Royalty and bourgeoisie alike hired minstrels on the Rue aus Jogleurs, located off the rue
Saint-Martin midway between the churches of Saint-Merri and Saint-Nicolas.
The coming of age of Louis IX in 1233 marks the beginning of the Rayonnant style in
Paris, perhaps best represented by the splendid new royal chapel, the Sainte-Chapelle,
which Louis built in the Cité palace to house the collection of relics, including the Crown
of Thorns, bought from the Latin emperor in Constantinople in 1239 and 1241. From the
conception of the project, the Sainte-Chapelle was viewed as a gigantic reliquary. Built
between 1241 and 1246, possibly by an architect brought from Amiens, the chapel was
consecrated in 1248. On the one hand, it is but the latest in the series of two-storied royal
chapels that begins with Charlemagne’s chapel of Aix-la-Chapelle; on the other, it marks
a significant departure from previous chapels. Lavish interior painting makes the stone
architecture look more like metalwork than building. The setting of paintings on glass in
the wall recalls the incorporation of cameos and enamels on gilded reliquaries. The
statues of the Apostles, their billowing draperies painted to resemble rich silks and
brocades, the hemlines studded with jewels, set against the piers in the upper chapel are
the quintessential examples of the new court art of Paris associated with the age of Louis
IX.
The lower chapel has a secondary row of thin columns set away from the wall so that
it could be vaulted without the ribs resting directly on the floor. The effect is to create an
interior network of delicate architectural members screening the wall, itself richly
decorated with tracery and moldings that seem to peel back layers of ornament to reveal
the stained-glass windows. But it is in the upper chapel that the stained glass makes its
most dramatic effect. The tall, narrow proportions of the jewellike windows, nearly 50
feet tall, negate any feeling of mass and contribute to the transcendental, ecstatic sense of
space. The relics were displayed in a giant gilded and jeweled reliquary above and behind
the altar, a shrine within a shrine.
Although no other monument quite equaled the splendor of the Sainte-Chapelle, it set
new standards of design in architecture, sculpture, painting, and stained glass that
dominated French art for more than a century. Branner termed it the “Court style,” but it
is really the art of Paris and is not limited to the court, as is demonstrated by the new
transept façades of Notre-Dame and many other nonroyal projects in the city.
Louis IX continued some of the ambitious urban projects of his grandfather, including
enlarging the markets and, as early as 1240, granting permission for construction beyond
the city walls on the right bank. The draining of the surrounding swamps continued with
the construction of the Fossés-le-Roi in 1260, and vegetables replaced grain as the
principal crop. The king reorganized the administration of Paris in 1261, dividing
authority between the royal prévôt, who exercised the king’s authority and jurisdiction
from the Châtelet on the right bank, and the prévôt des marchands, who served as the
leader of the bourgeois and merchant community. The crown and bourgeoisie
collaborated in promoting their common interests in the local economy, regulating the
many trades that were represented by guilds of various kinds. These measures, intended
to protect consumers from shoddy products and skilled craftspeople from ruinous
competition, eventually had a stultifying effect on economic growth, and after the
disastrous plagues of 1348 and later, they were relaxed in many ways. The royal archives
(Trésor des Chartes) and the chancery, then the judiciary (Parlement) became established
bodies requiring more officials and transacting more business.
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