florida state university college of visual arts, theatre and dance ...

king hold the French crown, scepter, and hand of justice while beyond them is a background of
classical architecture, including an entablature with metopes decorated with additional crowns.
Not only does the crown of thorns in the print recall the Sainte-Chapelle, but along with the
emblems of power held by the angels it functions as an attribute of Louis IX, reiterating his role
in securing the most holy relics and establishing France’s preeminent place in Christendom. 48
Since the Sainte-Chapelle’s essential function was to house the Passion relics, which
made France the New Holy Land, Louis XIII recognized that all available royal resources
including a personal gift of money must be dedicated to restoring the damage caused by the
fire. 49 Although the restoration project would only be complete in the 1660s, the channeling of
funds into this project contributed to the lack of financial assistance to Notre-Dame-des-
Victoires. By turning his attention to the Sainte-Chapelle, the king discovered that churches with
established connections to the French kingdom could also be effective political tools, functioning
as visual propaganda to reinforce France’s privileged status with God.
The Chapel of St. Ursula at the Sorbonne
As work proceeded on the Sainte-Chapelle, two additional opportunities to support
churches connected to the French kingdom presented themselves to Louis XIII, the chapel of the
Sorbonne and Notre-Dame-de-Paris. In 1634 work began at the Sorbonne on a new chapel of St.
Ursula, designed by Jacques Lemercier. It replaced the existing structure, which had been on site
since the fourteenth century (fig. 94). The plans for the chapel followed in the wake of work
undertaken by Cardinal Richelieu in 1626 to rebuild the fifteenth-century collegial structures. 50
The building is most frequently associated with the French minister, who conceived of it as a
personal funerary chapel and provided a vast sum to ensure its construction. Less well known is
the financial contribution to the building by Louis XIII, who in 1633 gave twelve thousand livres
to help with construction. 51
While the king may have seen the work at the Sorbonne as a way to enhance the beauty
of the capital, he had several other reasons to contribute to the rebuilding of the chapel. 52 Among
these was the Sorbonne’s long history in France. The institution was founded in 1257 by Robert
de Sorbon, the chaplain and confessor to Louis IX, and approved by the pope in 1259. To
facilitate development of the college, the thirteenth-century king donated land and houses along
the rue Coupe-Gueule (today the rue de la Sorbonne), ensuring that the masters and students
would have a place to study. 53 Because the Sorbonne, which had only grown in prestige since its
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