On the Abbey Church of St Denis

On the Abbey Church of St Denis and Its Art Treasures by Abbot Suger, translated by Erwin Panofsky, 87 pages

The renovation of the Abbey of St Denis in the Ile de France, undertaken in the 12th century by Suger, the powerful and influential abbot, friend and advisor to kings and popes, is widely considered to mark the birth of Gothic architecture.  Aside from the considerable expense of the work, Suger faced two major obstacles - the antiquity of the original building and the corresponding reverence in which it was held, and the contemporary Cistercian reform movement with its uncompromising spokesman St Bernard of Clairvaux, implacably hostile towards displays of wealth and opulence.  These two sources of opposition inspired Suger to write multiple explanations of his work, which simultaneously serve as celebrations and defenses.

Panofsky cannily notes that there is no difference for Suger between his own glory and his glorification of the abbey, the two are indissolubly wedded together in his mind.  This marriage, in turn, has as its purpose the greater glory of God.  Suger utilizes the mystical hierarchies of Pseudo-Dionysius, then believed to be identical with the St Denis buried at the abbey, to justify the aesthetic splendor of his renovations, but he is just as proud of his improvements to the abbey's landholdings and finances as its architecture and decoration.