The rose-windows, four in
number, are filled with glass of the thirteenth century, and the tall
windows of the chevet and clerestory contain a many colored mosaic of a
similar sort. I was particularly struck with the rose-window over the
western portal. It represents the Beautiful Vision; the Eternal Father is
throned in the central ring of the window, and in the radiating panes is
the Hierarchy of Paradise, angels and archangels and all the company of
Heaven, while in a wider circumference are grouped the redeemed,
contemplating in adoration the majesty of God.
I noticed two very interesting tombs in Rheims cathedral. The first was
the sarcophagus of Jovinus, the Christian prefect of Rheims, in the fourth
century, who protected the church and was originally buried in the Abbey
of St. Nicaise, from whence his tomb was brought to the cathedral. It
consists of a single block of snowy marble, nine feet long, and four feet
high, on which the consular general is represented in a spirited bas-
relief mounted on horseback and saving the life of a man from the lion, in
whose flank Jovinus has launched his spear.
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