Sainte Chapelle Architecture & Facts

The Steeple of the Sainte Chapelle Architecture which can be witnessed today is 108 feet high and is the fifth one to rise above the Chapelle since the 13th century. It was built in the 15th century and was renovated with wooden carvings in cedar wood between 1853 to 1855. While visiting the Chapelle, you will be able to witness the wood carvings which have decorated the steeple and also the apse angel and has apostles sculpted at the base. You will also be able to see figurines of angels carrying the instruments of passion and giving trumpet calls above the hollowed-out ornamental gables.

The Sainte Chapelle Architecture of the western facade constitutes a two-storeyed porch with a large central bay with two narrow ones on each of its sides. Overlooking the porch is the famous rose window with its 82 petals. There is a balustrade with fleurs de lis at the base of the gable with the initials of Charles VII carried by two kneeling angels. Proceeding towards the western mass, you will find it enclosed by a turret staircase concealed in the nave's first buttresses with the pyramidal top decorated with the crown of Thorns and the royal crown of France.

The lower chapel was one of the two chapels that formed the Sainte-Chapelle and were devoted to the Virgin Mary. This chapel was used by the non-royal inhabitants of the Royal Palace including the people who worked for the royalty. The chapel in its architecture resembled a crypt with its height beneath the vault only 21 feet.

It consisted of a central nave of 20 feet wide and narrow 7 feet side aisles forming the ambulatory of the apse. The portal of the chapel has the column statue of the Virgin Mary and is decorated along with other decorations of the chapel in themes of columns, sculptures and murals. The stained glass window of the current day is dedicated to the life of the Virgin with small scenes inscribed in a decorative grisaille in the nave.

The Upper Chapel which was used by the king and the royal family can be reached today by narrow corkscrew staircases which lead to the roof. The roof is spectacular with its elevated structure, dimensions, decoration and multi-coloured light streaming through its stained glass windows. The rest of the structure is a simple rectangle with four traverses and an apse in the east end along with seven bays of windows. The wall of the Upper Chapel is non-existent. Instead, there are multi-colour slim glass surfaces with elegant stonework supporting the ribbed vaulting. There is a total of 7,200 sq ft of glass, without considering the rose window at the west end.

One of the reasons for the fame of the Sainte Chapelle Construction is its homogeneous group of stained glass windows. There are fifteen stained glass windows that were constructed in the thirteenth century and there is the rose window which was added in the fifteenth century. The multi-coloured stained glasses cause infinite fracturing of the colors to produce a multi-coloured light with general tones predominantly in blue and red and changing from hour to hour. There are 1,113 figurative panels in these glass windows. The stained glasses have scenes painted on them.

The Sainte Chapelle Facts state that most of the sculptures of the portals were destroyed during the French Revolution but were later recreated between 1855 to 1870, using the 18th-century engravings and descriptions. One of the major works recreated during that time was the tympanum over the portal of the upper chapel. The sculpture was that of a figure of Christ giving a blessing, with John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary alongside him with two angels holding the crown of thorns and cross behind him. Other notable ones include the sculpted biblical scenes from the Old Testament including the Creation and Noah's ark, on the panels on lower walls.