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façade drew visual emphasis to the main entrance. A tradition, however, existed in Northern
Italy and the regions of Alsace and Lorraine that placed them at the east end next to the choir or
apse, accenting the location of altars. 46 The arrangement spread from Lorraine to France and by
the mid-eleventh century was present in the Ile-de-France, Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris
providing one example. Variations on twin towers located to the east of the transepts continued
in the following centuries, providing formal sources for the Oratory. Among these is the Lady
Chapel at Saint-Germer-de-Fly, a large almost free-standing rectangular structure abutting the
apse of the church (fig. 15). 47 At this juncture, two stair towers flank each side of the chapel.
Like many of the precedents, the Oratory’s towers corresponded to the location of the
high altar in the apse, emphasizing the building’s liturgical center. Another aspect that
contributed to the unusual position was the incomplete state of the nave, making it impractical to
even consider having towers at the front of the church. The building needed the stair towers to
access the upper areas; the placement of the towers next to the apse provided a solution to the
problem presented by the unfinished nave.
While these factors contributed to the location of the towers, I believe the foremost
reasons came from the symbolism of the form and the 1623 designation of the church as a royal
chapel. 48 Towers were part of a venerable symbolic tradition in architecture. Not only did they
enhance the monumentality of a structure, but towers also announced the presence of a
prominent edifice within an urban setting. 49 Buildings with twin-towered facades carried
additional meaning. Dating back to antiquity, the form functioned as a symbol of rulership,
identifying city gateways and royal palaces. 50 Revived during the Carolingian period, twintowered
facades on churches became a sign of royal patronage, symbolizing the merging of
heavenly and earthly powers such as occurs at Charlemagne’s palace chapel at Aachen. 51 The
use of twin towers on ecclesiastical architecture to connote authority expanded beyond the Holy
Roman Empire to include among others French kings, who adopted the form for palace projects
such as the thirteenth-century Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and the fourteenth-century royal chapel at
Vincennes (fig. 16). Even in the seventeenth-century the form retained its meaning, as
demonstrated by Pope Paul V’s decision to promote papal primacy by adding towers to St.
Peter’s Basilica. 52
The towers’ symbolism combined with Louis XIII’s desire to unite the new palace chapel
with the proposed design of the Louvre, provided the architect with two potent reasons to
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