Sainte-Chapelle: How the Gothic Masterpiece Survived the French Revolution and Lost Its Relics

Key facts

• Louis IX ruled France from 1226 to 1270 and was canonized by Pope Boniface VIII.
• Louis IX bought the Crown of Thorns from Emperor Baudouin II of the Latin Empire of Constantinople for 135,000 livres in the late 1230s.
• Other relics purchased included the purple robe of Christ and a section of the crucifixion cross, arriving in France between 1239 and 1241.
• The Sainte-Chapelle was consecrated in 1248 and housed relics in a gilt reliquary nearly three meters long.
• The chapel was originally intended for demolition in 1790 but by 1793 became a flour storage facility and political meeting space.
• Curator Alexandre Lenoir rescued surviving objects for the Musée des Monuments Français.
• The Crown of Thorns was stored in France’s National Library during the Revolution and returned to the Catholic Church in the early 19th century.
• Restoration work began in 1840 after Jean-Baptiste Lassus presented drawings in 1836, with Eugene Viollet-le-Duc as advisor.
• From 1803, the chapel stored archives; added shelves damaged stained glass panels, hundreds of which were removed and sold to collectors.
• The upper chapel has 15 stained glass windows, 13 to 15 meters high, two-thirds original; the 15th-century rose window depicts scenes from the Book of Revelation.