Sculpture monumentale au temps de Louis IX. Au-delà du sujet, la force du dessein

This paper examines various sets sculpted during the reign of King Louis IX, focusing on the political and commemorative significance of iconography, based on details and particularities. Thus, the Coronation of the Virgin at the Villeneuve-l’Archevêque portal celebrates not only the triumph of the Virgin, but also, with a glorifying and memorial aim, the reception by the King of France of the Christ’s crown of thorns. Similarly, the sculpted decoration of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, “classical” as chosen iconographic subjects, nonetheless contains beautiful inventions linked to the architectural setting and the “monstrative” and highly symbolic function of the building. Perhaps in reaction, the canons of Notre-Dame de Paris decided to show at the Porte Rouge an image of the king’s submission to religious power.