World History and Culture: The exhibition "Saint Louis and Relics of the Sainte-Chapelle" in the Moscow Kremlin

March 3, 2017 in the Moscow Kremlin Museums present the exhibition "Saint Louis and Relics of the Sainte-Chapelle", designed to familiarize the Russian public with the greatest achievements of the French medieval culture. This is a joint exhibition project of the Moscow Kremlin Museums and the Centre of National Monuments (France) with the support of the French Embassy; it will become the central event of the of cross-cultural Year of tourism in Russia and France.

The exhibition features true masterpieces of French Gothic art associated with the era of one of the most famous of French kings - St. Louis IX (1214-1270). Most of them for the first time are introduced in Russia - including works by such major collections of France, the Louvre Museum, the National Museum of the Middle Ages (Cluny), a number of provincial French museums, as well as manuscripts and documents from the National Library and National Archives of France. The exhibition was attended by the State Hermitage Museum, which provided a gorgeous Limoges enamel and ivory works from XIII - beginning of XIV century from their collections.

Saint Louis is known as the perfect European sovereign, personifying the medieval idea of a fair Christian king – pious sovereign and Christian knight, defender of the Holy Land (Louis took the lead in two of the Crusades), merciful to the poor, founder of temples and monasteries, patron of arts and sciences. His reign was the heyday of Gothic art in France.

One of the biggest deeds of Saint Louis was the acquisition in 1239 of the relics of the Passion of Christ, the most important of which was the Crown of Thorns of the Savior, now kept in the Notre Dame Cathedral. The Crown was purchased by Saint Louis from the Emperor of the Latin Empire Baldwin II for a huge sum. The relic was solemnly moved from Constantinople to Paris, giving the city a new heart as it was the most sacred relic of the Christian world. It turned French king of the Capetians dynasty into the most Christian ruler of all kings. The reliquary made for the Crown of Thorns in 1806 will be among the core exhibits. In the following years Louis collected more than twenty relics of the Passion – particles of the Holy Cross, the stone of the Holy Sepulchre, the centurion Longinus Spear and others. To store the greatest relics of the Christian world the Holy Chapel (Sainte-Chapelle) was built as a part of the royal palace in Paris. Its structure reminds a precious reliquary made of stone and stained glass - a masterpiece of Gothic art, and by far the most complete ensemble of stained-glass windows of the XIII century.

One of the key points of the exhibition is stained glass from the Sainte-Chapelle, partially dismantled in the XIX century and stored at the Center for National Monuments. It will be for the first time that such a big quantity of them will be shown outside France. Bright and saturated colors of stained-glass windows which were formerly illuminating the Royal Chapel will be now shining under the ancient arches of the Patriarch’s Palace. Its deeply exalted painting that tells the biblical story of mankind from the Creation to the Resurrection of Christ will enable the viewer to discover the world of a medieval man, his ideas of beauty, holiness and nature of power.

Times of Saint Louis are marked by the blossom of Gothic art of sculpture. Exhibits of sublime plastic will be represented by sculptural portraits of the king from the collection of the Cluny Museum, as well as his daughter Isabella’s sculptural portrait from the collegiate church in Poissy, where Saint Louis was baptized, and sculptural image of the Virgin and Child from the Louvre.

On display will be magnificent jewelry samples of high Gothic golden age – exquisite works of Paris craftsmen and famous Limoges enamels, quatrefoil reliquary with the image of Saint Francis of Assisi, crown reliquary which Saint Louis presented to the Monastery of the Dominicans in Liège, according to the legend, and the Gospels in a precious cover for celebrating liturgies in the Holy Chapel.

A rare opportunity to explore an exquisite art of medieval book illumination will certainly attract interest of the audience. There will be a chance to admire colourful miniatures and ornaments in manuscripts, authors of which seemed to have found inspiration in a vivid adornment of the Sainte-Chapelle.