ABBEY OF SAINT-DENIS
©Virginia C. Raguin
See also External Site Treasury
of Saint-Denis, Alison Stones, University of Pittsburg.
The Regalia of the French Monarchy was once housed in the Abbey
of Saint Denis and brought out for coronation ceremonies. The Abbey also
housed its own treasure acquired over centuries through gifts of the powerful
and the pilgrim. All was confiscated during the French Revolution: Some
objects are now in the Louvre Museum, Paris. (photographs Virginia Raguin;
translations Erwin Panofsky) Suger speaks of the importance of these objects
as aids to contemplation:
Often we contemplate, out of sheer affection for the church our
mother, these different ornaments both new and old; and when we behold
how the wonderful cross of St. Eloy - together with the smaller ones. .
. are placed upon the golden altar, the I say, sighing deeply in my heart:
"Every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz, ad the
jasper, the chrysolite, and the onyx, and the beryl, the sapphire, and
carbuncle, and the emerald" (Vision of Ezekiel 28:13). To those
who know the properties of precious stones it becomes evident, to their
utter astonishment, that none is absent from the number of these, with
the exception of the carbuncle, but that they abound most copiously. Thus
when - out of my delight in the beauty of the house of God - the loveliness
of the many-colored gems has called me away from external cares, and worthy
meditation has induced me to reflect, transferring that which is material
to that which is immaterial, on the diversity of the sacred virtues: then
it seems to me that I see myself dwelling, as it were in some strange region
of the universe which neither exists entirely in the slime of the earth
or entirely in the purity of Heaven, and that by the grace of God, I can
be transported from this inferior to that higher world in an anagogical
manner.
1. Abbey of Saint Denis. Rock Crystal Vase c. 1100
given to Abbot Suger by Louis VII, Suger writes in De Administratione:
Still another vase, looking like a pint bottle of beryl or crystal,
which the Queen of Acquitain had presented to our Lord King Louis as a
newly wed bride on their first voyage, and the King to us as a tribute
of his great love, we offered most affectionately to the Divine Table for
libation. We have recorded the sequence of these gifts on the vase itself,
after it has been adorned with gems and gold, in some little verses:
As a bride, Eleanor gave
the vase to King Louis
Mitadolus to her grandfather,
the King to me, and Suger to the Saints.
2. Abbey of Saint Denis. Late Antique Porphyry
Vase (4th century?) provided with eagle embellishment by Abbot Suger,
ca. 1140. Suger writes in De Administratione: And further we
adapted for the service of the altar, with the aid of gold and silver material,
a porphyry vase, made admirable by the hand of the sculptor and polisher,
after it had lain idly in a chest for many years, coverting it from a flagon
into the shape of an eagle; and we had the following verses inscribed on
the vase:
This stone deserves to
be enclosed in gems and gold.
It was marble, but in
these (settings) it is more precious than marble.
3. Abbey of Saint Denis. Sardonxy Pitcher, ca. 1140
4. Abbey of Saint Denis. Plate from Alexandria, Egypt,
Late Antique (4th century?) with 9th-century border.
5. Abbey of Saint Denis. Coronation Spurs
6. Abbey of Saint Denis. Hand of Justice, part of
Coronation Regalia, 10th century.