2. The Boulevards.

The broad Rue Royale leads to the N. from the Place de la Con-
corde (p. 63) to the Madeleine, the starting-point of the Boul.
Malesherbes (p. 216) on the left, and the Grands Boulevards (p. 78)
on the right.

The Madeleine, or Church of St. Mary Magdalen (Pl.B, 18; 77),
is built in the style of a Roman temple. It was begun in 1806, on
the foundations of a church of the 18th cent., by Napoleon I., who
intended it for a Temple of Glory. The architect was P. Vignon.
Louis XVIII. desired to make it an expiatory church with monuments
to Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette. It was finished in 1842, from
designs by Huvé. The church is 354 ft. in length, 141 ft. in
breadth, and 100 ft. in height. The building, which is destitute of
windows, is constructed exclusively of stone. It stands on a basement
about 11 ft. in height, and is surrounded by an imposing colonnade
of massive Corinthian columns. The niches in the colonnade contain
thirty-four modern statues of saints. The relief in the tympanum of
the principal facade (S.), by Lemaire, represents the Last Judgment.
The bronze Doors, 34 1/2 ft. in height and 16 ft. in breadth, are adorned
with illustrations of the Ten Commandments, by Triqueti.

The Interior (open to visitors from 1 to 6 p.m.; when the front gate
is closed, entrance by the choir) forms a single spacious hall, with side-
chapels, behind which are colonnades bearing galleries. The ceiling con-
sists of three cupolas and a hemicycle. In the spandrels are figures of
the Apostles, by Pradier, Rude, and Foyatier.

Sculptures and paintings in the chapels: to the right, Marriage of the
Virgin, by Pradier; to the left, Baptism of Christ, by Rude; right, Ste.
Amelie, by Bra. and the Conversion of Mary Magdalen, by Schnetz; left,
St. Vincent de Paul, by Raggi, and Christ at the house of Simon the
Pharisée, with Mary washing the Saviour's feet, by Couder; right, The
Saviour, by Buret, and Mary at the foot of the Cross, by Bouchot; left,
The Virgin, by Seurre, and Angels announcing the Resurrection to Mary,
by Cogniet; right, Ste. Clotilde. by Barye, and Mary Magdalen praying in
the desert, with angels, by Abel de Pujol; left, St. Augustine, by Etex, and
Death of Mary Magdalen, by Signol.

On the High Altar is a group in marble by Marochetti. representing
Mary Magdalen being borne into Paradise by two angels. — At the
back of the altar, in the apse, is a mosaic by Gilbert-Martin, representing
Jesus Christ and personages from the New Testament. Above is a large
fresco by Ziegler. representing Christ in the act of receiving and blessing
the chief champions of Christianity in the East and West: below is
Napoleon receiving the imperial crown from the hands of Pope Pius VII.

The Madeleine is famed for its sacred music and orchestral perform-
ances on great festivals and during Passion Week. Comp. also p. 41.

Behind the church is a Statue of Lavoisier (1743-94), the chem-
ist, by E. Barrias. erected in 1900. The pedestal is adorned with
reliefs representing Lavoisier in his laboratory, with his wife, and
the great chemist instructing his pupils. Condorcet, Lagrange, La-
place, Lamarck, Monge, etc. An inscription at the back records his
discoveries.