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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
The building was conceived by Louis IX in 1244 and was built in the relatively short period of 4 years. Louis imagined the structure as a kind of gigantic reliquary for the most precious religious relics in all Christendom - the "true cross" of Christ, the "Crown of Thorns" and other relics connected to the actual passion of Christ. (The "passion" refers to the period of Christ's trial, persecution and crucifixion). It was built within the courtyard of the royal palace of the cité. For this reason, it was not intended to be a public building, nor did Louis intend to allow pilgrims to visit it on a daily basis, as they did at St. Denis and Notre Dame.
The architecture of the chapel itself is based on previous palace chapels, most importantly the one that Charlemagne built at Aix-la-Chapelle around the year 800. As with that famous chapel, the Saint Chapelle was designed with a two-storey elevation. The lower level is called the crypt, and is where the relics were housed. After entering the crypt, the visitor has to turn to the left or right and proceed up a narrow spiral staircase to the upper level, which is several times the height of the crypt. This is where all the stained glass is located.
The windows follow a pattern that goes around the chapel from the northwest corner eastward around the apse and then westward to the southeast corner. The north windows depict scenes from the Old Testament, particularly those associated with kings. Around the apse, the windows show moments from the passion of Christ, as well as the tree of Jesse (the geneaology of Christ from King David's father Jesse down to Mary's father Joachim). The south windows show New Testament scenes, culminating in most westerly of the south windows, which depicts the history of the passion relics.
Text Taken From: The Jewel-box of the Cité - La Sainte-Chapelle |
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