Basilica of Saint-Denis | |
---|---|
Basilique Saint-Denis (French) | |
48°56′08″N 2°21′35″E / 48.93556°N 2.35972°ECoordinates: 48°56′08″N 2°21′35″E / 48.93556°N 2.35972°E | |
Location | Saint-Denis, France |
Denomination | Catholic |
Tradition | Roman Rite |
Architecture | |
Style | Gothic |
Administration | |
Diocese | Saint-Denis |
Clergy | |
Bishop(s) | Pascal Delannoy |
The Basilica of Saint-Denis (French: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, now formally known as the Basilique-cathédrale de Saint-Denis[1]) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the city of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, is widely considered the first structure to employ all of the elements of Gothic architecture.[2][3]
The basilica became a place of pilgrimage and a necropolis containing the tombs of the French Kings, including nearly every king from the 10th century through Louis XVIII in the 19th century. Henry IV of France came to Saint-Denis to formally renounce his Protestant faith and become a Catholic. The Queens of France were crowned at Saint-Denis, and the royal regalia, including the sword used for crowning the kings and the royal sceptre, were kept at Saint-Denis between coronations.[4]
The site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archaeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral; the people buried there seem to have had a faith that was a mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs and practices.[5] Around 475 St. Genevieve purchased some land and built Saint-Denys de la Chapelle. In 636 on the orders of Dagobert I the relics of Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, were reinterred in the basilica. The relics of St-Denis, which had been transferred to the parish church of the town in 1795, were brought back again to the abbey in 1819.[6]
In the 12th century, the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the abbey church using innovative structural and decorative features. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building.[7] In the following century the master-builder Pierre de Montreuil rebuilt the nave and the transepts in the new Rayonnant Gothic style.[8]
The abbey church became a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy. Although known as the "Basilica of St Denis", the cathedral has not been granted the title of Minor Basilica by the Vatican.[9]
The 86-metre (282-foot) tall spire, dismantled in the 19th century, is to be rebuilt. The project, initiated more than 30 years ago, was to have begun in May 2020, and is expected to take about 11 years at a cost of about €28 million.[10]
History
Early churches
The cathedral is on the site where Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris, is believed to have been buried. He was decapitated on the hill of Montmartre in the mid-third century with two of his followers, and is said to have subsequently carried his head to the site of the current church, indicating where he wanted to be buried. A martyrium was erected on the site of his grave, which became a famous place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries.[6]
Dagobert's church
Dagobert I, King of the Franks (reigned 628 to 637), re-founded the church as the Abbey of Saint Denis ,a Benedictine monastery in 632.[11] Dagobert also commissioned a new shrine to house the saint's remains, which was created by his chief councillor, Eligius, a goldsmith by training. An early vita of Saint Eligius describes the shrine:
- Above all, Eligius fabricated a mausoleum for the holy martyr Denis in the city of Paris with a wonderful marble ciborium over it marvelously decorated with gold and gems. He composed a crest [at the top of a tomb] and a magnificent frontal and surrounded the throne of the altar with golden axes in a circle. He placed golden apples there, round and jeweled. He made a pulpit and a gate of silver and a roof for the throne of the altar on silver axes. He made a covering in the place before the tomb and fabricated an outside altar at the feet of the holy martyr. So much industry did he lavish there, at the king's request, and poured out so much that scarcely a single ornament was left in Gaul and it is the greatest wonder of all to this very day.[12]
None of this work survives.[citation needed]
The Carolingian church
Little is known about the earliest buildings on the site. The first church mentioned in the chronicles was begun in 754 under Pepin the Short and completed under Charlemagne, who was present at its consecration in 775. By 832 the Abbey had been granted a remunerative whaling concession on the Cotentin Peninsula.[13] Most of what is now known about the Carolingian church at St Denis resulted from a lengthy series of excavations begun under the American art historian Sumner McKnight Crosby in 1937.[14] The building was about 60m long, with a monumental westwork, single transepts, a crossing tower and a lengthy eastern apse over a large crypt (parts of which survive). According to one of the Abbey's many foundation myths a leper, who was sleeping in the nearly completed church the night before its planned consecration, witnessed a blaze of light from which Christ, accompanied by St Denis and a host of angels, emerged to conduct the consecration ceremony himself. Before leaving, Christ healed the leper, tearing off his diseased skin to reveal a perfect complexion underneath. A mis-shapen patch on a marble column was said to be the leper's former skin, which stuck there when Christ discarded it. Having been consecrated by Christ, the fabric of the building was itself regarded as sacred.[15]
Suger and the Early Gothic Church
Abbot Suger (c. 1081 – 1151), the patron of the rebuilding of the Abbey church, had begun his career in the church at the age of ten, and rose to become the Abbot in 1122. He became a confidant of the King, as a first Minister of Louis VI and Louis VII, and served as head of government in the King's place when the King was absent on the Crusades. In about 1135 he began rebuilding and enlarging the abbey. In his famous account of the work undertaken during his administration, Suger explained his decision to rebuild the church, due to the decrepit state of the old structure and its inability to cope with the crowds of pilgrims visiting the shrine of St Denis, particularly
"...on special days such as the feast of the blessed Denis [...] when the narrowness of the place forced women to run to the altar on the heads of men as on a pavement with great anguish and confusion."[16]
Suger's great innovation in the church was the replacement of the heavy dividing walls in the apse and ambulatory with slender columns, so that the interior of that part of the church was filled with light. He described "A circular string of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty."[17]
The new architecture was full of symbolism. The twelve columns represented the twelve Apostles, and the light represented the Holy Spirit. Like many French clerics in the 12th century AD, he was a follower of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a 6th-century mystic who equated the slightest reflection or glint with divine light. Suger's own words were carved in the nave: "For bright is that which is brightly coupled with the bright/and bright is the noble edifice which is pervaded by the new light."[18] Following Suger's example, large stained glass windows filling the interior with mystical light became a prominent feature of Gothic architecture.[17]
Suger was the patron, not the architect. Two different architects, or master masons, were involved in the 12th-century rebuilding. [19] Both remain anonymous but their work can be distinguished on stylistic grounds. The first, who was responsible for the initial work at the western end, favoured conventional Romanesque capitals and moulding profiles with rich and individualised detailing. His successor, who completed the western facade and upper storeys of the narthex, before going on to build the new choir, displayed a more restrained approach to decorative effects, relying on a simple repertoire of motifs, which may have proved more suitable for the lighter Gothic style that he helped to create.[20]
First Phase: the west front (1135–1140)
Suger began his rebuilding project at the western end of St Denis, demolishing the old Carolingian facade with its single, centrally located door. He extended the old nave westwards by an additional four bays and added a massive western narthex, incorporating a new façade and three chapels on the first floor level.
Another major innovation in the façade at St Denis was the way the unknown architects have chosen to emphasise the divisions between the different parts with massive vertical buttresses separating the three doorways and horizontal string-courses and window arcades clearly marking out the divisions. This clear delineation of parts was to influence subsequent west façade designs as a common theme in the development of Gothic architecture and a marked departure from the Romanesque. The overall design of the façade has an obvious resemblance to a Roman city gatehouse (an impression strengthened by the buttresses and by the crenellations around the top), which helps to emphasise the traditional notion of great churches as earthly embodiments of the Heavenly City, as described in the Book of Ezekiel.[citation needed]
The portals themselves were sealed by gilded bronze doors, ornamented with scenes from Christ's Passion and clearly recording Suger's patronage with the following inscription;
For the glory of the church which nurtured and raised him, Suger strove for the glory of the church, Sharing with you what is yours, oh martyr Denis. He prays that by your prayers he should become a sharer in Paradise. The year when it was consecrated was the one thousand, one hundred and fortieth year of the Word.[21]
On the lintel below the great tympanum showing the Last Judgement, beneath a carved figure of the kneeling Abbot, was inscribed the more modest plea;
Receive, stern Judge, the prayers of your Suger, Let me be mercifully numbered among your sheep.
Suger's western extension was completed in 1140 and the three new chapels in the narthex were consecrated on 9 June of that year, but the Romanesque nave between was yet unchanged. He wrote about the new narthex at the west end and chapels at the east: "Once the new rear part is joined to the part in front, the church shines with its middle part brightened. For bright is that which is brightly coupled with the bright, and bright is the noble edifice which is pervaded by the new light."[17]
Second Phase: the new choir, 1140–1144
On completion of the west front, Abbot Suger moved on to the reconstruction of the eastern end, leaving the Carolingian nave in use. He wanted a choir, the area reserved for the clergy between the nave and the apse, that would be suffused with light. To achieve his aims, Suger's masons drew on the several new elements which evolved or had been introduced to Romanesque architecture: the pointed arch, the rib vault, the ambulatory with radiating chapels, the clustered columns supporting ribs springing in different directions and the flying buttresses which enabled the insertion of large clerestory windows.[22]
It was the first time that these features had all been drawn together, and the style evolved radically from the previous Romanesque architecture by the lightness of the structure and the unusually large size of the stained glass windows.
The new structure was finished and dedicated on 11 June 1144, in the presence of the King.[23] The Abbey of St Denis thus became the prototype for further building in the royal domain of northern France. Through the rule of the Angevin dynasty, the style was introduced to England and spread throughout France, the Low Countries, Germany, Spain, northern Italy and Sicily.[24][25]
Suger died in 1151 with the Gothic reconstruction incomplete. In 1231, Abbot Odo Clement began work on the rebuilding of the Carolingian nave, which remained sandwiched incongruously between Suger's Gothic works to the east and west. Both the nave and the upper parts of Suger's choir were replaced in the Rayonnant Gothic style. From the start it appears that Abbot Odo, with the approval of the Regent Blanche of Castile and her son, the young King Louis IX, planned for the new nave and its large crossing to have a much clearer focus as the French 'royal necropolis', or burial place. That plan was fulfilled in 1264 under Abbot Matthew of Vendôme when the bones of 16 former kings and queens were relocated to new tombs arranged around the crossing, eight Carolingian monarchs to the south and eight Capetians to the north.[26] These tombs, featuring lifelike carved recumbent effigies or gisants lying on raised bases, were badly damaged during the French revolution though all but two were subsequently restored by Viollet le Duc in 1860.
The dark Romanesque nave, with its thick walls and small window-openings, was rebuilt using the very latest techniques, in what is now known as Rayonnant Gothic. This new style, which differed from Suger's earlier works as much as they had differed from their Romanesque precursors, reduced the wall area to an absolute minimum. Solid masonry was replaced with vast window openings filled with brilliant stained glass (all destroyed in the Revolution) and interrupted only by the most slender of bar tracery—not only in the clerestory but also, perhaps for the first time, in the normally dark triforium level. The upper facades of the two much-enlarged transepts were filled with two spectacular 12m-wide rose windows.[27] As with Suger's earlier rebuilding work, the identity of the architect or master mason remains unknown. Although often attributed to Pierre de Montreuil, the only evidence for his involvement is an unrelated document of 1247 which refers to him as 'a mason from Saint-Denis'.[28]
The Valois Mortuary Chapel
A plan of circa 1700 by Félibien shows the Valois Chapel, a large mortuary chapel in the form of a domed colonnaded "rotunda", adjoining the north transept of the basilica and containing the tomb of the Valois.[29]
St. Denis and the French Revolution
The violation of the royal tombs in 1793 depicted by Hubert Robert
Due to its connections to the French monarchy and proximity to Paris, the abbey of Saint-Denis was a prime target of revolutionary vandalism. In 1793 the French Convention, the revolutionary government, ordered the violation of the sepulchres and the destruction of the royal tombs, but they agreed create a commission to select those monuments which were of historical interest for preservation. In 1798 these were transferred to the chapel of the Petit-Augustins, which later became the Museum of French Monuments.[30] The medieval monastic buildings were demolished in 1792. Although the church itself was left standing, it was deconsecrated, its treasury confiscated and its reliquaries and liturgical furniture melted down for their metallic value. Some sobjects, including a chalice and aquamanile donated to the abbey in Suger's time, were successfully hidden and survive to this day). The jamb figures of the façade representing Old Testament royalty, mistakenly identified as images of royal French kings and queens, were removed from the portals and the tympana sculpture defaced.
The church was reconsecrated by Napoléon in 1806, and he designated it as the future site for his own tomb and those of his intended dynasty.[30]. After his downfall, the ashes of the previous King, Louis XVI, were ceremoniously moved from the cemetery of the Madeleine to Saint Denis. The last King to be entombed in Saint-Denis was Louis XVIII in 1824. In the 1860s Emperor Louis Napoleon asked Viollet-le-Duc to construct an imperial section in the crypt for him and his dynasty, but he was deposed and went into exile before it was begun.[30]
Removal and reconstruction of the north tower
In the early 1840s, cracks appeared in the north tower's masonry following several extreme weather events. A violent storm on 19 August 1845, notable for spawning a tornado, proved critical, and the tower's walls were soon found to have flexed and become dangerously unstable. With François Debret's reconstructive works, carried out after an 1837 lightning strike, proving inadequate, in February 1846 the authorities decided to "temporarily" dismantle the north tower to avoid a catastrophic collapse, with the stones stored for later reconstruction.[31]
Proposed new tower
In December 2016, 170 years after the north tower's dismantlement and following several false starts, the Ministry of Culture again proposed its reconstruction after concluding it was technically feasible—albeit without public funding.[32] An association, Suivez la flèche ("Follow the Spire"), chaired by Patrick Braouezec, has since been established to support the reconstruction, with the aim of raising the necessary funds by opening the reconstruction works to the general public, along the model of the Guédelon Castle. In March 2018 the culture ministry signed an accord with the association, officially launching the reconstruction project, with works expected to commence in May 2020.[10][33] However, as of spring 2021, work had not begun.
Exterior
The West front
The west front of the church, dedicated on 9 June 1140, is divided into three sections, each with its own entrance, representing the Holy Trinity. A crenelated parapet runs across the west front and connects the towers (still unfinished in 1140), illustrating that the church front was the symbolic entrance to the celestial Jerusalem.[34]
This new façade, 34 metres (112 ft) wide and 20 metres (66 ft) deep, has three portals, the central one larger than those either side, reflecting the relative width of the central nave and lateral aisles. This tripartite arrangement was clearly influenced by the late 11th-century Norman-Romanesque façades of the abbey churches of St Etienne [35] It also shared with them a three-storey elevation and flanking towers. Only the south tower survives; the north tower was dismantled following a tornado which struck in 1846.
The west front was originally decorated with a series of column-statues, representing the kings and queens of the Old Testament. These were removed in 1771 and were mostly destroyed during the French Revolution, though a number of the heads can be seen in the Musée de Cluny in Paris.[34]
The bronze doors of the central portal are modern, but are a faithful reproduction of the original doors, which depicted the Passion of Christ and the Resurrection.[34]
One other original feature was added by Suger's builders; a rose window over the central portal.[35] Although small circular windows (oculi) within triangular tympana were common on the west facades of Italian Romanesque churches, this was probably the first example of a rose window within a square frame, which was to become a dominant feature of the Gothic facades of northern France (soon to be imitated at Chartres Cathedral and many others).[36]
Chevet and transepts
The chevet, at the east end of the cathedral, was one of the first parts of the structure rebuilt into the Gothic style. The work was commissioned by Abbot Suger in 1140 and completed in 1144. It was considerably modified under the young King Louis IX and his mother, Blanche of Castille, the Regent of the Kingdom, beginning in 1231. The apse was built much higher, along with the nave. Large flying buttresses were added to the chevet, to support the upper walls, and to make possible the enormous windows installed there. At the same time, the transept was enlarged and given large rose windows in the new rayonnant style, divided into multiple lancet windows topped by trilobe windows and other geometric forms inscribed in circles. The walls of the nave on both sides were entirely filled with windows, each composed of four lancets topped by a rose, filling the entire space above the triforium. The upper walls, like the chevet, were supported by flying buttresses whose bases were placed between the chapels alongside the nave.[37]
North and south portals
The Porte de Valois, or north portal, was originally built in the 12th century, near the end of Suger's life, then rebuilt at the end of the north transept in the 13th century. According to Suger, the original entrance on the north did not have sculpture, but mosaic, which Suger replaced by sculpture in 1540. It is considered an important step in the history of Gothic sculpture, because of the skill of the carving, and the lack of rigidity of the figures. There are six figures in the embrasures and thirty figures in the voussures, or arches above the door, which represent Kings, probably those of the Old Testament, while the tympanum over the door illustrates the martyrdom of Saint-Denis and his companions Eleuthere and Rusticus. This portal was among the last works commissioned by Suger; he died in 1151, before it was completed. Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=10-11}} The original sculpture that was destroyed in the Revolution was replaced with sculpture from the early 19th century, made by Felix Brun.[38]
The tympanum of the south portal illustrates the last days of the Denis and his companions before their martyrdom. The piedroits are filled with medallions representing the labours of the days of month[38]
Interior
The nave, the portion to the west of the church reserved for ordinary worshippers, and the choir, the portion to the east reserved for the clergy, were rebuilt into the Gothic style in the 13th century, after the apse at the east and the west front. Like the other Gothic churches in the Ile-de-France, its walls had three levels; large arcades of massive pillars on the ground floor; a narrow triforium or passageway midway up the wall; originally windowless; and a row of high windows the clerestory, above. Slender columns rose from the pillars up the walls to support the four-part rib vaults. As a result of the Rayonnant reconstruction in th the triforium was given windows, and the upper walls were entirely filled with glass, which reached upward into the arches of the vaults, flooding the church with light. [39]
The disambulatory and chapels
THe chevet had been constructed by Suger in record time, in just four years, between 1140 and 1140, and was one of the first great realisations of Gothic architecture. The double disaubulatory is divided not by walls but by two rows of columns, while the outside walls, thanks to buttresses on the exterior, are filled with windows. The new system allowed light to pass into the interior of the choir. The disambulatory connects with the five radiating chapels at the east end of the cathedral, which have their own large windows. To give them greater unity, the five chapels share the same system of vaulted roofs. To make the walls between the chapels even less visible, they are masked with networks of slender columns and tracery.[38]
The apse with its two ambulatories and axial chapels was extensively rebuilt in the 12th century, to connect harmoniously with the new and larger nave, but a major effort was made to save the early Gothic features created by Suger, including the double disambulatory with its large windows. To accomplish this, four large pillars were installed in the crypt to support the upper level, and the walls of the first traverse of the sanctuary were placed at an angle to connect with the wider transept.[40]
The basilica retains stained glass of many periods (although most of the panels from Suger's time have been removed for long-term conservation and replaced with photographic transparencies), including exceptional modern glass, and a set of 12 misericords.
Crypt and Royal Tombs
The archeological crypt (8th century) rebuilt by Suger (12th c.), now contains the simple black marble tombs of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
Tomb of Dagobert I, first King buried at St. Denis remade in the 13th century
The role of St. Denis as the necropolis of French Kings formally began in under Hugh Capet (987-996), but several even earlier Kings already had their tombs there. The site was chosen because of the association with St. Denis, the first Bishop of Paris and founder of Christianity in France, whose grave was believed to be there [41] {All but three of the monarchs of France from the 10th century until 1789 have their remains here. The remains of some monarchs, including Clovis I (465–511), were moved to St. Denis from other churches.
The crypt beneath the church is divided into two sections; the older, or archeological crypt, is located under the transept, and was originally built in about 775 AD, when the abbey was reconstructed by Abbot Fuldiad. It had a disambulatory, passage which allowed pilgrims to circulate around the relics of Saint Denis and his companions. on display in the center. It wa lit by alternating small windows in the walls and lamps placed in niches.
The crypt was rebuilt and extend eastward by Suger, The walls were decorated with blind arches, divided by columns whose capitals illustrate Biblical scenes and scenes from the life of St. Denis. Thirty-nine of the original Romanesque sixty-two capitals are still in place. Sugar constructed a new disambulatory connected with radiating chapels,[42]
During the reign of Henry IV, the central portion of this crypt was devoted the Bourbon dynasty. but the tombs themselves were simple lead coffins in wood cases. The effigies of many of the kings and queens are on their tombs, but their bodies were removed during the French Revolution. The ancient monarchs were removed in August 1793 to celebrate the revolutionary Festival of Reunion, then the Valois and Bourbon monarchs were removed to celebrate the execution of Marie Antoinette in October 1793. The bodies were dumped into three trenches and covered with lime to destroy them.[43] Archaeologist Alexandre Lenoir saved many of the monuments by claiming them as artworks for his Museum of French Monuments. The bodies of several Plantagenet monarchs of England were likewise removed from Fontevraud Abbey during the French Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte reopened the church in 1806, but left the royal remains in their mass graves. In 1817 the restored Bourbons ordered the mass graves to be opened, but only portions of three bodies remained intact. The remaining bones from 158 bodies were collected into an ossuary in the crypt of the church, behind marble plates bearing their names.[43]
In later years, tombs were placed along the aisles that surrounded around the choir and the nave. In the 13th century King Louis VII (Saint Louis) commissioned a number of important tombs of earlier kings and French historical figures, whose remains were collected from other churches. These included the tombs of Clovis I of Charles Martel, Constance of Castille, Pepin the Short, Robert the Pious, and Hugues Capet (which disappeared during the Revolution). The new tombs were all made in the same style and costume, with a reposing figure holding a staff, to illustrate the continuity of the French Monarchy.[42]
Tomb of Louis XII and Anne de Bretagne (1515)
Tomb of Catherine de Medici and Henry II of France (1559)
The tombs of the Renaissance expressed are theatrical and varied. The largest is that of Louis XII (died 1515) and his wife, Anne of Brittany (died 1514). It takes the form of a white marble temple filled and surrounded with figures. Inside it, the King and Queen are depicted realistically in their dying agonies, Allegorical figures seated around the temple depict the virtues of the King and Queen. On the roof of the tomb, the King and Queen are shown again, kneeling and calmly praying, celebrating their victory over death, thanks to their virtues.[44]
The monument to Henry II of France and [[Catherine de Medici) (1559) followed a similar format; a roman temple (in this case designed by the celebrated Renaissance architect Primatrice with sculpture on the roof depicting the King and Queen in prayer. The King places his hand on his heart illustrating his Catholic faith a period of religious conflicts.[44]
In the 19th century, following the restoration of the monarchy, King Louis XVIII had the remains of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette brought to St. Denis. The body of the Dauphin, who died of illness and neglect at the hands of his revolutionary captors, was buried in an unmarked grave in a Parisian churchyard near the Temple. During Napoleon's exile in Elba, the restored Bourbons ordered a search for the corpses of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The were found on 21 January 1815, brought to Saint-Denis and placed in the archeologi crypt. Their tombs are covered with black marble slabs installed in 1975.[45]
King Louis XVIII, upon his death in 1824, was buried in the centre of the crypt, near the graves of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The coffins of royal family members who died between 1815 and 1830 were also placed in the vaults. Under the direction of architect Viollet-le-Duc,church monuments that had been taken to the Museum of French Monuments were returned to the church. The corpse of King Louis VII, who had been buried at Barbeau Abbey and whose tomb had not been touched by the revolutionaries, was brought to Saint-Denis and buried in the crypt. In 2004, the mummified heart of the Dauphin, the boy who would have been Louis XVII, verified to be authentic by DNA testing, was placed in a crystal vase and sealed into the wall of the crypt.[46]
Art and Decoration
Stained Glass
Abbot Suger commissioned a large amount of stained glass for the new chevet, but only very small amount of the original glass from the time of Suger survived intact. In the 19th century it was collected by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, and was integrated into windows in the chevet. Original glass includes the figure of Suger prostrating rostrating himself at the feet of Christ, in the window called "The Childhood of Christ"; the Tree of Jesse, illustrating the genealogy of Christ, in the Axis chapel; the "Allegories of Saint Paul" and "The Life of Moses" in the fourth radiating chapel on the north; "The vision of Ezekiel under the sign of tau", originally from a group illustrating the Passion of Christ, in the fourth rayonnant chapel on the south, in the left bay and third register.[47] Another piece of original window from Suger's time, depicting mythical Griffonsa a symbol of Paradise, is found in the second radiating chapel on the north. Other scenes which Suger described, showing the pilgrimage of Charlemagne and the Crusades, have disappeared.[47]
Much of the current stained glass dates to the 19th century, as the church began to be restored from the damage of the Revolution. The architect François Debret designed the first Neo-Gothic windows of the nave in 1813. these include the upper windows of the nave, which represent the Kings and Queens of France. Later upper windows of the south transept depict the restoration of the church, and particularly the visit there of Louis Philippe I, the last King of France, in 1837. This large group of windows was designed by the painter Jean-Baptiste Debret, the brother of the architect.[48]
Sculpture
Memorial to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, sculptures (1830) by Edme Gaulle and Pierre Petitot
Influential features of the new façade include the tall, thin statues of Old Testament prophets and kings attached to columns (jamb figures) flanking the portals (destroyed in 1771 but recorded in Montfaucon's drawings). These were also adopted at the cathedrals of Paris and Chartres, constructed a few years later, and became a feature of almost every Gothic portal thereafter. Above the doorways, the central tympanum was carved with Christ in Majesty displaying his wounds with the dead emerging from their tombs below. Scenes from the martyrdom of St Denis were carved above the south (right hand) portal, while above the north portal was a mosaic (lost), even though this was, as Suger put it 'contrary to the modern custom'. Of the original sculpture, very little remains, most of what is now visible being the result of rather clumsy restoration work in 1839.[49] Some fragments of the original sculptures survive in the collection of the Musée de Cluny.
Furniture
Organ
The organ of the Basilica of Saint-Denis was the first organ built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll in 1841, when he was 23-years old. It contains numerous innovations opening the romantic area, in particular the very first Barker lever. With three manuals and pedals, it is protected by the Monument historique label. It was restored in 1901 by Charles Mutin, and between 1983 and 1987 by Jean-Loup Boisseau and Bertrand Cattiaux. Pierre Pincemaille, sole titular organist for 30 years (between 1987 and 2018), held many recitals (between 1989 and 1995, then between 2014 and 2017), and recorded eight CDs using this instrument.[citation needed]
In March 2019 an unknown intruder damaged the organ, causing extensive damage to the pump motor and doors leading to the internal area of the organ, as well as to a nearby stained glass window.[50]
Treasury
The cathedral contained a extensive treasury, mainly constituted by the Abbot Suger. It contained crowns (those of Charlemagne, Saint Louis, and Henry IV of France), a cross, and liturgic objects.[citation needed]
Burials
Kings
All but three of the Kings of France were buried in the basilica (with Louis XI, Charles X, & Louis Philippe I buried elsewhere), as well as a few other monarchs. The remains of the early monarchs were removed from the destroyed Abbey of St Genevieve. Some of the more prominent monarchs buried in the basilica are:
- Clovis I (466–511)
- Childebert I (496–558)
- Aregund (515/520–580)
- Fredegund (third wife of Chilperic I), (died 597)
- Dagobert I (603–639)
- Clovis II (634–657)
- Charles Martel (686–741)
- Pepin the Short (714–768) and his wife, Bertrada of Laon (born 710–727, died 783)
- Carloman I (751–771)
- Charles the Bald (823–877) (his brass monument was melted down during the Revolution) and his first wife, Ermentrude of Orléans (823–869)
- Carloman II (866–884)
- Robert II of France (972–1031) and his third wife, Constance of Arles (986–1032)
- Henry I of France (1008–1060)
- Louis VI of France (1081–1137)
- Louis VII of France (1120–1180) and his second wife, Constance of Castile (1140–1160)
- Philip II of France (1165–1223)
- St. Louis IX of France (1214–1270)
- Charles I of Naples (1227–1285), an effigy covers his heart burial
- Philip III of France (1245–1285) and his first wife, Isabella of Aragon, Queen of France (1248–1271)
- Philip IV of France (1268–1314)
- Leo V, King of Armenia (1342–1393)
- Charles VII, King of France (1403–1461)
- Charles VIII, King of France (1470–1498)
- Louis XII of France (1462–1515)
- Francis I of France (1494–1547)
- Henry II (1519–1559) and Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589)
- Francis II (1544–1560)
- Charles IX (1550–1574) (no monument)
- Henry III (1551–1589), also King of Poland (heart burial monument)
- Henry IV (1553–1610)
- Louis XIII (1601–1643)
- Louis XIV (1638–1715)
- Louis XV (1710–1774)
- Louis XVI (1754–1793) and Marie Antoinette (1755–1793)
- Louis XVII (1785–1795) (only his heart; his body was dumped into a mass grave)
- Louis XVIII (1755–1824)
Other royalty and nobility
- Blanche of France (daughter of Philip IV)
- Nicolas Henri, Duke of Orléans (1607–1611), son of Henry IV
- Gaston, Duke of Orléans (1608–1660), son of Henry IV
- Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier (1605–1627), wife of Gaston
- Marguerite of Lorraine (1615–1672), Duchess of Orléans and second wife of Gaston
- Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans (1627–1693), la Grande Mademoiselle
- Marguerite Louise d'Orléans (1645–1721), Grand Duchess of Tuscany
- Jean Gaston d'Orléans (1650–1652), Duke of Valois
- Marie Anne d'Orléans (1652–1656), Mademoiselle de Chartres
- Henrietta Maria of France (1609–1669), wife of Charles I of Scotland and England
- Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (1640–1701), brother of Louis XIV
- Princess Henrietta of England (1644–1670), first wife of Philippe
- Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate (1652–1722), second wife of Philippe
- Maria Theresa of Spain (1638–1683), consort of Louis XIV
- Louis of France (1661–1711), le Grand Dauphin
- Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria (1660–1690), Dauphin of France, wife of Louis
- Princess Anne Élisabeth of France (1662), daughter of Louis XIV
- Princess Marie Anne of France (1664), daughter of Louis XIV
- Marie Thérèse of France (1667–1672), daughter of Louis XIV
- Philippe Charles, Duke of Anjou (1668–1671), Duke of Anjou, son of Louis XIV
- Louis François of France (1672), Duke of Anjou, son of Louis XIV
- Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1674–1723), Regent of France
- Louis of France (1682–1712), Duke of Burgundy
- Marie Adélaïde of Savoy (1685–1712), Duchess of Burgundy
- Louis of France (1704–1705), Duke of Brittany
- Louis of France (1707–1712), Duke of Brittany
- Charles of France (1686–1714), Duke of Berry
- Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans (1695–1719), Duchess of Berry
- Na (not baptized) d'Alençon (1711)
- Charles d'Alençon(1713) Duke of Alençon
- Marie Louise Élisabeth d'Alençon (1714)
- Marie Leszczyńska (1703–1768), consort of Louis XV
- Louise Élisabeth of France (1727–1759), Duchess of Parma
- Henriette of France (1727–1752), daughter of Louis XV and twin of the above
- Louise of France (1728–1733), daughter of Louis XV
- Louis of France (1729–1765), Dauphin of France
- Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (1726–1746), first wife of above
- Maria Josepha of Saxony (1731–1767), second wife of Louis
- Philippe of France (1730–1733), Duke of Anjou
- Princess Marie Adélaïde of France (1732–1800), daughter of Louis XV
- Princess Victoire of France (1733–1799), daughter of Louis XV
- Princess Sophie of France (1734–1782), daughter of Louis XV
- Princess Louise of France (1737–1787), daughter of Louis XV,
- Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France (1781–1789), first son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
- Princess Sophie Hélène Béatrice of France (1786–1787), second daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
- Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne (1611–1675), Maréchal General de France.
Gallery
The pipe organ
Tomb of Dagobert I
Depiction of the Trinity over the main entrance
Abbots
See also
- Early Gothic architecture
- Gothic cathedrals and churches
- Cathedral diagram
- Martyrium of Saint Denis, Montmartre
- List of Gothic Cathedrals in Europe
- French Gothic stained glass windows
References and sources
External video | |
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Smarthistory – Birth of the Gothic: Abbot Suger and the Ambulatory at St. Denis[52] |
References
- ^ Site of the Basilique-cathédrale de Saint-Denis, retrieved 23 November 23,2020
- ^ Enclopaedia Britannica on-line, "Gothic Architecture", retrieved 23 November 2020
- ^ Watkin 1984, p. 126-128.
- ^ Lours 2018, p. 346.
- ^ A grave from the exterior necropolis
- ^ a b Catholic Encyclopedia: Abbey of Saint-Denis
- ^ Banister Fletcher, A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method.
- ^ Lours 2019, p. 346.
- ^ Basilicas of France.
- ^ a b "Saint Denis Cathedral spire". Paris Digest. 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
- ^ Doublet, Dom (1625). Histoire de l'abbaye de Saint-Denys en France. pp. 164–165.
- ^ Vita S. Eligius, edited by Levison, on-line at Medieval Sourcebook
- ^ DeSmet, W.M.A. (1981). Mammals in the Seas: General papers and large cetaceans. Whaling During the Middle Ages. ISBN 9789251005132.
- ^ Sumner McKnight Crosby, The Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis from Its Beginnings to the Death of Suger, 475–1151, Yale University Press, 1987
- ^ Lindy Grant, Abbot Suger of St.Denis: Church and State in Early Twelfth-century France, Longman, 1998
- ^ Fordham College Medieval Sourcebook, "Abbot Suger: ON WHAT WAS DONE IN HIS ADMINISTRATION", Chapter XXV: Concerning the First Addition to the Church
- ^ a b c Watkin 1986, p. 127.
- ^ Bruce Watson, Light: A Radiant History from Creation to the Quantum Age. Bloomsbury, 2016, p 52.
- ^ Lindy Grant, Abbot Suger of St. Denis: Church and State in Early Twelfth-Century France, Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1998
- ^ Stephen Gardner, "Two Campaigns in Suger's Western Block at Saint-Denis", Art Bulletin, Vol.44, part 4, 1984, pp. 574–87
- ^ Fordham College Medieval Sourcebook, "Abbot Suger: ON WHAT WAS DONE IN HIS ADMINISTRATION", Chapter XXVII: Concerning the Cast and Gilded Doors
- ^ Watkin 1986, p. 126-127.
- ^ H. Honour and J. Fleming, The Visual Arts: A History. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. ISBN 0-13-193507-0
- ^ "L'art Gothique", section: "L'architecture Gothique en Angleterre" by Ute Engel: L'Angleterre fut l'une des premieres régions à adopter, dans la deuxième moitié du XIIeme siècle, la nouvelle architecture gothique née en France. Les relations historiques entre les deux pays jouèrent un rôle prépondérant: en 1154, Henri II (1154–1189), de la dynastie Française des Plantagenêt, accéda au thrône d'Angleterre." (England was one of the first regions to adopt, during the first half of the 12th century, the new Gothic architecture born in France. Historic relationships between the two countries played a determining role: in 1154, Henry II (1154–1189), of the French Plantagenet dynasty, ascended to the throne of England).
- ^ John Harvey, The Gothic World
- ^ Georgia Sommers Wright, "A Royal Tomb Program in the Reign of St Louis", in The Art Bulletin, Vol.56, No.2 (Jun 1974) pp.224–43
- ^ Christopher Wilson, The Gothic Cathedral: The Architecture of the Great Church 1130–1530, Thames & Hudson, 1992
- ^ Caroline Bruzelius, The Thirteenth-century Church at St-Denis, New Haven, 1985
- ^ Images of Medieval Art and Architecture – Félibien. Retrieved on 2009-03-29 from http://vrcoll.fa.pitt.edu/medart/image/France/St-denis/plans/sdenmap.html.
- ^ a b c Plagnieux 1998, p. 32.
- ^ "L'affaire de la tour nord : La querelle des anciens et des modernes". Basilique Cathédrale de Saint-Denis (in French). Seine-Saint-Denis Tourisme. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
- ^ Bourdon, Gwenaël (30 January 2017). "Basilique Saint-Denis : le chantier de la flèche freiné dans son élan". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 26 September 2018.
- ^ "Accord définitif de l'Etat : la flèche de la Basilique sera remontée". Basilique Cathédrale de Saint-Denis (in French). Seine-Saint-Denis Tourisme. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
- ^ a b c Plagnieux 1998, p. 16.
- ^ a b Watkin 2016, p. 127.
- ^ William Chester Jordan, A Tale of Two Monasteries: Westminster and Saint-Denis in the thirteenth century (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009) Chapters 2–7.
- ^ Plagnieux 1998, p. 15.
- ^ a b c Plagnieux 1998, p. 8.
- ^ Plagnieux 1998, pp. 11-15.
- ^ Plagnieux 1998, p. 12.
- ^ Plagnieux 1998, p. 24.
- ^ a b Plagnieux 1998, p. 46.
- ^ a b Lindsay, Suzanne Glover. "The Revolutionary Exhumations at St-Denis, 1793". Center for the Study of Material & Visual Cultures of Religion. Yale University.
- ^ a b Plagnieux 1998, p. 42-43.
- ^ Plagnieux 1998, p. 47.
- ^ Broughton, Philip Delves (2004-06-07). "Tragic French boy king's heart finds a final resting place after 209 years". Daily Telegraph. London, UK. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
- ^ a b Plagnieux 1998, pp. 9.
- ^ Plagnieux 1998, pp. 19-21.
- ^ . Pamela Blum, Early Gothic Saint-Denis: Restorations and Survivals, Berkeley, 1992
- ^ N.R.; CS (5 March 2019). "Saint-Denis : l'orgue de la basilique dégradé après une intrusion". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ Knecht, 227. Henry's gesture is now unclear, since a missal, resting on a prie-dieu (prayer desk), was removed from the sculpture during the French revolution and melted down.
- ^ "Birth of the Gothic: Abbot Suger and the Ambulatory at St. Denis". Smarthistory at Khan Academy. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
Sources
- Félibien, Michel. 1973. Histoire de l'abbaye royale de Saint-Denys en France: Lettre-préf. de M. le Duc de Bauffremont. Introd. de Hervé Pinoteau. 1. [Nachdr. d. Ausg. Paris, 1706]. – 1973. – 524 S. Paris: Éd. du Palais Royal.
- Saint-Denis Cathedral, Alain Erlande-Brandenburg, Editions Ouest-France, Rennes
Bibliography
- Gerson, Paula Lieber. (1986). Abbot Suger and Saint-Denis: a symposium, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9780870994081
- Conrad Rudolph, Artistic Change at St-Denis: Abbot Suger's Program and the Early Twelfth-Century Controversy over Art (1990)
- Conrad Rudolph, "Inventing the Gothic Portal: Suger, Hugh of Saint Victor, and the Construction of a New Public Art at Saint-Denis," Art History 33 (2010) 568–595
- Lours, Mathieu (2018). Dictionnaire des Cathédrales. Éditions Jean-Paul Gesserot. ISBN 9-7827-5580-7-653.
- Plagnieux, Philippe (1998). La basilique cathédrale de Saint-Denis. Éditions du Patrimoine, Centre des Monuments Nationaux. ISBN 9-78-2-7577-0224-6.
- Conrad Rudolph, "Inventing the Exegetical Stained-Glass Window: Suger, Hugh, and a New Elite Art," Art Bulletin 93 (2011) 399–422
- Watkin, David (1986). A History of Western Architecture. Barrie and Jenkins. ISBN 0-7126-1279-3.
- Watson, Bruce, Light: A Radiant History from Creation to the Quantum Age, (London and NY: Bloomsbury, 2016).
External links
- Detailed list of members of the French Royal families buried in Saint-Denis Basilica
- Map of the tombs in Saint-Denis Basilica
- The Treasures of Saint-Denis – scholarly article from 1915 on the important and mostly destroyed treasures
- L'Internaute Magazine: Diaporama (in French)
- Satellite image from Google Maps
- Saint-Denis, a town in the Middle Ages
- Photos of tombs and the Basilica (in French)
- history and pictures of the Basilica (in French)
- The Sumner McKnight Crosby Papers from The Cloisters Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.