stained glass

The beauty of the Sainte-Chapelle is unlike that of any other church in Europe. Commissioned during the reign of Louis IX, this monument took approximately six years to build with construction estimated to have finished around April 26, 1248. The chapel was originally built to house various artifacts from the Passion of Christ which included the Crown of Thorns. These artifacts were bought by Louis IX from Emperor Baudouin II of Constantinople, though not without paying a substantial amount of money. The relics were moved to Notre-Dame de Paris after the French Revolution, and were kept there until April 26, 2019 when a fire destroyed parts of the cathedral.

When looking at the exterior, the Sainte-Chapelle resembles any other chapel built in the gothic style. It is the interior that captures the attention of all its visitors. The Sainte-Chapelle is divided into two floors: the lower chapel and the upper chapel. The lower chapel was meant as a place of worship for the palace domestic staff and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The blue ceiling with gold accents immediately catches the attention of any onlookers. Though certainly beautiful in its own right, it pales in comparison to the upper chapel.

The upper chapel is best described as breathtaking. Light pours in through the stained glass windows from all directions. Pink hues dominate the upper chapel and blend with the light to create an even more aesthetically pleasing look. Visitors first notice the blend of colors, but closer examination reveals the details put into making the stained glass. Each panel on these massive stained glass windows represents a scene from the Bible. The colors and light make it so that there is a sense of cohesiveness within the details of the upper chapel, which is what makes this church so unique. Though the upper chapel was reserved only for the royal family and their court, it is now open to all visitors. The Centre des Monuments Nationaux has created an app that even allows visitors to discover the secrets of the stained glass windows. Simply by taking a picture of a particular panel, visitors can enrich their understanding of the Sainte-Chapelle.

References

“26 Avril 1248 Consécration De La Sainte-Chapelle.” 26 Avril 1248 – Conscration De La Sainte-Chapelle – Herodote.net, 16 Apr. 2019, www.herodote.net/26_avril_1248-evenement-12480426.php.

“Application : Percez Les Secrets Des Vitraux.” Centre Des Monuments Nationaux, Centre Des Monuments Nationaux , www.sainte-chapelle.fr/Actualites/Application-Percez-les-secrets-des-vitraux.

Croire. “La Sainte Chapelle.” Croire, La Croix Croire, 15 Apr. 2014, croire.la-croix.com/Definitions/Figures-spirituelles/Saint-Louis/La-Sainte-Chapelle.

“Sainte Chapelle De Paris : Gothique Rayonnant, Apogée De L’Art Médiéval.” Le Blog De Paris, 16 May 2011, parisii.fr/2011/05/sainte-chapelle/.

Image

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sainte-Chapelle#/media/File:La-Sainte-Chapelle-interior.jpg

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.
–Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 5, v. 16

Thanks to my Instagram habit, much of my mental space is occupied by squares. Within the limits of a square, I sense the freedom to share without words. I envision a clear, thoughtful grid connecting experiences and exuding harmony. Imagine my delight when I recently stepped into a contemporary stained glass exhibit that was dominated by square panels!

My first thought was that much like me, the artists were under the spell of Instagram. But then I thought of the stained glass windows in Chartres Cathedral, a few steps from the museum. Some of the windows are 900 years old, and most are arranged in circles, squares, and rectangles. Each window is its own medieval grid, to be read from bottom to top. So, placing a story in the bounds of a square is nothing new, but the immediacy and reach of Instagram is.

The contemporary pieces at the International Stained Glass Centre do not invite a bottom to top reading, but rather offer a sampling of work from artists all over the world, exploring the theme “the search for the light of the world.” I treat the works as impressions rather than narratives. My eye goes straight to the tight, bursting center of Shinique Smith’s untitled 2016 panel. Her energetic swirls are reminiscent of dragon flies that skip across lakes in the summer and remind me of the fairy parties I organize for my nieces and nephew. Much like the medieval panels in the cathedral across the way, color and light cultivate wonder. Her work brings forth an inner light that radiates, undulates, and eventually flows from the frame. Here, the multicolored lumière du monde grows from a dense, interior space of possibility–patterns, shapes and colors in evolution, expressing the harmonious contrasts of the soul.