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L surmounted by a royal crown and flanked by martyrs’ palms, while others have the
monograms of Sts. Ignatius and Francis Xavier or are simply blank (fig. 50). The clerestory
windows in the nave and transept, some of which are original, likewise indicate the royal
program by including golden fleurs-de-lis and the blue letter L in the colored borders framing the
transparent glass. 114
The twin focus of the interior demonstrated the dual allegiance pursued by the French
Jesuit fathers. While the Gallican imagery promoted loyalty to the French crown, the Jesuit
symbols recalled the mission of the Society and its allegiance to the pope. To avoid any
suggestion that the Jesuit’s twin goals might be construed as offensive to the crown, I propose
that the fathers of the maison professe introduced one additional example of their devotion to the
French monarchy—three paintings in the transepts showing scenes from the life of St. Louis and
one dedicated to Louis XIII and Louis IX. Dating between 1639 and 1642 and coming from the
studio of Simon Vouet, the series included St. Louis Receiving the Crown of Thorns, St. Louis
Leaving for the Crusade and Leaving the Country to his Mother, Louis XIII offering the Model of
the Church to St. Louis, and The Death of St. Louis. 115 Each painting hung on one of the lateral
walls of the transepts, above an arched passageway leading to the side chapels (fig. 41). 116 While
previous scholarship has focused on attribution and stylistic analysis, the series represents a new
manner of depicting the life of St. Louis in works of art, an approach chosen specifically by the
Jesuits to correspond to the function of the paintings. 117 When viewed as a series, the images
work together to prominently display the French fathers’ acceptance of the king’s divine right.
Except for Louis XIII offering the Model of the Church to St. Louis, each of the paintings
depicts a major event from the life of Louis IX, common themes for works of art devoted to the
saint. Previous series tended to focus on images illustrating Louis IX’s humility and piety,
depicting scenes such as the king washing feet, administering to the poor, or burying the bones of
crusaders, an example of which is found in the fourteenth-century manuscript The Chronicle of
France (fig. 51). 118 Contrasting with this tradition, the works at Saint-Louis-des-Jésuites stress
another aspect of the king’s life. Instead of emphasizing the humble and pious nature of the
saint, the scenes depict heroic events, aggrandizing the actual facts of the story and drawing
attention to Louis IX’s divine-like status.
St. Louis Receiving the Crown of Thorns shows Christ, elevated on a bank of clouds,
handing the precious relic to a kneeling Louis IX (fig. 52). 119 The French crown and royal
104