HEIGHTS ARE OFTEN VENERATED AND THE MONTMARTRE* SUMMIT, LINKED TO DRUIDS AND ROMAN GODS, IS THE SITE OF FRANCE'S FOUNDING LEGEND
*"Mount of Martyrs"
Full painting at end of page.
There Romans decapitated the first Christian missionaries:
Their bishop, Denis, is usually shown holding his head in his hands...
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Facade of Notre-Dame Cathedral /zoom |
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Bodemuseum (Berlin), 1460-70 / zoom |
French illuminated manuscript, end 15th century / zoom
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Church window in Champagne / Internet, no more information |
The Crucifixion of the Parliament of Paris, unknown master, mid-15th century / zoom |
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That summit, the highest of the Paris region, is associated with Calvary and a convent was built there:
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Piéta of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (detail), 16th century / zoom |
It was destroyed during the Revolution. Secular buildings sprang up, but its 12th century church, of the right size for the 600 villagers, remained:
Richard Nahem
Saint-Pierre de Montmartre
Even before the armistice with Prussia
right-wing Catholics planned it
as atonement for the left-wing sins that,
they said, had brought the French defeat.
La Commune made the emphasis on atonement
infinitely more dramatic.
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Next,
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