Editing Basilica of Saint-Denis (section)

=== Reconstruction of the Nave (13th century) ===
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File:Basilica di saint Denis vetrata 01.JPG|The glazed [[triforium]] (center level) and upper [[clerestory]], where windows fill almost the entire wall, a prominent feature of [[Rayonnant]] Gothic. (present windows from 19th c.)
File:Basilica of Saint Denis North Transept Rose Window, Paris, France - Diliff.jpg|Rayonnant rose window in the north transept
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Suger died in 1151 with the Gothic reconstruction incomplete. In 1231, Abbot Odo Clement began work on the rebuilding of the Carolingian nave, which remained sandwiched incongruously between Suger's Gothic works to the east and west.  Both the nave and the upper parts of Suger's choir were replaced in the [[Rayonnant]] Gothic style. From the start it appears that Abbot Odo, with the approval of the Regent [[Blanche of Castile]] and her son, the young [[King Louis IX]], planned for the new nave and its large crossing to have a much clearer focus as the French 'royal necropolis', or burial place. That plan was fulfilled in 1264 under Abbot [[Matthew of Vendôme (abbot)|Matthew of Vendôme]] when the bones of 16 former kings and queens were relocated to new tombs arranged around the crossing, eight Carolingian monarchs to the south and eight Capetians to the north.<ref>Georgia Sommers Wright, "A Royal Tomb Program in the Reign of St Louis", in ''The Art Bulletin'', Vol. 56, No. 2 (Jun 1974) pp. 224–243</ref> These tombs, featuring lifelike carved recumbent [[Effigy|effigies]] or ''gisants'' lying on raised bases, were badly damaged during the French revolution though all but two were subsequently restored by Viollet le Duc in 1860.
[[File:A Nave at Saint-Denis 3.png|left|thumb|13th century nave]]
The dark Romanesque nave, with its thick walls and small window-openings, was rebuilt using the very latest techniques, in what is now known as [[French Gothic architecture|Rayonnant Gothic]]. This new style, which differed from Suger's earlier works as much as they had differed from their Romanesque precursors, reduced the wall area to an absolute minimum. Solid masonry was replaced with vast window openings filled with brilliant stained glass (all destroyed in the Revolution) and interrupted only by the most slender of bar [[tracery]]—not only in the clerestory but also, perhaps for the first time, in the normally dark [[triforium]] level. The upper facades of the two much-enlarged transepts were filled with two spectacular 12m-wide [[rose window]]s.<ref>Christopher Wilson, ''The Gothic Cathedral: The Architecture of the Great Church 1130–1530'', Thames & Hudson, 1992</ref> As with Suger's earlier rebuilding work, the identity of the architect or master mason remains unknown. Although often attributed to [[Pierre de Montreuil]], the only evidence for his involvement is an unrelated document of 1247 which refers to him as 'a mason from Saint-Denis'.<ref>Caroline Bruzelius, ''The Thirteenth century Church at St-Denis'', New Haven, 1985</ref>