The Sainte Chapelle in Paris

Except where noted, these are all my pictures taken with my trusty digital.  Everyone, especially educators, is welcome to use these pictures.

Special thanks to Paul Lane for getting us there early for the short line to get in, and especially for the spectacle of the Sainte Chapelle in the morning light.

There was some restoration going on in the Chapelle.  The West Rose is under restoration as well as a couple of the windows on the north side.

The Sainte Chapelle was built in 1243 - 1248 by King Louis IX to house a relic he believed to be the Crown of Thorns.  Almost all of the glass in the Chapelle is the original.

This was one of the most sublime things I've ever seen.

The Lower Church, originally open daily to the general public.  The more spectacular Upper Church was open to the public only on high holy days.

A contemporary likeness of King Louis IX, Saint Louis.

The Upper Church in the morning light.

The relic, whatever it was, was displayed in the tabernacle above.  The window panel just behind it shows the Flagellation and the Crowning With Thorns.

A lot of crowning and royalty in the imagery of these windows, much of it from the Old Testament.


The following are not my pictures.

This is the relic that was once housed in the Sainte Chapelle.  Today it is in Notre Dame in Paris.  The relic does have a long paper trail going back to the 6th century.  All of the thorns were broken off and scattered in reliquaries throughout Europe.

A 15th century view of Paris showing the Sainte Chapelle by the Limborg Brothers.