Louis himself
in a golden reliquary. Two angels at the summit of the large center arch
of the arcade bear a representation of the Crown of Thorns in their hands.
Above the tabernacle rises a canopy or baldacchino, approached by two
spiral staircases; from its platform St. Louis and his successors, the
kings of France, were in the habit of exhibiting with their own hands the
actual relics themselves once a year to the faithful. The golden reliquary
in which the sacred objects were contained was melted down in the
Revolution. The small window with bars to your right, as you face the high
altar, was placed there by the superstitious and timid Louis XI., in order
that he might behold the elevation of the Host and the sacred relics
without being exposed to the danger of assassination. The visitor should
also notice the inlaid stone pavement, with its frequent repetition of the
fleur-de-lis and the three castles. The whole breathes the mysticism of
St. Louis; the lightness of the architecture, the height of the apparently
unsupported roof, and the magnificence of the decoration, render this the
most perfect ecclesiastical building in Paris.
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