The Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes - Paris (France)
N 48° 50.539 E 002° 26.162
31U E 458619 N 5410080
The beautiful Gothic Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, hidden in the complex of the mediefal fort Chateau de Vincennes, is a direct and by tourists not so well known descendent of the famous Royal chapel in Paris.
Waymark Code: WM6FJE
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 05/26/2009
Views: 23
Founded in 1379, the Gothic Sainte-Chapelle (The Holy Chapel), whose construction started just before the death of Charles V in 1380, was inaugurated only in 1552 under the reign of Henry II, after a long interruption of the building work starting at the beginning of 15th century. The Collège de Chanoines was set up in February 1380).
The Sainte-Chapelle of Vincennes was intended to house part of the relics of the Passion, like the chapel of the Palais de la Cité in Paris. Through the construction of the Sainte-Chapelle, Charles V wished to turn Vincennes into a second capital of the kingdom, alongside the Palais de la Cité in Paris. The traditional old Parisian palace remained but, at Vincennes, in an appropriate and grandiose setting boldly asserting the ideology of a triumphant monarchy through its quality, opulence and décor, a new capital was born.
The Sainte-Chapelle was built in keeping with the traditional plan of castle chapels: a single nave, a choir formed by a straight bay and a five-sided apse flanked by two oratories – one for the King and the other for the Queen.
An annex, on the north side, serves as the sacristy on the ground floor and treasure-house on the upper floor. The King's oratory is currently occupied by the tomb of the Duke of Enghien, who was judged at Vincennes and shot in the south moat of the castle in 1804.
The general elevation is very simple. Outside, above a basement, deep buttresses support large gabled windows. As a whole, the building has a slender silhouette which used to be further emphasised by a spire which rose above the second bay of the nave.
The Sainte-Chapelle of Vincennes is just as high but quite a bit longer and wider than the chapel of the Cité. The main difference between the two buildings lies in the fact that the chapel of the Cité, built in the 13th century, has two storeys while that of Vincennes, which was built at a time when this type of building was no longer fashionable, is on a single level. The nave of the Sainte-Chapelle of Vincennes illustrates the beginnings of the flamboyant Gothic style in royal architecture at the end of the 14th century.
The stained glass windows of the choir, listed as a historical monument, were created and put up in 1555-1556 by the master glassmaker Nicolas Beaurain. The windows of the nave are of clear glass with coloured borders, made after the Second World War and partly destroyed during the storm of December 1999.
The Sainte-Chapelle was listed as a Historical Monument in 1853.