The monument
breathes throughout the ecstatic piety of the mystic king; it was
consecrated in 1248, in the name of the Holy Crown and the Holy Cross, by
Eudes de Chateauroux, Bishop of Tusculum and papal legate.
Three things should be noted about the Sainte Chapelle. (1) It is a
chapel, not a church; therefore it consists (practically) of a choir
alone, without nave or transepts. (2) It is the domestic Chapel of the
Royal Palace. (3) It is, above all things, the Shrine of the Crown of
Thorns. These three points must be constantly borne in mind in examining
the building.
Erected later than Notre-Dame, it represents the pointed style of the
middle of the thirteenth century, and is singularly pure and uniform
throughout. Secularized at the Revolution, it fell somewhat into decay;
but was judiciously restored by Viollet-le-Duc and others. The "Messe
Rouge," or "Messe du St. Esprit," is still celebrated here once yearly, on
the re-opening of the courts after the autumn vacation, but no other
religious services take place in the building. The Crown of Thorns and the
piece of the True Cross are now preserved in the Treasury at Notre Dame.
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