Café Cascade where we got out and had a cup of
delicious hot chocolate.
Venus de Milo
“Tuesday
Feby. 25 was spent – morning at the Louvre with antique statuary and some old
paintings. The enormous galleries are
full of wonderful and beautiful historical works. Were most impressed by the Venus de Milo and
Melpomene. The Venus is larger than we
had expected, and most beautiful from every view. The coloring of Van Dyck and Titian and
Tintoretto and the great works of Rubens impressed us . . . Murillo’s
Immaculate Conception kept our attention for as long as we could spare. . .
Dined table d’hote at the Continental and from there to Port St. Martin Theatre
to see Sarah Bernhardt in Joan of Arc.
Small theatre, so that everybody was close to stage. Four balconies or galleries and the 1st
floor gave seat space. The play was fine
and well given.
A gallery at the Louvre
Wednesday
February 26:
“The ladies,
Fanny included, started out shopping immediately after breakfast and I wandered
about until 11, when I went to meet Fanny and relieve her from further
shopping, but they had been delayed so we all lunched together at Café Voisin. From there drove to Notre Dame Cathedral and
went through that beautiful building and saw the wonderful
treasures it
contains. After that all four took top
of street car and rode across Paris.
Thursday
February 27:
“After
breakfast went to Ste. Chapelle, the oldest church in Paris. Then to the Cluny Museum where we were more
than delighted with the collections of furniture, embroideries, laces, porcelain,
etc. Then to the Pantheon and walked
hastily through looking at the frescoes but did not go down to the underground
tombs nor up to the tower.
Eiffel Tower
Friday
February 28:
“Went to the
Luxembourg at once after breakfast. Saw the
large bronze St. John by Paul Dubois and some fine pictures. Liked best Jules Dupre’s Eleaner, Rosa
Bonheur’s Cattle Plowing, Bonnet’s portrait of Lion Cogniet, and Bastien-Lepage’s
Haymaking. Saw also the Oyster Gatherers
by Feyen-Perrin of which we once had an etching. From there the ladies went to Au Bon Marche
after walking through the gardens, and I to the bankers for letters. Lunched at the Binda, left Fanny here and we
went shopping and to call on (Mihaly) Munkacsy at his studio. The reception room was furnished with screens
and sofas and hangings, had a bright fire burning and was filled with French
callers. . . He took us into his studio, through a door draped with three or
four thicknesses of hangings, and we sat there on a corner sofa a while talking
with him through Miss Scharff. . . The studio had a stuffed horse in it and
some stuffs and was very light. Visited
many old shops and Theodore Deck’s place, but found nothing to buy. Bought at Barbedienne’s a bronze Sitting
Mercury. We are getting quite in conceit
with our own bric-a-brac, as it compares well with what we see, or is
reproduction of what we see.
Saturday
March 1:
“Went to
Louvre after breakfast to have another look at the art treasures. . . After
that to a private exhibition of paintings at The Cercle de L’Union Artistique 5
Rue Boissay D’Anglas. . . Neglected to say above that we went Friday night to
the Grand Opera, L’Africaine and found the performance magnificent. Had never seen such stage setting. Over 100 players in orchestra and at one time
at least 175 people on the stage, perhaps more.
A Chicago audience on a similar occasion will compare favorably with
this one, though perhaps not so many jewels worn by the ladies. Generally the dresses here were not so low at
the neck as at home, but a few were lower.
The men wore hats between the acts.
Foyer of the Grand Opera House
“Sunday
morning went to the Greek church and staid through the service. The church is in shape of Greek cross about
35 feet square and contained many paintings some at least of which were very
good and perhaps more, for we couldn’t see them very well.”
(On Monday
March 3, the Glessners traveled to Cannes and then to Italy, returning to
Paris on April 2, during Holy Week, spending ten days there before boarding
their ship at Havre for the passage home).
Friday April
4:
“Good
Friday. We all four went shopping
together this morning. Bought a bureau
and writing table for bedroom at home. . .
Notre Dame Cathedral in the 1890s
Sunday April
6:
“On Sunday
morning – Easter Sunday – Frances and Miss Scharff went to service at Notre
Dame, which they found interesting. . . Fanny and I staid at home and wrote
letters. After luncheon we drove to St.
Cloud and on the Bois de Boulogne until dinner time. Fanny wore her Bersagliero hat and cloak,
supposing that anything might be worn here without remark, but found it
unpleasant because of the attention it seemed to attract.”
“On
Wednesday morning April 9th, I visited Central Halles the great
market, the Tower of St. Jacques, Sainte Chappelle, and Notre Dame while the
two ladies and Fanny went to dressmakers, bought embroideries, etc. After luncheon, Miss Scharff and Fanny drove
to the Jardin d’Acclimatation to see the animals and birds. . . At 7 we took
carriages four ourselves and our guests the Hutchinsons and went to our dinner.
When we came home Miss Scharff and I
from our cab saw the blaze from a large fire, so got Mr. H. to join us and
drove to it. Some large sheds of second
hand building material were burning, with great heat and blaze, and quite a
crowd had gathered. A number of men and
boys had climbed into the trees for a better sight.”
Newspaper clipping:
“Big Blaze
in the Rue Daru”
“Last
evening, between nine and ten o’clock, by the lurid appearance of the sky in
the direction of the Arc de Triomphe, it was plain that a large fire was raging
somewhere in that part of the city, and excited crowds hastened along the
boulevards to the scene of disaster.
“On the rue
Daru, near the Russian church, stood a row of sheds and ware-houses used by a
firm of dealers in second-hand building materials. These were found to be in flames, and owing
to the inflammable nature of the contents, straw, piles of boards, etc., the
fire blazed fiercely, lighting up the whole neighborhood.
“The flames
threw out such volumes of heat that it was almost impossible for the firemen to
hold their ground. For an hour or so
water and fire fought for the mastery, while thousands watched the struggle
with admiration. Finally the water won,
streaming down in a deluge from many lines of hose. The light died away, the heat diminished, the
multitude dispersed, and the fire was out.”
NOTE: A large engraving, depicting Notre Dame Cathedral, always hung over the bed in George Glessner's bedroom, as seen in this historic image below.
