. The abbey church of Saint-Denis, just north of Paris, one of the oldest and most prestigious monastic foundations in northern France, marks the final resting place of St. Denis (Dionysius), Apostle of Gaul and first bishop of Paris, who died during the persecutions of Diocletian. A church was built here at the initiative of St. Geneviève before 500, but associations with royalty are said to have begun only with King Dagobert (r. 629–39). The legend is that Dagobert, fleeing the wrath of his father, sought refuge in the church and fell asleep on the tomb of St. Denis. His vengeful father tried several times to enter the church but each time was prevented from so doing. In gratitude, Dagobert built a new church that was miraculously consecrated by Christ, Peter, Paul, and Denis and his two companions the night before its dedication.
Dagobert’s basilica was decorated with marble columns and capitals, some of which survive and most of which were reused when Fulrad rebuilt and enlarged the church, beginning ca. 750, with the patronage of the Carolingian dynasty. When Pepin III the Short died in 768, he was buried, according to his wishes, face down outside the west doors to atone for the sins of his father, Charles Martel. Charlemagne, Pepin’s son, is said to have paid for a new west structure that extended the consecrated space of the church over his father’s burial site. The Carolingian kings followed the example of Pepin, who had not only enriched the church with lavish donations but also employed its abbot, Fulrad, for diplomatic missions, and frequently included the abbots among their trusted advisers. Thus, it is no surprise that Fulrad’s church, as revealed in Crosby’s excavations, was a splendid structure composed of a nine-bay nave with aisles, a projecting tran
Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), nave isometric. After Violet-le-Duc.
sept, and a two-level apse with confessio around the burial sites of Denis and his two companions. The east end was surrounded by a crypt chapel of three parallel aisles (ca. 830) during the abbacy of Hilduin.
The 12th-century abbacy of Suger (r. 1122–51), the next great age of the abbey, is also marked by close ties with royalty, in this case the Capetians Louis VI and Louis VII. This is perhaps the best-known moment in the history of the abbey, thanks to the preservation of Suger’s history of his abbacy and of his building efforts, culminating with the consecration of the enlarged church in 1144. From Suger’s writings, we learn not only of the two architectural additions, the nave extension and western bays and the two-level chevet, but also of their embellishment with sculpture and bronze doors, with stained glass and bejeweled liturgical vessels intended to complement, even to surpass, such venerated treasures as the Cross of St. Éloi (7th c.), the so-called throne of Dagobert (9th c.), and the now lost altar frontal of Charles the Bald depicted by the Master of St. Gilles.
Saint-Denis, abbey church, west façade. Photograph: Clarence Ward Collection. Courtesy of Oberlin College.
Saint-Denis, abbey church, crypt. Photograph by S.McK.Crosby.
Saint-Denis, abbey church, chevet. Photography by J.Herschman.
The architectural additions of Abbot Suger include a westwork three bays wide and two deep, as well as the four bays necessary to join the old nave and a two-level chevet. The lower level consists of ambulatory and chapels wrapped around both the old apse and Hilduin’s chapel to create a level platform for the upper ambulatory and seven radiating chapels. These eastern additions mark a significant change in medieval French art and gave rise to a new style that is still (erroneously) called “Gothic.” The upper level of the new chevet of Saint-Denis, dedicated with pomp and ceremony in 1144, is universally recognized as the first example of the new style. In reality, both levels of the chevet, crypt as well as upper level, mark the beginning of a new conception of the organization of architectural space that differs profoundly from the Romanesque style.
Equally important in the history of Gothic art are the three west-façade portals, mutilated in the 18th century; the Porte de Valois, a 12th-century portal now installed in the 13th-century north transept; the remaining stained-glass windows; and the lavish liturgical objects commissioned by Abbot Suger. From his writings and such later documents as survive, lost works like the bronze doors, the Great Cross, and the Tomb of the Martyrs can be at least partly reconstructed by scholars.
Although Crosby’s excavations revealed that Abbot Suger ultimately intended to rebuild even the 8th-century nave, this was not accomplished until the 13th century. Beginning on the north side in 1231, the church was progressively enlarged to its present width and height. The expansion of the transept created a new space that by its lateral extension almost seemed to include Abbot Suger’s chevet, rather than setting it apart. The process was completed by rebuilding the upper stories and heightening them to match the new height of the transept. In plan, this church has an eight-bay nave with the monks’ choir in the first two, which is why the transept has double-aisle bays on the west side. Work on this church, one of the finest examples of the Rayonnant style, continued almost to the end of the century.
It was this 13th-century church that became the burial site of the kings of France as a result of the efforts of Louis IX. Kings had been buried at Saint-Denis since the time of Dagobert and probably long before that—the intact tomb of Queen Arnegund, mother of Chilperic, dates to the mid-6th century, and the cemetery has yielded still earlier nonroyal burials. Prior to the 13th century, none of the royal tombs was indicated by more than an engraved floor slab. At the instigation of Louis IX, all of the royal tombs were opened and the bodies transferred to new, raised sarcophagi topped by carved effigies. The new tombs were grouped by dynasties along the sides of the crossing, except for such patrons as Charles the Bald, who as lay abbot was buried in the monks’ choir; Dagobert, who was buried on the south side between the two altars; Philip II Augustus, Louis VIII, and Louis IX (until his canonization), who were buried in the center of the crossing.
The importance of Saint-Denis continued into the early 14th century, when the abbey became the fountainhead in collecting, writing, and disseminating such works as the Grandes chroniques de France and the Vie de saint Denis. The privileged position of the abbey in relation to royalty produced such splendid gifts as the Virgin and Child, now in the Louvre, given by Queen Jeanne d’Évreux.
All of these works suffered enormous damage and destruction, especially in the aftermath of the Revolution and in the early, misguided attempts at preservation and restoration. Modern scholarship nonetheless continues to piece together the evidence to give an understanding of the complexities that distinguish the works of art associated with this prestigious foundation, just as recent excavations have revealed other churches on the abbey site.
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