Editing Basilica of Saint-Denis (section)

== Art and decoration ==
=== Stained glass ===
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File:Vitraux Saint-Denis 190110 18.jpg|"Childhood of Christ", (12th c., Saint Mary Axis chapel)
File:France Paris St-Denis Basilica Nativity.jpg|Detail from the 12th century Life of Christ window, Axis chapel
File:Basilique Saint-Denis - Vitrail de l'Enfance du Christ - Suger.JPG|Detail of ''The [[Annunciation]]'' pane in the "Chilhood of Christ" window, Suger prostrated at the feet of the Virgin Mary (12th c.)
File:Basilique Saint-Denis Abbot Suger 04 2024 8421.jpg|Detail of Suger kneeling in the lower right corner of ''[[Tree of Jesse]]'' window 
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Abbot Suger commissioned a large amount of stained glass for the new chevet, but only very small amount of the original glass from the time of Suger survived intact. In the 19th century it was collected by [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]], and was integrated into windows in the chevet.  Original glass includes the figure of Suger prostrating himself at the feet of the Virgin Mary, in the window called  "The Childhood of Christ"; and kneeling in the lower right corner of the [[Tree of Jesse]], illustrating the genealogy of Christ, in the Axis chapel; the "Allegories of Saint Paul" and  "The Life of Moses" in the fourth radiating chapel on the north; "The vision of Ezekiel under the sign of tau", originally from a group illustrating the Passion of Christ, in the fourth rayonnant chapel on the south, in the left bay and third register.{{sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=9}}  Another piece of original window from Suger's time, depicting mythical [[Griffin|Griffonsa]] a symbol of Paradise, is found in the second radiating chapel on the north. Other scenes which Suger described, showing the [[pilgrimage of Charlemagne]] and the [[Crusades]], have disappeared.{{sfn|Plagnieux|1998|p=9}}
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File:Stained glass window in the Basilica of Saint Denis, Paris, France.JPG|"Kings and Queens of France" (19th c.)
File:Louis-Philippe 1837 Saint-Denis.jpg|"The visit of King Louis-Philippe to Saint-Denis in 1837"
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Much of the current stained glass dates to the 19th century, as the church began to be restored from the damage of the Revolution. The architect [[François Debret]] designed the first Neo-Gothic windows of the nave in 1813. these include the upper windows of the nave, which represent the kings and queens of France. Later upper windows of the south transept depict the restoration of the church, and particularly the visit there of [[Louis Philippe I]], the last king of France, in 1837.  This large group of windows was designed by the painter [[Jean-Baptiste Debret]], the brother of the architect.{{sfn|Plagnieux|1998|pp=19–21}}

=== Sculpture ===
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File:Saint Denis PM 086189 F.jpg|Detail of the north portal sculpture; the martyrdom of Saint Denis, Eleuthere and Rustique (12th c.)
File:Saint Denis PM 086185 F.jpg|Piedroits, or column statues, of the north portal. (12th c.)
File:Gisant de Clovis Ier-Burials at the Basilica of St Denis.jpg|Tomb of [[Clovis I]] and his son, [[Childebert I]]
File:Dagobert.jpg|Tomb of King [[Dagobert]] (13th century)
File:Louis XVI et Marie-Antoinette.jpg|Memorial to King [[Louis XVI]] and Queen [[Marie Antoinette]], sculptures (1830) by [[Edme Gaulle]] and [[Pierre Petitot]]
File:Ermentruda kralovna.jpg|Ementrude of Orleans, wife of [[Charles II of France]]
File:Saint-Denis (93), basilique, gisant de Charles V sculpté lorsqu'il avait 27 ans 1.jpg|Bust of [[Charles V of France]]
File:Scène de bataille sur le tombeau de François Ier dans la basilique Saint-Denis (2).JPG|Battle scene on the tomb of [[Francis I of France|François I]] (16th c.)
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The new west front sculpture of St. Denis had an important influence on Gothic style. The influential features of the new façade include the tall, thin statues of Old Testament prophets and kings attached to columns (''jamb figures'') flanking the portals (destroyed in 1771 but recorded in [[Bernard de Montfaucon|Montfaucon]]'s drawings). These were also adopted at the cathedrals of Paris and Chartres, constructed a few years later, and became a feature of almost every Gothic portal thereafter.{{Sfn|Martindale|1967|p=42}}

The statues on the portal of the Valois, on the transept of the Saint Denis, made in 1175, have very elongated and expressive figures, and also had an important effect on Gothic sculpture. They were the opposite of the more restrained and dignified figures of [[Chartres Cathedral]], made about the same time.{{Sfn|Martindale|1967|p=42}}

Above the doorways, the central [[Tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] was carved with [[Christ in Majesty]] displaying his wounds with the dead emerging from their tombs below. Scenes from the martyrdom of St Denis were carved above the south (right hand) portal, while above the north portal was a mosaic (lost), even though this was, as Suger put it 'contrary to the modern custom'. Of the original sculpture, very little remains, most of what is now visible being the result of rather clumsy restoration work in 1839.<ref>Pamela Blum, ''Early Gothic Saint-Denis: Restorations and Survivals'', Berkeley, 1992</ref> Some fragments of the original sculptures survive in the collection of the [[Musée de Cluny]].