The Sainte-Chapelle cathedral was an architectural and aesthetic centerpiece in France, commissioned by King Louis IX between 1242 and 1248. The cathedral was built by the King to reflect the royalty and pristine of the French government. The building was ornamented with beautiful gothic style architecture, intricate stained-glass, the passion relics of Christ, and stone statues of the twelve apostles. This architectural project of Louis IX is a symbol of the canonization of the king and shows his efforts to be perceived as a powerful ruler with high religious value. In the novel, The Sainte-Chapelle and the Construction of Sacral Monarchy, Cohen describes the gothic architectural features of the chapel and how the lavish decoration and detailed art show the innovation and modernization of Paris. “By 1300, the city prided itself on its exalted status as the capital of the monarchy, the center of learning, the nexus of commerce, and the flower of the arts, as well as the cradle of the largest urban population in Western Europe” (Cohen 14). The detailed art and stained glass were innovative, influential, and modernized, which caused the cathedral to exemplify the growing centralization and power of the french monarchy and how Paris becomes one of the most powerful economic and cultural capitals in Europe.
References
Cohen, Meredith. The Sainte-Chapelle and the Construction of Sacral Monarchy: Royal Architecture in Thirteenth-Century Paris. Cambridge University Press, 2015.