Editing Basilica of Saint-Denis (section)

==Exterior==
=== The west front ===
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File:Saint-Denis Basilique Saint-Denis Fassade 3.jpg|The west front
File:Saint-Denis - Portail central.jpg|Tympanum and lintel of the central portal "Last Judgement (c. 1135, restored 1839)
File:Saint-Denis Basilique Saint-Denis Fassade 6.jpg|The west front after its cleaning
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The west front of the church, dedicated on 9 June 1140, is divided into three sections, each with its own entrance, representing the [[Holy Trinity]]. A crenellated parapet runs across the west front and connects the towers (still unfinished in 1140), illustrating that the church front was the symbolic entrance to the celestial Jerusalem.{{Sfn|Plagnieux| 1998|p=16}}

This new façade, {{convert|34|m}} wide and {{convert|20|m}} deep, has three portals, the central one larger than those on either side, reflecting the relative width of the central nave and lateral aisles. This tripartite arrangement was clearly influenced by the late 11th century Norman-Romanesque façades of the abbey churches of [[Abbey of Saint-Étienne, Caen|St Etienne]].{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=127}}  It also shared with them a three-storey elevation and [[flanking tower]]s. Only the south tower survives; the north tower was dismantled following a tornado which struck in 1846.

The west front was originally decorated with a series of column statues, representing the kings and queens of the Old Testament. These were removed in 1771 and were mostly destroyed during the French Revolution, though a number of the heads can be seen in the [[Musée de Cluny]] in Paris.{{Sfn|Plagnieux| 1998|p=16}}

The bronze doors of the central portal are modern, but are a faithful reproduction of the original doors, which depicted the [[Passion of Christ]] and the [[Resurrection]].{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=16}}

One other original feature was added by Suger's builders; a rose window over the central portal.{{Sfn|Watkin|1986|p=127}}  Although small circular windows (oculi) within triangular tympana were common on the west facades of Italian Romanesque churches, this was probably the first example of a rose window within a square frame, which was to become a dominant feature of the Gothic facades of northern France (soon to be imitated at [[Chartres Cathedral]] and many others).<ref>William Chester Jordan, ''A Tale of Two Monasteries: Westminster and Saint-Denis in the thirteenth century'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009) Chapters 2–7.</ref>

=== Chevet and transepts ===
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File:Basilique Saint-Denis - Abside, côté nord-est - Saint-Denis - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APMH00002668.jpg|The apse, or east end of the cathedral, in 1878
File:Basilique Saint-Denis - Façade nord - Saint-Denis - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APMH00003933.jpg|North transept (left) and north nave walls and buttresses (19th c.)
File:Saint-Denis Basilique Saint-Denis Südliches Querschiff 3.jpg|The Rayonnant south transept
File:Saint-Denis Basilique Saint-Denis Südliches Langhaus 3.jpg|South side of the nave, with buttresses and chapels
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The [[chevet]], at the east end of the cathedral, was one of the first parts of the structure rebuilt into the Gothic style. The work was commissioned by Abbot Suger in 1140 and completed in 1144. It was considerably modified under the young King Louis IX and his mother, Blanche of Castille, the Regent of the Kingdom, beginning in 1231. The apse was built much higher, along with the nave. Large [[flying buttress]]es were added to the chevet, to support the upper walls, and to make possible the enormous windows installed there. The masons used the same engineering concept that was used at the Abbey of [[Saint-Martin-des-Champs Priory|Saint-Martin-des-Champs]] to support the large chapel windows'''.'''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stanley |first=David J. |date=2006 |title=The Original Buttressing of Abbot Suger's Chevet at the Abbey of Saint-Denis |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25068292 |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=334–355 |doi=10.2307/25068292 |jstor=25068292 |issn=0037-9808}}</ref> At the same time, the transept was enlarged and given large rose windows in the new rayonnant style, divided into multiple lancet windows topped by trilobe windows and other geometric forms inscribed in circles. The walls of the nave on both sides were entirely filled with windows, each composed of four lancets topped by a rose, filling the entire space above the triforium. The upper walls, like the chevet, were supported by flying buttresses whose bases were placed between the chapels alongside the nave.{{sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=15}}

===North and south portals===
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File:Saint Denis PM 086190 F.jpg|Sculpture of the Porte de Valois, or north portal
File:Basilique St Denis façade sud St Denis Seine St Denis 2.jpg|The south portal and sculpture
File:Basilique St Denis façade sud St Denis Seine St Denis 4.jpg|Detail of the south portal sculpture
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The Porte de Valois, or north portal, was originally built in the 12th century, near the end of Suger's life, then rebuilt at the end of the north transept in the 13th century. According to Suger, the original entrance on the north did not have sculpture, but mosaic, which Suger replaced by sculpture in 1540. It is considered an important step in the history of Gothic sculpture, because of the skill of the carving, and the lack of rigidity of the figures. There are six figures in the embrasures and thirty figures in the voussures, or arches above the door, which represent kings, probably those of the Old Testament, while the tympanum over the door illustrates the martyrdom of Saint-Denis and his companions Eleuthere and Rusticus. This portal was among the last works commissioned by Suger; he died in 1151, before it was completed.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|pp=10–11}}
The original sculpture that was destroyed in the Revolution was replaced with sculpture from the early 19th century, made by Felix Brun.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=8}}

The tympanum of the south portal illustrates the last days of the Denis and his companions before their martyrdom. The piedroits are filled with medallions representing the labours of the days of month.{{Sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=8}}