Treasury of Saint-Denis

The Treasury of Saint-Denis, kept at the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris until the French Revolution, was the main repository of the regalia of the Kingdom of France, including the ancien régime portion of what are now known as the French Crown Jewels. Its surviving items are presently scattered between the Louvre, the Cabinet des Médailles of the French National Library, and other museums.

A complementary set of coronation-related regalia was kept at Reims Cathedral, where some remain exhibited at the Palace of Tau.

History

One of the engravings from the description of the treasury by Michel Félibien, 1706. Among other objects, it depicts Joyeuse (far left), the Cross of Saint Eligius (left), the bust reliquary of Saint Benedict (center), the Screen of Charlemagne (right); and on the front row, from left to right, Suger's Eagle, the Navette de Saint Denis, the Sardonyx Ewer, and the Crown of Charlemagne.

The abbey of Saint Denis became a royal necropolis with the burial there of Dagobert I in the 7th century, confirmed as such by the burials of Charles Martel and Pepin the Short, and became an anchor shrine of the French monarchy under the early Capetian dynasty. Major donors also included Charles the Bald in the 9th century, Louis VI and Louis VII at the time when Suger was both the Saint-Denis abbot and a key royal adviser, Philip II, Saint Louis, and other French monarchs. As centuries went by, many objects acquired a semi-mythical aura and were given anachronistic labels as having belonged to Solomon, Saint Denis, Dagobert, Charlemagne, Roland, Saint Louis, and other iconic figures of the past.

A number of the treasury's precious objects, including the main royal crown, were destroyed during the French Wars of Religion. In 1706, the treasury was described in detail by the Maurist scholar Michel Félibien in his Histoire de l'abbaye royale de Saint-Denys en France, including engravings of the precious objects, at a time when they were kept in seven large wooden closets.[1]

Many others objects were looted or destroyed during the turmoil of the French Revolution. A number of objects, including the throne of Dagobert, were transferred to the National Library in September 1791. In 1792, following legislation in May that abolished congregations, religious activity stopped at the abbey. Turmoil followed a year later, as the royal necropolis was desecrated in October 1793. On 5 December 1793, some of the treasury's objects were deposited in the Louvre museum. Other were sold in July 1798, such as the 7th-century "brooch of Dagobert”.[2] Even among the objects that had been taken under public custody, some were stolen, in 1795 from the Louvre and in 1804 from the Bibliothèque nationale. Others were stolen in 1830.[3] Meanwhile, the reconstituted canons of Saint-Denis acquired several ancient objects to replenish their treasury, and others were donated by the monarchs during the Bourbon Restoration, but a number of these were stolen again in 1882. A few additional items disappeared during the 20th century.[4]

In 1991, the treasury of Saint-Denis was the theme of an exhibition at the Louvre.[5]

Selected lost items

Selected surviving items

See also

Notes

  1. "The Treasure of Saint Denis". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  2. "Brooch of Dagobert". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  3. "Brooch for a Cope". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  4. Michèle Bimbenet-Privat Michèle; Brigitte Lainé (2007), "Reconstituer le trésor de Saint-Denis ? Les acquisitions d'orfèvrerie ancienne (XVIe et XVIIe siècles) sous la Monarchie de Juillet" (PDF), Bulletin Monumental, T. 165, No 2: 195-207
  5. Daniel Alcouffe (1991). Le trésor de Saint-Denis: exposition Musée du Louvre, Paris, 12 mars - 17 juin, 1991. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux.
  6. "Crown of St. Louis". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  7. "Crown of Queen Jeanne d'Evreux". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  8. "Treasure: Regalia". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  9. "Scepter of Dagobert". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  10. "Ring of St. Denis". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  11. "Main de Justice". Louvre.
  12. "Screen of Charlemagne". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  13. "intaille, "Julie, fille de l'empereur Titus" (inv.58.2089)". Bibliothèque nationale de France.
  14. "Cross of Philippe-Auguste". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  15. "Bust Reliquary of St. Denis". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  16. "Bust Reliquary of Saint Benedict". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  17. "Shrine of Saint Louis". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  18. "Cross of Charles the Bald (also called Cross of Charlemagne)". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  19. "croix, "Fragment de la croix de Saint Eloi" (Inv.56.324)". Bibliothèque nationale de France.
  20. "Cross Reliquary of Saint Lawrence". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  21. "Jug from Marriage at Cana". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  22. "Éperons du sacre, Regalia". Louvre.
  23. "Emeraude de Saint Louis - St Louis Emerald". Centre de Recherches Géographiques et Géochimiques.
  24. "Anneau sigillaire dit "de saint Louis"". Louvre.
  25. "Fermail dit fermail de saint Louis". Réunion des Musées Nationaux.
  26. "coupe, "Coupe dite de Chosroès" (Camée.379)". Bibliothèque nationale de France.
  27. "camée, "Auguste" (Camée.234)". Bibliothèque nationale de France.
  28. "camée, "Buste d'Auguste" (Camée.233)". Bibliothèque nationale de France.
  29. "olifant (Inv.55.344)". Bibliothèque nationale de France.
  30. "Reliquary of the Bones of Saint Pancrace". Images of Medieval Art and Architecture.
  31. "Statuette (part of a group); Virgin and Child from the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis (Vierge de Saint-Denis) (Back)". Gothic Ivories.
  32. "coupe, "Navette de Saint-Denis" (Camée.373)". Bibliothèque nationale de France.
  33. "Chalice of the Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis". National Gallery of Art.
  34. "Aiguière de sardoine". Louvre.
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