La Sainte Chapelle conceived by King Louis IX-San Luis after his canonization as a giant relic, the crown of thorns of Christ and a piece of Santa Cruz.
La Sainte Chapelle is considered a jewel of Gothic art. Built in the heart of the Palais de la Cité (Conciergerie), its history goes back to the thirteenth century, when the future King Louis IX, Saint Louis of France, built a chapel to save the relics of the Passion of Christ. In 1239, after two years of negotiations, Louis IX had purchased the emperor of Constantinople, the crown of thorns of Christ for a considerable sum, and in 1241, a piece of Santa Cruz from Byzantium. That’s why we decided to build a decent place to preserve these treasures.Testimony left no documents about the project author of the chapel is generally acknowledged to Pierre de Montreuil, who worked at Notre Dame and the Abbey of Saint Denis, as the doer. La Sainte Chapelle was built between 1241 and 1248, a time record for the period.
Conceived as a precious relic, should also serve as a royal chapel. It was composed in reality of two superimposed chapels: The underside was aimed at ordinary people and the top of the palace, the royal family.
The lower chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and underlies the upper chapel. Its relatively low height -6.60 meters at its highest, and massive pillars supporting the entire structure of the building give the impression to visitors entering a crypt. The ceiling is beautifully decorated in gold and blue.
Through a spiral staircase accesses the upper chapel, conceived as a monumental shrine, delicately painted and worked. The walls were completely avoided by installing 670 m2 instead of huge stained glass windows depicting religious scenes. Light entering through these windows, where the dominant colors are red and blue, the hood gives an air of magnificence. This is where the relics, a stately shrine of silver and copper.
La Sainte Chapelle suffered the vicissitudes of time and the vagaries of the Histoire. Was affected by two fires in 1630 and 1776. The windows of the chapel floor were destroyed after a flood of the Seine in 1690. During the Revolution, was stripped of its treasures, some statues were defaced, the furniture in the upper chapel disappeared and the shrine was removed for smelting. The crown of thorns was saved and eventually sent to Notre Dame. Losing its original function, the Sainte Chapelle in 1803 was converted into a file instead.
Only in 1837 he proposed a restoration plan, which will conduct between 1840 and 1868, Felix Duban, Jean Baptiste Lassus and Emile Boeswillwald, advised by Viollet-le-Duc, the same address the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. From the huge windows of the upper chapel, two thirds are the originals, and are the most comprehensive set of stained glass art of the thirteenth century.