The vestments of the saint have all
the delicacy of miniature-painting.
The library of the cathedral, formerly one of the richest in France,
disappeared during the revolution; but the noble room which contained
it, one hundred feet long, by twenty-five feet wide, still remains
uninjured; as does the door which led into it from the northern
transept, and which continues to this day to bear the inscription,
_Bibliotheca_. The staircase, communicating with this door, is delicate
and beautiful. The balustrades are of the most elegant filagree; and it
has all the boldness and lightness which peculiarly characterise the
French Gothic. Its date being well ascertained, we may note it as an
architectural standard. It was erected by the archbishop, Cardinal
d'Etouteville, about the year 1460, thirty or forty years subsequently
to the building of the room.
Respecting the contents of the sacristy, I can say little from my own
knowledge; but I find by Pommeraye, that, before the revolution, it
boasted of a large silver image of the Virgin, endued with peculiar
sanctity, a few drops of her milk, and a portion of her hair[88]; a
splinter of the true cross, set in gold, studded with pearls,
sapphires, and turquoises; and reliques of saints without number.
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