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SAINT-DENIS
THE AMBULATORY

From the South Transept we climb the steps up to the Ambulatory; on the right (south) (effectively in a continuation of the south transept) is the monument to Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. We then go around the ambulatory to see monuments that were moved to Saint-Denis from demolished churches during the Revolution, until we come, on the right (north), to the corresponding continuation of the North Transept to view the monuments (not tombs) of Henry II and Catherine de Medici

Blanche of Brittany (?) Blanche of France Charles, Count of Alençon & Marie of Spain   Childebert Clovis I Frédégonde
Henry II & Catherine of Medici Jean of France Léon V de Lusignan, King of Armenia Louis XVI & Marie-Antoinette Marie of Bourbon - Vendôme Robert II of Artois Unknown princess


Louis XVI & Marie-Antoinette

King Louis XVI (1743-93). The King and Queen were buried in the Madeleine Cemetery following their execution.  In 1815 following the Restoration their remains were brought to Saint-Denis for burial in the crypt.		 Marie-Antoinette ( -1793) These kneeling statues ('orants') were carved by Pierre Petitot and Edme Gaulle between 1816 - 1817

 
Léon V de Lusignan (1342 - 1393), last king of Little Armenia; he was defeated by the Mameluks and took refuge in France in 1381.
Note that he holds his gloves, a sign of rank in the eastern tradition.
Provenance: Church of the Célestins, Paris. A drawing of the complete monument may be found on the Lost Monuments page
Effigies from Destroyed Churches




 
Charles II of Valois, Count of Alençon (1297 - 1346), son of Charles of Valois and Margaret of Sicily; and hence brother of Philip VI. Also his second  his wife, Marie of Spain (1319 - 1376), daughter of Ferdinand, Lord of Lara. His shield is shown to the immediate right.
Provenance: Church of the Jacobins, Paris V. A drawing of the complete monument is shown below


Top: Blanche of Brittany (1327) This is an uncertain attribution. Blanche was buried in the Church of the Jacobins.
Provenance: Uncertain

Right: Unknown princess; first half of 14th century.
Provenance: Unknown

Immediately above: Charles of Valois shield as left

Above top: Blanche of France  (1247)
Above bottom:  Jean of France (1247)
Children of Saint Louis and Margaret of Provence
Enameled copper. A technique the Limoges specialized in in the 13th century. A rare example.
Provenance: Royaumont Abbey
Right: Drawings from Gaignières of the tomb of Blanche. Near right is the while structure with the effigy on a tomb chest under an arch; a painting of Blanche is on the back wall of the arch. Far right is a drawing of the enamelled copper effigy: this is labelled Jeanne de France: however the Latin inscription below reads: 'Hic jacet Blancha...' On examination of both the other drawing and the photograph it is clear that this is actually Blanche.
Note that the head has been renewed in later times.


Robert II of Artois (1300  - 1317). Commissioned by his mother, Mahaut, Countess of Artois from Jean Pépin de Huy, 1320. This is said to be the earliest military effigy.
Provenance: Church of the Cordeliers, Paris

Some Effigies of The Merovingian Dynasty

 Above top: Clovis I (481 - 511) The conqueror of Gaul and baptized by St Remigius. Founder of the church in which he was buried. Sculpted around 1220-1230.
Provenance:  Abbey of Saint Genevieve du Mont, Paris

Above bottom: Childebert (496 - 558), son of Clovis I. Sculpted c. 1160. The earliest recumbent effigy in Northern France. The King holds a model of the church which he founded and was subsequently buried. Note that the effigy is in much lower relief than the later one of Clovis, and set into the surrounding stone. Limestone.
Provenance: Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris

Right: Frédégonde (545 - 596) Third  wife of Chilperic I. Sculpted c. 1160. An unusual technique has been employed and this is the only example in France: the sculptor has hollowed out the limestone leaving the face, belt, hands and folds of the garments in low relief. In the hollowed out areas the artist has placed stones and copper filaments,
Provenance: Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris
 
Henry II & Catherine of Medici


Henry II (1519 - 1559) & Catherine of Medici (1519 - 1589) These marble figures show the king and queen in their coronation robes; they lie on bronze beds. By Germain Pilon. This bronze bed was melted down at the Revolution and later reconstructed by Viollet-le-Duc
This monument was intended for the Valois Dome (see below)

The Valois Dome



This structure was commissioned by Catherine of Medici as a mausoleum to house the Valois tombs.  Only the lower two staged and the crypt were ever built, that is, the dome drawn above was never completed. The lower stage contained six radiating chapels each with an altar and below in the crypt six related chapels designed to contain coffins. The monument to Henry II and Catherine of Medici, shown above, was situated in the centre. It was built in the cemetery to the north of Saint-Denis and entered from the north transept.

By 1719 the structure, which had never been put to its intended use, had fallen into ruin and was demolished. The Henry II and Catherine of Medici monument, the only structure to be installed, was moved to the north transept of the church where we see it today


Charles II of Valois and Marie of Spain
(see above)
Marie of Bourbon-Vendôme (1515-1538) Carved in very fine grain limestone. She was daughter of Charles de Bourbon and aunt of Henry IV and her body was placed in the tomb by her sister, the Abbess of Notre-Dame-de Soissons.

Provenance: The Church of the Célestines, Paris, where she was buried		 Catherine of Medici
 
 
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