[Illustration: TOWER OF ST PIERRE. CAEN.]
In the interior, the nave is chiefly remarkable for its proportions; but
the choir is richly ornamented in the style of the renaissance.[15] It
has been restored at different periods, but, as usual in France, the
whole interior has been coloured or whitewashed, so that it is difficult
to detect the old work from the new. The sculptured pendants and the
decorations of the aisles will attract us by their boldness and
originality, and the curious legends in stone on the capitals of the
pillars, of 'Alexander and his Mistress,' of 'Launcelot crossing the Sea
on his Sword,' and of 'St. Paul being lowered in a Basket,' may take
our attention a little too much from the carving in the chapels; but
when we have examined them all, we shall probably remember St. Pierre
best as Prout and Pugin have shewn it to us, and care for it most (as do
the inhabitants of Caen) for its beautiful exterior.[16]
We should mention a handsome carved oak pulpit in the style of the
fifteenth century, which has lately been erected; it is an ornament to
the church in spite of its new and temporary appearance--taking away
from the cold effect of the interior, and relieving the monotony of its
aisles. The people of Caen are indebted to M. V. Hugot, cure of St.
Pierre, for this pulpit. 'A mon arrivee dans la paroisse,' he says (in a
little pamphlet sold in the church), 'un des premiers objets qui durent
appeler mes soins c'etait le retablissement d'une chaire a precher.
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