Editing Basilica of Saint-Denis (section)

=== 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>