The text describes Polish souvenirs in Paris, including the most ancient of them, the clock in the Palace of Justice from the time of Henry III, decorated with the Polish coat of arms. Further on, the history and description of the clock is crossed out (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1900, Półrocze I, pp. 25-26, after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

Polish souvenirs in Paris.

The most important Polish souvenir in Paris is the clock in the Palace of Justice from the time of Henry III, decorated with the Polish coat of arms. It seems that before the election of Valois, little was known in France or about Poland; almost nothing was printed about it. The earliest work about us is:

"La tres grande et triumpnante Victoire du tres excellent roy de Poloingne encontre le conte Hans Weyda subject et tributaire du grand Turc, faicte le vingt et deuxieme jour d'Aoust l'an de nostre Seigneur mil cinq cens XXXI - Par tres reverent pere en Dieu et Seigneur m-r Jean Dantiscus, Evesque Culmens et legat de la royale majeste de Poloingne. Imprime l'an de nostre Seigneur MDXXXI le XXV jour de Novembre".

Karol Sienkiewicz, overjoyed at the discovery of this white raven, gave a copy to Princess Izabela Czartoryska. But as the booklet only covered four pages, the French learned little from it. The appointment of Valois to the Polish throne aroused the curiosity of the French; speeches by Jan Zamojski, who had come as envoy to offer the crown to the Duke d'Anjou, were published in French and Latin. Blaise de Vigenere then published his 'Chroniques et annales de Poloigne avec le pourtraict de Pours, le pourtraict de bisons et le pourtraict de l'Elent'. Henry III soon fled Poland on hearing of the death of his brother, Charles IX, but he never relinquished the title of King of Poland or the coat of arms of the state so sorely abandoned by him.

The coat of arms of Poland, therefore, has since appeared on French coins, on the mantle and insignia of the Order of St Michael and on the corner wall of the Palace of Justice. In Spain, the towers, put up under the Moors, look as if they were finished yesterday. In Italy, the open-air frescoes retain their fresh colours. In France, frequent frosts destroy quite quickly thanks to exposure to the air. The Henry III clock needed restoration several times. In 1852, a very skilful job was taken on. We owe a detailed and official description of the clock to this circumstance. This clock, the most beautiful of all, was built in the Renaissance era and is located on the east wall of the clock tower, at a height of 7 metres. The diameter of the dial face is 1 metre 50 centimetres.

From the centre emerge scorching golden rays, in which two hands of bronzed copper (repousse) and numerals rotate, indicating the hours, carved convex on stone and painted black. The larger of the two, indicating the minutes, depicts a copy rib with a handle fragment; the other indicates the hours by means of a lily, resting on two sphinxes; the opposite end of this pointer depicts a crescent and serves only for balance. The dial is framed, decorated at the corners with roses.

On each side of the dial face rise figures in relief, 1 metre 90 centimetres high. The figure to the left depicts the Force: resting her left hand on the rods in a bundle with an axe, she holds between her big and little fingers the hand of Justice, the last two fingers of which are compact; in her right hand she holds a tablet of laws with the inscription: "Sacra Dei Celerare Pius, Regale Time Jus." (Pious observer of the divine law, respect the royal law). "The figure on the right depicts Justice holding a scarf in her left hand and a sword in her right. "Above the frame a plaque of black marble, on which is engraved in gold and letters the following inscription:

"Qui Dedit Ante Duas, Triplicem Dabit." (He who has already endowed him with two crowns will give him also a third).

On each side of this inscription are two Ds entwined and surrounded by an oak leaf. Above the plaque on the front two geniuses with wreaths support the coat of arms of Henry III. This coat of arms consists of two shields, juxtaposed: the coat of arms of France - on a field of blue three golden lilies, and above them a royal crown, and the coat of arms of Poland, divided into two equal parts by a perpendicular line: on a field of red, to the left, a white eagle with outspread wings, crowned by ancient custom, to the right a knight with a bare sword in his right hand, and his left hand holding the reins of a spinning steed; the rider and horse are of silver, and above the shield is also a royal French crown. Above the two shields a crown of laurel, raised by a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit; below these shields the letter H, and the whole surrounded by the chain of the Order of the Holy Spirit, composed of shells, lilies and the letters H with crowns, which constitute the numeral of Henry III.

Under this chain hangs a cross with paw-shaped ends, with eight spikes and enamelled edges, with horns decorated with a lily; on one side is an enamelled dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit; on the other side is St Michael, fighting the dragon. Above the coats of arms, enclosed in boxes, rises the royal French crown. "Below the main frames is a second panel of black marble, but larger than the one just described, and on it are engraved in gold letters these two lines of Passerat:

"Machina Quae Bis Sex Tam juste Dividit Horas, Justitiam Servare Monet, Legesque Tueri." (This machine, which divides the twelve hours so acutely, warns you that justice and laws must be guarded).".

This plaque is supported by a box, decorated with the head of an angel and several other embellishments. The various parts of this decoration against an azure background, dotted with ornaments displaying embroideries, consist of cornices and architectural frames, decorated with Henry II numerals, wreaths, ram's heads, fauns and other ornaments of a very fine chisel. Almost all of these parts are gilded, silvered and painted in a tone that gives the whole a very refined appearance. A semicircular canopy of carved wood, supported by two large caryatid-shaped bases, protects the rich decoration from the rain. This canopy is covered with leaves made of copper punched in the shape of scales, and on both sides rainwater flows down dolphins serving as gutters.

In the vaulted compartments of the canopy are entwined the letters D, II and Y, with various ornaments; the numerals, placed alternately in these compartments, are those of Henry II and Henry III. "In the centre of the uppermost part of the canopy and among the variegated ornaments can be seen the date 1585, in which this monument was completed under Henry III. On the two lower ends of the background decoration reads: left: R. Anno D., and underneath, the date: 1685, in which the monument was restored under Louis XIV - and on the right: R. Anno D., and underneath, 1852, that is, the date of the restoration just carried out under the direction of Messrs Due and Dommey, architects of the city of Paris, who were entrusted with the work of separating and enlarging the Palace of Justice. Mr Toussaint, a sculptor, made the decorative figures; Mr Flandrin decorated the entire sculpture. Flandrin all the decorative sculpture; mr. Yvet, the decorative painter, undertook all the paintings on wax and gold; Mr. Henry Lepaute, after difficulties without number, renewed the clockwork; it should be weighed that the hands of the clock have a perfectly regular and frictionless movement.

"The total height of the clock decoration is 7 metres 0 centimetres and the total width is 5 metres 60 centimetres.

Too often, work requiring a thorough familiarity with the history of art was entrusted to almost simple workmen. The results were disastrous. The publication of Chateaubriand's work 'Le genie du Christianisme' and Victor Hugo's novel 'Notre Dame de Paris' was followed by an auspicious turn; the poetry of the monuments of the past, so scorned by the 18th century, was felt anew. The restoration of the clock of the Palace of Justice was entrusted, as the names mentioned testify, to first-rate artists.

During the Commune, a fire destroyed the largest hall in the Palace of Justice, ironically called since the Middle Ages: "Halle des pas perdus", because it is where lawyers stroll and confer with their clients. The Valois clock, adorning the tower adjacent to this hall, survived thanks to the extraordinary thickness of the masonry; it was only smoky. It came to be restored again; the damage, however, was slight. We shall see that another Polish memorial in Paris, the tomb of John Casimir in the church of Saint-Germain des Pres, was equally exposed to destruction during the French Revolution.