Sainte-Chapelle

Elizabeth Anderson

History…

Sainte-Chapelle was built by King Louis IX in 1246 to hold the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ during his crucifixion and part of the True Cross.

It also houses other relics from both the Old and New Testament.

Louis purchased these in 1239 from the Byzantine emperor Baldwin II, for the amount of 135,000 livres. The chapel itself only cost 40,000 livres to build.

The idea behind Saint Louis’ purchase was to elevate the Kingdom of France to be the leader of Western Christianity.

Construction was completed in 2 years and the day after completion, the upper chapel was consecrated by the Pope’s legate and the lower chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Sainte-Chapelle is famous for its stained glass windows, which basically surround the whole upper floor.

The upper floor was reserved for the king, his close friends and family, and for displaying the religious relics.

Of all the statues decorating the upper chapel, those of the Twelves Apostles are the most incredible.

The Upper Chapel

The Lower Chapel The Lower Chapel holds a

statue of the Virgin Mary, to whom the lower floor is dedicated.

The walls are decorated with arcades and twelve medallions that represent the Apostles.

The ceiling is painted to represent the heavens and the floor contains tombstones of former treasurers and reverends of the chapel.

During the time of the French monarchy, the lower chapel was reserved for chapel staff.

Sainte-Chapelle was damaged by fire in 1630 and 1776.

The stained glass windows of the lower chapel were taken out following a flood in 1690.

Suffered considerable damaged during the French revolution and many of the religious artifacts were taken from the chapel; statues actually remained in tact

Greatly restored; some relics recovered—some now in Notre Dame Cathedral

Stained Glass

2/3 are original works

Depict entire biblical story of humans

Removed during World War II in anticipation of the invasion of Paris

Replaced following the war

Works Cited

www.parisdigest.com/monument/saintechapelle www.harris-interiors.co.uk http://www.herodote.net/Images/SainteChapelle.jpg http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Cathedrals/Paris/Sainte-C

hapelle.shtml http://bryan.parno.net/paris/big/P1010019-Sainte-Chapelle.jpg architecture.relig.free.fr/ chapelle1.htm