Sainte-Chapelle facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Sainte-Chapelle
Sainte-Chapelle, upper level interior
Religion
Affiliation	Catholic Church
Province	Archdiocese of Paris
Region	Île-de-France
Rite	Roman Rite
Status	Secularized since French Revolution
Location
Location	10, boulevard du Palais, 1st arrondissement
Municipality	Paris
Country	France
Architecture
Architectural type	Royal chapel
Architectural style	Rayonnant Gothic
Groundbreaking	1242 (1242)
Completed	1248 (1248)
Monument historique
Official name: Sainte-Chapelle
1862
PA00086001
Denomination	Église

The Sainte-Chapelle (meaning Holy Chapel in English) is a beautiful royal chapel built in the Gothic style. It is located in the heart of Paris, France, on an island in the River Seine called the Île de la Cité. This chapel was once part of the medieval palace where the Kings of France lived until the 1300s.

Construction of Sainte-Chapelle started around 1238 and it was officially opened on April 26, 1248. It is seen as one of the best examples of the Rayonnant period of Gothic architecture, known for its tall, light-filled spaces. King Louis IX of France ordered the chapel to be built to keep his collection of important Christian relics. These included what was believed to be Christ's Crown of Thorns, a very special item in medieval times. This crown was later kept at Notre-Dame Cathedral until the fire in 2019, which it survived.

Sainte-Chapelle, along with the Conciergerie, is one of the oldest buildings left from the royal palace on the Île de la Cité. Even though it was damaged during the French Revolution and fixed up in the 1800s, it still has one of the largest collections of 13th-century stained glass windows in the world. Today, the chapel is a museum run by the French Centre of National Monuments.

History of the Holy Chapel

Building the Chapel

Sainte-Chapelle was inspired by older royal chapels, especially the Palatine Chapel built by Charlemagne around 800 AD. King Louis IX had already built a royal chapel at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1238. This first chapel had only one level. Its design, but much bigger, was used for Sainte-Chapelle.

The new chapel had two levels, both the same size, but used for very different things. The upper level, where the holy relics were kept, was only for the royal family and their special guests. The lower level was for the palace's courtiers, servants, and soldiers. It was a very large building: 36 meters (118 feet) long, 17 meters (56 feet) wide, and 42.5 meters (139 feet) high. This made it as big as the new Gothic cathedrals being built in France.

Besides being a place of worship, Sainte-Chapelle was important for King Louis's plans. Having the Crown of Thorns and a piece of the True Cross gave Louis IX great respect. The Pope even said it meant Christ had symbolically crowned Louis with his own crown.

The Royal Chapel's Relics

Charter of foundation of the Sainte-Chapelle by Louis IX (1246)
Louis IX receives the crown of thorns and other sacred relics for the Sainte-Chapelle (14th century illustration)
Illustration in Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (c. 1500)

Sainte-Chapelle was built to hold King Louis IX's collection of Christ's relics. These included the crown of thorns, the Image of Edessa, and about thirty other items. Louis bought these relics from Baldwin II, the Latin emperor in Constantinople, for a huge sum of 135,000 livres. This money went to the Venetians, who had been holding the relics as a loan.

The relics arrived in Paris in August 1239. King Louis held a week-long celebration for them. For the last part of their journey, Louis IX himself carried them, walking barefoot and dressed simply. This scene is shown in one of the chapel's stained glass windows. The relics were kept in a large, fancy silver chest called the Grand-Chasse, which cost Louis another 100,000 livres.

In comparison, the entire chapel itself cost only 40,000 livres to build and add the glass. Before it was finished in 1248, the relics were kept in chapels at the Château de Vincennes and the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In 1246, pieces of the True Cross and the Holy Lance were added to Louis's collection. The chapel was officially opened on April 26, 1248, and Louis's relics were moved there with a grand ceremony.

Changes Over Time (1500s–1700s)

Sainte-Chapelle and the Palais de la Cité in 1615
View after the fire of 1630, which destroyed the spire of 1460
Louis XV departs a ceremony at the Palace, with Sainte-Chapelle behind (1715)

The chapel was changed quite a bit over the centuries. A new two-story building, the Treasury of Chartres, was added to the north side shortly after the chapel was finished. It stayed until 1783, when it was taken down to build the new Palace of Justice. Fires in the palace in 1630 and 1776 also caused a lot of damage, especially to the furniture. A flood in the winter of 1689–1690 badly damaged the painted walls of the lower chapel. The original stained glass on the ground floor was removed and the floor was raised. New Gothic-style windows replaced the old ones in the 1800s.

Restoration Work (1800s–Today)

Sainte-Chapelle in 1839, before restoration
The sculptor Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume with his archangel of the Passion and the head of another sculpture (1847)
A watercolour painting by Félix Duban used to guide the restorers (1847)
The chapel undergoing restoration (1841–67)
The lower chapel in 1900–1905
Upper chapel, 1890–1900

Between 1803 and 1837, the upper chapel was used as a storage place for the files of the Palace of Justice next door. The bottom 2 meters (6.6 feet) of stained glass were removed to let in more light for working. Some of this glass was used to fix other broken windows, and some pieces were sold.

Starting in 1835, experts and writers asked for the church to be saved and brought back to its medieval look. In 1840, King Louis-Philippe started a long restoration project. It was led by Félix Duban, then by Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Émile Boeswillwald, with Eugène Viollet-le-Duc as an assistant. The work lasted for 28 years and helped train many future experts. They tried to be very true to the original drawings and descriptions of the chapel.

Restoring the stained glass was another big project, from 1846 to 1855. The goal was to make the chapel look as it did originally. About one-third of the glass, which had been added later, was removed. It was replaced with medieval glass from other places or new glass made in the original Gothic style. Today, 18 of the original panels are in the Musée de Cluny in Paris.

The stained glass was removed and stored safely during World War II. In 1945, a special layer was put on the outside to protect the glass from dust and scratches from wartime bombing. This layer gradually got darker, making the images harder to see. In 2008, a bigger, seven-year restoration began. It cost about €10 million to clean and save all the stained glass, clean the stone on the outside, and fix some sculptures. Half the money came from private donations. The restoration finished in 2015, just in time for the 800th birthday of St. Louis.

Timeline of Sainte-Chapelle

1239 - Louis IX buys the famous Crown of Thorns.
1241 - The crown and other relics arrive in Paris.
1242-44 - Construction of the chapel begins.
1248 - Sainte-Chapelle is finished and officially opened.
1264-1267 - The special platform for relics is installed.
1379 - Charles V of France gives the Sainte-Chapelle Gospels to the treasury.
1383 - The first spire is rebuilt.
Late 1400s - A large outdoor staircase is built by Louis XII.
Around 1460 - The 14th-century spire is replaced.
1485-1498 - The west rose window is put in place.
1630 - Fire damages the spire and outer staircase.
1690 - A flood damages the lower chapel; original lower chapel stained glass is removed.
1793 - Revolutionaries break portals and royal symbols. The chapel is used for civil purposes, and the spire is destroyed.
1803-1837 - The chapel becomes a storage room for files.
1805 - Relics of the Passion are moved to Notre-Dame de Paris.
1840-48 - Major restoration of the chapel and its decorations begins.
1846-55 - Restoration and additions to the stained glass windows.
1853-55 - The current spire is built.
1862 - The chapel is officially recognized as a historical monument.

What Sainte-Chapelle Looks Like

The royal chapel is a great example of the "Rayonnant" Gothic style. This style is known for making buildings feel light and very tall. The chapel sits on top of a lower chapel, which was used as a church for everyone living in the palace.

Outside the Chapel

The church from the east
The south side. The upper walls are strengthened by buttresses and iron bars, allowing larger windows
Louis IX holding a fragment of the true cross
South facade

When visitors entered the Royal Palace courtyard, they would have seen a grand staircase to their right. To their left, they would see the north side and eastern end of Sainte-Chapelle. The outside of the chapel shows many features of Rayonnant architecture. These include deep buttresses with pointed tops, crocketted gables around the roof, and huge windows with stone patterns called bar tracery. The chapel's two levels are clearly visible from the outside. The lower walls have smaller windows shaped like a spherical triangle. Even with its decorations, the outside is quite simple. It doesn't have flying buttresses or many large sculptures, giving little hint of the rich beauty inside.

No specific builder is named in old records. In the 1800s, people thought it was built by Pierre de Montreuil. However, modern experts now think it was built by Jean de Chelles or Thomas de Cormont.

West Front Details

The west front with rose window
Detail of the flamboyant rose window
Portal of the lower chapel
Portal of the upper chapel
Gable of the west front

The west front has a two-story porch. Above it is a beautiful flamboyant Gothic rose window, added to the upper chapel in the 1400s. At the very top, there's a pointed arch, a round window, and a railing decorated with fleur-de-lys symbols from Charles V of France. On each side of the porch are towers with narrow spiral staircases leading to the upper chapel. These towers also hide the buttresses that support the building. The spires on top of the towers are also decorated with royal fleur-de-lys under a sculpted crown of thorns. These decorations are from the 1400s and were fixed around 1850.

The entrance to the upper chapel is on the balcony of the upper level. The original sculptures on the west entrance were destroyed during the French Revolution. They were restored between 1854 and 1873.

The Spire

The spire in the 16th century
19th-century spire
Detail of the spire

The current spire is 33 meters (108 feet) tall. It is the fifth spire built on Sainte-Chapelle since the 1200s. We don't know what the first one looked like. The second one, built in 1383 under Charles V, is shown in an old illustration. It was replaced around 1460, but this spire burned down in 1630. Another spire replaced it, but it was destroyed after the French Revolution in 1793. The spire you see today was built from cedar wood by architect Lassus starting in 1852. The sculptures on the spire were designed in 1853.

Inside the Chapel

Plan of the lower chapel (front) and upper chapel (right)

Sainte-Chapelle was built to hold holy relics, so it was designed like a precious container itself, but with the richest decorations on the inside. The interior is mostly filled with stained glass, but every part of the walls and ceiling was also brightly colored and decorated. Old paint pieces show that the original colors were much brighter than the ones used by restorers in the 1800s. They would have been similar to the colors in the stained glass. The small, four-leaf shapes (quatrefoils) on the lower walls were painted with scenes of saints and martyrs. They also had painted and gilded glass, looking like fancy enamels. Rich fabric hangings added to the chapel's beauty.

The most amazing thing about the upper chapel is that it hardly has any stone walls. The walls are replaced by thin pillars and supports, and the space between them is almost entirely glass. This fills the upper chapel with light.

Lower Chapel

Lower chapel, with statue of Louis IX
Ceiling of the lower chapel. Small gilded flying buttresses reinforce the arches
The lower chapel, with the Fleur-de-Lys of Louis IX (symbol from his French Capet royal family heritage) and the castle, (symbol of the Spanish royal family of his mother, Blanche of Castile), decorating the columns

The lower chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was used by the people who lived and worked in the Royal Palace, but were not part of the royal family. The entrance to the chapel has a statue of the Virgin Mary. Most of the chapel's decorations were created between 1854 and 1858. The main decorations are the Fleur-de-Lys symbol of Louis IX and a stylized castle, which is the symbol of Blanche of Castile, Louis IX's mother.

The lower chapel is only 6.6 meters (21.7 feet) high. It has a central area 6 meters (19.7 feet) wide and two narrow side aisles. The supports for the ceiling vaults are special. Small, elegant arched buttresses between the outer and inner columns help support the ceiling. There's also a hidden metal structure under the paint and plaster for extra strength.

The 140 column tops (capitals) are a key decoration. They are from the mid-1200s and are older than the columns in the upper chapel. They have floral designs of acanthus leaves, common for that time. Each gilded leaf matches a thin column above it, which goes up to support the ceiling. The columns are painted with alternating floral designs and the castle symbol of Castile. The red, gold, and blue paint is from the 1800s restoration.

The original stained glass in the lower chapel was destroyed by a flood in 1690. It was replaced with clear glass. The current glass shows scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, surrounded by gray (grisaille) glass. The end of the chapel (apse) has more colorful scenes from the Virgin's life. All these windows were designed in the 1800s.

Upper Chapel

The apse of the upper chapel
The Chasse, which held the sacred relics
The upper chapel to the west, with the later flamboyant rose window
South wall, looking east to the apse

You reach the upper chapel by narrow staircases in the towers from the lower level. The upper chapel is a simple rectangle, 33 meters (108 feet) long and 10.7 meters (35 feet) wide. It has four sections and a curved end (apse) at the east with seven large windows. The most amazing thing is that the walls seem to be almost entirely made of stained glass. There are 670 square meters (7,212 square feet) of glass, not counting the rose window at the west end. This was a clever trick by the builder. Each vertical support for the windows is made of seven thin columns, which hide how thick they really are. Also, the walls and windows are held up on the outside by two bands of iron chain, hidden behind the bars holding the glass. More metal supports are hidden under the roof to brace the windows against wind. The windows in the main part of the chapel (nave) are also slightly taller than those in the apse (15.5 meters compared to 13.7 meters), making the chapel look longer than it is.

There are two small alcoves (small rooms) built into the walls. Their arches are richly decorated with paintings and sculptures of angels. These were the places where the King and Queen prayed during church services. The King was on the north side, and the Queen was on the south.

Vaults of the Upper Chapel

Vaults of the apse (Note the fleur-de-lis symbol, inherited from the Capet line of Louis IX's father, Louis VIII Capet, of France)
Vaults of the upper chapel

Stained Glass Windows

Scenes from Passion of Christ (apse) (click 2X for full-size)
Scenes from life of Ezekiel (south wall)
Scenes from Ezekiel and Job (south wall, bay 4)
Saint Louis transports relics of the true cross (south wall, bay 14)
Genesis - God creates plants and trees (south wall, bay 9 - restored)

The most famous parts of the chapel are its fifteen large stained-glass windows in the main part and the apse of the upper chapel. These windows are from the mid-1200s, while the rose window was added later in the 1400s. The stone walls are so thin that they are almost just a delicate frame. The thousands of small glass pieces turn the walls into huge screens of colored light, mostly deep blues and reds. The light changes in brightness throughout the day.

Most of the windows were put in place between 1242 and 1248. We don't know the names of the artists, but experts have found that at least three different workshops with different styles worked on them. The windows in the apse and most of the north wall were made by one workshop. Another workshop made the Ezekiel and Daniel windows. A third artist or workshop made the Judith, Esther, and Job windows.

The windows tell a clear story. The three windows at the eastern end show scenes from the New Testament, like the Passion of Christ (center) and the life of John the Evangelist (right). The windows in the main part of the chapel show stories from the Old Testament about ideal kings and queens. This was a clear nod to the royal family who built the chapel. The story starts on the north wall with scenes from the Book of Genesis. The next ten windows go clockwise, showing stories from Exodus, Joseph, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Jeremiah, Judith, Esther, David, and the Book of Kings. The last window on the south wall shows the story of Christ's relics being found, the miracles they performed, and how King Louis himself brought them to Paris.

The scenes in the windows are framed by circles, ovals, or other shapes. All of them have a background made of the symbols of Louis IX (a golden fleur-de-lys) and his mother, Blanche of Castile (a castle). This makes all the windows look connected and also appears in the painted decorations.

The West Rose Window

Centerpiece- vision of the seven candlesticks
Adoration of the beast
The chapel's flamboyant west rose window
First horseman of the Apocalypse
Detail of rose window; souls under the altar

The large round window (rose window) at the west end of the upper chapel was made in the late 1400s, later than the other windows. It's a beautiful example of the flamboyant Gothic style, named for its flame-like, curling designs. It is 9 meters (29.5 feet) across and has 89 separate panels showing scenes from the Apocalypse. The artists in the 1400s used a new method called silver stain. This allowed them to paint on the glass with enamel paints and use fire to fuse the paint onto the glass. This let them change colors and create shading and other small details. It was thoroughly cleaned in 2014–15, making it much brighter and clearer.

Stained Glass in Other Museums

Some of the old stained glass that was taken from Sainte-Chapelle is now in other museums. These include the National Museum of the Middle Ages, or Musee de Cluny, in Paris, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Detail of a stained-glass window depicting a baptism (late 12th century) (Musée de Cluny)
King Saul and David (late 12th century) (Musée de Cluny)
Daniel and Dream of Nebuchadnezzar (late 12th century) (Musée de Cluny)
Scene from Book of Ezekiel (mid 12th century) (Victoria and Albert Museum)

Art and Decoration

Sculpture

Detail of the portal of the upper chapel; Christ and the Last Judgement by Geoffroy-Dechaume
The creation of Eve from Adam's rib (portal of upper chapel)
Relief sculpture of Noah's ark and the flood (portal of upper chapel)

Most of the sculptures on the entrances were destroyed during the French Revolution. However, between 1855 and 1870, the sculptor Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume was able to remake them. He used descriptions and old pictures from the 1700s. One important work he recreated was the carving above the entrance to the upper chapel. It shows Christ giving a blessing, with the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist beside him. Two angels behind him hold the crown of thorns and the cross, the chapel's most famous relics. Below, the sculpture shows Saint Michael weighing the souls of the dead, with those going to heaven on the left and those going to hell on the right. Carved Bible scenes from the Old Testament fill the panels on the lower walls, including the Creation story and Noah's ark. These were made in 1869–70.

Carved angel on the alcove of the King, north wall
Carved angels holding crown of thorns in the apse (13th century)
Sculpture above the alcove of the King, upper chapel (13th c.)
Sculpture above the alcove of the Queen, upper chapel (13th c.)

While most of the outside sculptures are from the 1800s, the apse (curved end) of the upper chapel has several original statues from the 1200s. Unlike the outside statues, these were originally painted in many colors. Traces of color were found during the 1800s restoration, and the statues were repainted to show those colors. The arches of the special platform in the apse, where the sacred relics were kept, are decorated with original colorful angels from the 1200s.

One of the Apostles
Statue of Louis IX (Note the fleur-de-lis and castle symbols on the columns, symbolic of his royal ancestry through his parents, Louis VIII Capet of France, and Blanche of Castile.)
Sculpture on north wall of upper chapel
One of the Apostles, north wall
St. John, undecorated (now in the Museum of the Middle Ages Hotel de Cluny)
An Apostle, north wall

The upper chapel walls also had 16 statues of the Apostles, from around 1240. Some show the apostles in simple clothes, while others are colorful and have more detailed religious outfits. Some of these statues are now in the National Museum of the Middle Ages (Musée de Cluny).

Painting

Lower chapel, column capital on reverse of west front. Castles and fleur-de-lis symbols seen here on the columns, are found throughout the chapel, relating to the two royal families from which Louis IX descended (the Capet fleur-de-lis through his father, Louis VIII of France, and the Castile castle through his mother, Blanche of Castile).
Interior of the west facade; Christ with Angels, Sts. Isaiah and Jeremiah in the quadrilobes (painting by Steinheil, 1856)
Wall decoration, with fleur-de-lis in the background, and the castle symbol of the Kingdom of Castile in the foreground. Throughout the chapel, symbols of fleur-de-lis and castles are found repeatedly, in a nod to Louis IX's royal heritage (the fleur-de-lis of the French Capet family through his father, Louis VIII, and the castle of the royal Spanish Castile family, the royal heritage of his mother, Blanche of Castile).
Quadrilobe painting of martyrdom of an Apostle, upper chapel (19th c. restitution of 13th c. decor)

The main goal of the architects who restored the chapel in the 1800s was to make the inside look as much as possible like it did in the 1200s. They found traces of the original paint on the columns. In 1842, they made a full plan for the interior decoration. For the lower parts of the walls where no original color was found, they used a neutral color so it wouldn't clash with the stained glass. For other decorations, they used colors from a 13th-century book of Psalms from the Royal Library. They repainted the 44 13th-century four-leaf shaped medallions on the stone arches. These showed saints being martyred against a gold background. In 1845, all the medallions in the main part of the chapel were repainted, except for those in the two royal alcoves.

The Relics and Their Container

Louis IX places the crown of thorns at Sainte-Chapelle (illuminated manuscript from 1480s)
The Grande Châsse, or reliquary, in 1790
Crown of Thorns in gilded crystal case (Notre-Dame de Paris, now in Louvre)
Reliquary bust of Louis IX (Notre-Dame de Paris)

The main relics the chapel was built for were the Crown of Thorns, believed to have been worn by Christ during his suffering, and a small piece of the cross he was crucified on. These were found in Constantinople, which had been captured by the Crusaders in 1204. The ruler there, Baudouin II, agreed to sell the crown for 135,000 livres. This money mostly went to Venetian bankers, who had loaned money to him using the crown as security. By buying the crown, Louis gained respect and showed his strong religious devotion. The crown arrived in August 1239 and was placed in an earlier royal chapel. Two years later, he bought more relics, including a piece of the True Cross, which arrived in Paris in September 1241. After that, every Holy Friday (the day of the Crucifixion), Louis held a special ceremony at Sainte-Chapelle where the relic was brought out for people to see.

The King had a large Chasse (a special container) made to hold and display the holy objects. This was a case, open at the front, 2.7 meters (8.9 feet) long, made of silver and gilded copper. Each individual relic had its own case of precious metal with jewels. This was first placed above the altar. But between 1264 and 1267, it was moved to a high platform in the apse of the church, so everyone could see it. In 1306, a new holy relic was added: a piece of Louis's own skull, as he had been declared a saint.

During the French Revolution, the Chasse and the containers holding the relics were taken apart and melted down for their jewels and precious metals. The piece of the cross was moved to a collection of old items in 1793, then given to the Bishop of Paris. A new container of gold and crystal was made for the crown of thorns. Since 1801, it was displayed in the treasury of Notre Dame de Paris. It was saved from the Notre-Dame de Paris fire on April 15, 2019, and is now kept in the Louvre Museum.

Organ

The late 16th-century organ by Jacques Cellier

An organ has been in the chapel since the beginning. It was replaced in 1493, 1550, and 1762. In July 1791, the organ was moved from Sainte-Chapelle to Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois because of the French Revolution. The organ was built by François-Henri Clicquot, in a case designed in 1752.

Other "Holy Chapels"

Before Sainte-Chapelle was closed in 1803 after the French Revolution, the term "Sainte-Chapelle royale" referred not only to the building but also to the choir of Sainte-Chapelle. However, the term was also used for several other buildings.

King Louis IX's chapel inspired many "copies." These were royal or ducal chapels with a similar design, built to hold relics, especially pieces of Louis's Passion Relics that he had given away. Such chapels were usually attached to a duke's palace (like in Bourges or Riom) or to an Abbey with special ties to the royal family. Like the original, these Holy Chapels were almost always in addition to the regular palace or abbey chapel. They had their own dedicated clergy. For the people who built them, these chapels were not just a way to show their religious devotion. They were also useful for diplomacy, encouraging important visitors to come and see their relics and showing their connection to the French crown.

Notable Saintes-Chapelles in France include:

Bourbon-l'Archambault: Built around 1310 by Louis IX's grandson, Duke Louis I de Bourbon, to hold a piece of the True Cross.
Chambéry: Built around 1400.
Châteaudun: Built in 1451.
Bourges: Built in 1392 by Duke Jean de Berry. It was decorated with sculptures and stained glass by André Beauneveu, but it is now destroyed.
Riom: Built in 1382 by Jean de Berry.
Saint-Germer-de-Fly Abbey: A very similar building, also called the Sainte-Chapelle, was added to the abbey church twelve years after the Paris chapel.
Vincennes: Built in 1379 at one of the favorite royal palaces by Charles V.
Vivier-en-Brie: Built in 1358 by the future Charles V when he was still the Dauphin.

As Saint Louis became more famous among Europe's nobles, his famous chapel also influenced buildings outside France. Important copies include those at Karlštejn Castle near Prague (around 1360), the Hofburgkapelle in Vienna (opened in 1449), Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew, Wrocław (around 1350), and Exeter College, Oxford (1860).

Images for kids

Sainte-Chapelle, upper level interior
Charter of foundation of the Sainte-Chapelle by Louis IX (1246)
Louis IX receives the crown of thorns and other sacred relics for the Sainte-Chapelle (14th century illustration)
Illustration in Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (c. 1500)
Sainte-Chapelle and the Palais de la Cité in 1615
View after the fire of 1630, which destroyed the spire of 1460
Louis XV departs a ceremony at the Palace, with Sainte-Chapelle behind (1715)
Sainte-Chapelle in 1839, before restoration
The sculptor Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume with his archangel of the Passion and the head of another sculpture (1847)
A watercolour painting by Félix Duban used to guide the restorers (1847)
The chapel undergoing restoration (1841–67)
The lower chapel in 1900–1905
Upper chapel, 1890–1900
The church from the east
The south side. The upper walls are strengthened by buttresses and iron bars, allowing larger windows
Louis IX holding a fragment of the true cross
South facade
Detail of the flamboyant rose window
Portal of the lower chapel
Portal of the upper chapel
Gable of the west front
The spire in the 16th century
19th-century spire
Detail of the spire
Plan of the lower chapel (front) and upper chapel (right)
Lower chapel, with statue of Louis IX
Ceiling of the lower chapel. Small gilded flying buttresses reinforce the arches
The lower chapel, with the Fleur-de-Lys of Louis IX (symbol from his French Capet royal family heritage) and the castle, (symbol of the Spanish royal family of his mother, Blanche of Castile), decorating the columns
The apse of the upper chapel
The Chasse, which held the sacred relics
The upper chapel to the west, with the later flamboyant rose window
South wall, looking east to the apse
Vaults of the apse (Note the fleur-de-lis symbol, inherited from the Capet line of Louis IX's father, Louis VIII Capet, of France)
Vaults of the upper chapel
Scenes from Passion of Christ (apse)
Scenes from life of Ezekiel (south wall)
Scenes from Ezekiel and Job (south wall, bay 4)
Saint Louis transports relics of the true cross (south wall, bay 14)
Genesis - God creates plants and trees (south wall, bay 9 - restored)
Centerpiece- vision of the seven candlesticks
Adoration of the beast
The chapel's flamboyant west rose window
First horseman of the Apocalypse
Detail of rose window; souls under the altar
Detail of a stained-glass window depicting a baptism (late 12th century) (Musée de Cluny)
King Saul and David (late 12th century) (Musée de Cluny)
Daniel and Dream of Nebuchadnezzar (late 12th century) (Musée de Cluny)
Scene from Book of Ezekiel (mid 12th century) (Victoria and Albert Museum)
Detail of the portal of the upper chapel; Christ and the Last Judgement by Geoffroy-Dechaume
The creation of Eve from Adam's rib (portal of upper chapel)
Relief sculpture of Noah's ark and the flood (portal of upper chapel)
Carved angel on the alcove of the King, north wall
Carved angels holding crown of thorns in the apse (13th century)
Sculpture above the alcove of the King, upper chapel (13th c.)
Sculpture above the alcove of the Queen, upper chapel (13th c.)
One of the Apostles
Statue of Louis IX (Note the fleur-de-lis and castle symbols on the columns, symbolic of his royal ancestry through his parents, Louis VIII Capet of France, and Blanche of Castile.)
Sculpture on north wall of upper chapel
One of the Apostles, north wall
St. John, undecorated (now in the Museum of the Middle Ages Hotel de Cluny)
An Apostle, north wall
Lower chapel, column capital on reverse of west front. Castles and fleur-de-lis symbols seen here on the columns, are found throughout the chapel, relating to the two royal families from which Louis IX descended (the House of Capet fleur-de-lis through his father, Louis VIII of France, and the Kingdom of Castile castle through his mother, Blanche of Castile).
Interior of the west facade; Christ with Angels, Sts. Isaiah and Jeremiah in the quadrilobes (painting by Steinheil, 1856)
Wall decoration, with fleur-de-lis in the background, and the castle symbol of the Kingdom of Castile in the foreground. Throughout the chapel, symbols of fleur-de-lis and castles are found repeatedly, in a nod to Louis IX's royal heritage (the fleur-de-lis of the French House of Capet family through his father, Louis VIII, and the castle of the royal Spanish Castile family, the royal heritage of his mother, Blanche of Castile).
Quadrilobe painting of martyrdom of an Apostle, upper chapel (19th c. restitution of 13th c. decor)
Louis IX places the crown of thorns at Sainte-Chapelle (illuminated manuscript from 1480s)
The Grande Châsse, or reliquary, in 1790
Crown of Thorns in gilded crystal case (Notre-Dame de Paris, now in Louvre)
Reliquary bust of Louis IX (Notre-Dame de Paris)
The late 16th-century organ by Jacques Cellier