|
The abbey church of Saint-Denis played an important role in the development of Gothic as early as in the 12th century under Abbot Suger (1081-1151). He enriched and embellished his abbey by the construction of a new church built in the nascent Gothic style. In 1231 Abbot Eudes Clément ordered a further reconstruction, perhaps because the upper parts of the Suger building were already in danger of collapse, but perhaps also simply to acquire at long last a completely modern church. The ancient and hitherto spared Carolingian nave was now sacrificed, though the ambulatory of Abbot Suger's choir was preserved.
The photo shows the windows and the rose windows in the nave and transept clerestory. The Gothic architecture built after the 1220s in France is called Rayonnant, after the sunburst rays of the delicate rose windows of the period.Thanks to technical innovations, the shapes in window tracery had become richer and more filigreed, the complicated design for them being sketched beforehand on parchment.
|
