As
yet, Paris itself had no great church, Notre-Dame having been commenced
some 50 years later. The earliest part of Suger's building is in the
Romanesque style; it still retains the round Roman arch and many other
Roman constructive features. During the course of the 50 years occupied in
building the Basilica, however, the Gothic style was developed; the
existing church therefore exhibits both Romanesque and Gothic work, with
transitional features between the two, which add to its interest.
Architecturally, then, bear in mind, it is in part Romanesque, passing
into Gothic. The interior is mostly pure Early Gothic.
The neighborhood to Paris, the supremacy of the great saint, and the fact
that St. Denis was especially the Royal Abbey, all combined to give it
great importance. Under Suger's influence, Louis VI. adopted the oriflamme
or standard of St. Denis as the royal banner of France. The Merovingian
and Carlovingian kings, to be sure--Germans rather than French--had
naturally been buried elsewhere, as at Aix-la-Chapelle, Rheims, and
Soissons (tho even of them a few were interred beside the great bishop
martyr).
Pages:
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130