A CHURCH THAT CHANGES THE WAY TO SALVATION

NEXT ALONG THE ROUTE, A CHURCH WHERE THE KING REPLACES JESUS

(SAINT PAUL-SAINT LOUIS) 

The speed of construction shows its importance: Saint Eustache, the last "Gothic" church started almost a century before, was still unfinished when its worksite began.

(Saint-Louis, 1626-41; Saint-Eustache, 1532-1632)

Adapted from a plan of 1734 / zoom

Toward 1820 / zoom

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Its links to monarchy: 

• Louis XIII grants the terrain and comes with the queen to hear the first sermon, which Cardinal Richelieu preaches.

• The embalmed hearts of Louis XIII and Louis XIV remain there until the Revolution. 

• Louis XIII is shown twice, near the altar and at the entrance:

• The double name: Napoleon added "Saint-Paul" to the original "Saint-Louis" to lessen the link with monarchy.

All French kings descend from Saint Louis, a stupefying advantage. But the preceding dynasty (the Valois) did not emphasize it, because it lacked the power to live up to such an ancestor.

All the Bourbon kings are named "Louis." So are many women, bastards, cousins — 

• Anne-Marie Louise, who fired on the royal troops; 
• Louis-Antoine, eldest of Louis XIV's legitimized sons; 
• Louis XVI's sons, Louis-Joseph and Louis-Charles;
• Louis-Philippe, head of the Bourbon junior branch, whom the royalist Chateaubriand calls only Philippe because he is a usurper.

Louis XX is head of today's Bourbons of Spain. His name forbids him from residing in France. 

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The church marks the end of Gothic architecture and start of baroque: Comparing Notre-Dame and Saint-Louis shows the tie between tangible aspects and message. 

• Surroundings

By clustering up to the cathedral, medieval houses put the church at the heart of the community; aligned with other buildings along the street, Saint-Louis is one construction among others: 

Internet, computer-generated image

• Eternity

To see Notre-Dame as whole one had to come close to the facade and peer up. Then it loomed over daily life, reminding of immortality. To do so at Saint-Louis, one had to stand in the street and risk being run over.  

 Zoom

Medieval stained glass windows brought a colored light that gleamed through the gloom, foreshadowing the next world, an impression that was much more powerful without electricity. In the 17th century, daylight enhanced secular grandeur.  

US Glass Magazine

• The Resurrection

The entry to Gothic churches is in the west, the chevet (the sanctuary) in the east: One passes from the setting sun and death to the rising son and resurrection. But Saint-Louis faces north.

• Heaven or earth? 

Gothic architecture reaches toward the sky. Baroque domes join heaven and earth.  

Claude Abron

• The Last Judgement and Salvation

Last Judgments are sculpted over the entries of Gothic churches. Multitudes, which originally were brightly painted, surround Jesus. All are invited to enter and be saved:

 Internet, photographer not named

Stained glass windows at Notre-Dame (above) or frescoes (here) continue the impression of a people.

Ramsay Casadesus Rawson

   Basilica di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria in Galatina, Italy, late 14th century

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Saint-Louis is about the monarchy, not Jesus. 

• The multitude is gone, austerity highlights power and at the summit the king (Saint Louis / Louis IX, toward 1250) stands at the summit alone and wears a crown instead of a halo.

         Carolyn Ristau 

                                        Carlton Perrett

• The painting of Louis XIII springs out at the entry of the nave, but the crucifix and Crown of Thorns before which he kneels are almost invisible:

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For the kings themselves, being God's representative brought desolation. 

Louis XIV found the role "delicious" but it overwhelmed his father and successors. 

Louis XIII thought himself inadequate to the task, a feeling that contributed to his stuttering and ill health. Louis XV hated the public existence royalty imposed and by avoiding it hastened its demise. Louis XVI's library shows his vocation of science.  

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Saint-Louis took up the Rome's style of Counter-Reformation and became the model for the churches of its day:

Il Gésu / zoom

Rome's first Baroque church, begun in 1574

 

      Saint-Thomas d'Aquin, first stone 1632 ; Saint-Roch, 1653; Saint-Sulpice 1646

With no eternity, no Last Judgement, 
a crucifix one can hardly see

and emphasis on the king instead of Jesus,
the new church announces
that salvation depends on obeying the king.

These churches herald

the "Alliance of Throne and Altar."

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Next,

A royal statue for a bridge