The Sainte-Chapelle represents both the culmination of the first phase of gothic, or high gothic, and a new phase known as radiating gothic. Which is as good a term as any to describe the sense that the arches and vaults have passed beyond the functional stage of building higher, wider, and stronger. And have entered a lighter skeletal decorative phase that will culminate in the 14th and 15th centuries with what is known as flamboyant gothic. The Rayonnant style is associated with the radiating of the tracery of the Great Rose Window we have seen. And this springing of arches that give the appearance of a bundle of lines from a central sheath. The radiating effects caused partially, in the case of the Sainte-Chapelle, by use of elaborate color. As we see in this photo of the upper chapel, and in this image of the lower one. The Sainte-Chapelle is distinguished by its high coloring, which is an effect not only of stained glass, which is thinner here than elsewhere, about half as thick as at Chartres, but also of painting on walls and of sculpture. All of which has been restored in the 19th century according to what remained and copies and drawings that have been made in the past. Except for the west wall, which was painted by Augustine Hall, a 19th century artist specializing in medieval reproductions. The whole interior of the chapel of the Saint-Chapelle is painted. The vault, blue dotted with gold stars. The peers, the walls, arcade, are also painted. The walls themselves are covered in fleur-de-lis on a marian blue background. There we see 40 spandrils which decorated the wall arches, which are covered with small figures in quatrefoils. They are surrounded by censoring angels and various scenes of martyrdom, as in this beheading of Saint Denis. The decorative sculpture is extremely varied, of the 100 capitals in the lower chapel, no 2 are alike, though they fall into general categories of lifelike foliage design in which flowers and plants are joined to stems, which spring from the neck mold, but which is sometimes a spontaneous growth of the bell of the capita. Specialists in bio art history and botanical specimens have identified the umbellifers and ranunculus, the leaf of the maple, oak, holly, ivy, hawthorn, and rose amidst the specimens on top of the columns of the lower chapel. There too we find acorns and grapes, figs, raspberries, and walnuts. Sometimes two small animals lurk in this scroll and vine capitals, lizards and tiny birds. All of this cataloging of nature, and representation of little sculptures of nature, is part of the encyclopedic spirit of collecting natural phenomena. In a world which came to value natural philosophy and in a chapel whose aim, more than any other church we've seen, is a total work of art, architecture, painting, and decoration, stained glass and sculpture, all combined. In the upper chapel, we find 12 statues of the apostles standing on piers. Their backs against the shafts, a pedestal under their feet and canopies over their heads. In what may be a theological symbolism of the 12 disciples, who are the spiritual pillars of the church. A metaphor that Abbot Suger used in describing the Choir of Saint Denis. St. Peter's on the left of the reliquary, St. Paul on the right. The pier apostles of Sainte-Chapelle are some of the major works of medieval sculpture, for their exactness of detail, like that of small statuary, their classical heads, the deeply cut folds of drapery that are found there are considered among the best that has ever been done. These figures seem to be in motion, their fine-featured faces are full of expression, an expression that is individual, personal, deeply emotional, in contrast to the stylized types of an earlier period. In our next time together, we shall explore the marvelous stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle.
