Day 2

The kaleidoscope of colors dancing through the magnificent stained glass windows of Sainte-Chapelle creates the impression of being inside a queen's jewel box.

Two thousand square feet of magnificent stained glass surround the entire upper floor of the cathedral. Only thin ribs of stone support the towering windows. Yet in the over seven hundred years since Sainte-Chapelle was built, not a crack has appeared in the entire structure. Dating from the thirteenth century, the magnificent glass depicts over 1000 stories from both the New and Old Testaments.

Built in the French Gothic style, it sits in the heart of Paris, on the Ile de la Cite just west of Notre Dame. King Louis IX (Saint Louis) had it built to house the precious holy relics that he purchased from the Emperor of Constantinople, Baudouin II, a French nobleman who was in need of some ready cash. It cost more than two and a half times for the Crown of Thorns than it cost to build the entire cathedral!

Completed in record time, this stunning cathedral took just six years to erect and was consecrated in 1248. Sainte-Chapelle replaced the Royal Chapel of St. Nicholas as the place of worship for the royal family and the location of the holy relics. Ownership of the precious relics affirmed the French royalty's authority over the feudal lords by contributing to the notion that the French kings were a continuation of the Hebrew kings and therefore God's chosen rulers.

But sadly, Sainte-Chapelle fell on some very hard times. During the French revolution many of France's cathedrals suffered attacks because they were viewed as symbols of the hated monarchy. Sainte-Chapelle was no exception. The reliquary shrine, which housed the relics, was melted down, and the treasured relics were dispersed. Fragments of the lower windows were removed and scattered throughout Europe. Today some can be seen in the Cluny Museum in Paris, the Museum of Rouen in Normandy, and two churches in England - Wylton and Twycross.

It is hard to imagine that these beautiful windows were unappreciated in the beginning of the 19th century. The lower parts of the windows were removed in order to make room for filing cabinets that were installed to store the records of the Palais de Justice.

Fortunately there was a revival of interest and appreciation for Gothic architecture in the mid-19th century. The restoration of Sainte-Chapelle was begun in 1841 and completed 16 years later. The relics that were spared destruction during the French Revolution are housed in Notre Dame Cathedral.                  

The great dealer of avant-garde art, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, once remarked, "Picasso was not a painter whose collaboration had been requested by a ceramist but an artist who was fascinated by ceramics. In Picasso's oeuvre, ceramics occupy an especially important place." Picasso was in his sixties when he began working in ceramics, and he continued until nearly the end of his life. In ceramics he pursued the same themes that dominated his life's work - the human figure, particularly the female figure; the bull and bullfight; and references to the long history of art, here, the ancient ceramic traditions of the Mediterranean. All the ceramics were created in the French Provençal village of Vallauris, which has a centuries-old tradition of pottery making.

His sculptures were also a hoot.  I laughed at the sight of several.