Sainte-Chapelle, Ile-de-la-Cite, Paris, France

Sainte-Chapelle arising from the midst of the Palais de Justice on Ile-de-la-Cite.  The spire is a 19th century design by Viollet-le-Duc,

<http://mappinggothic.org/archmap/media/buildings/001000/1168/images/300/1168_00118_w.jpg>

West entrance to Sainte-Chapelle.  The lower story was the parish church for people living and working on Ile-de-la-Cite.  The upper entrance is for the king and court to enter the palatine chapel.

<http://mappinggothic.org/archmap/media/buildings/001000/1168/images/300/1168_00231_w.jpg >

The lower chapel was a parish church.

<http://mappinggothic.org/archmap/media/buildings/001000/1168/images/300/1168_00225_w.jpg>

 The eastern end (chevet) of the upper chapel of Sainte-Chapelle.

<http://mappinggothic.org/archmap/media/buildings/001000/1168/images/300/1168_00191_w.jpg>

The Jesse Tree window is the eastern lancet of a two lancet window with tracery above. Window J.

<http://mappinggothic.org/archmap/media/buildings/001000/1168/images/300/1168_00080_w.jpg>

     In the middle of the Palais de Justice on the Ile-de-la-Cite in the middle of the Seine River in the heart of Paris stands the Sainte-Chapelle.  This royal chapel was built between 1239 and 1248 by King Louis IX of France to house his growing collection of relics, especially the Crown of Thorns.   In 1239, Louis IX paid 135,000 livres to a consortium of Venetian merchants who acted as moneylenders. The Venetians had taken possession of the Crown of Thorns relic when Latin emperor of Constantinople, Baldwin II (ruled 1228-61), needed security for a loan of 12,135 gold hyperperi.  (The hyperperon was a gold coin of the Byzantine Empire weighing 4.45 grams and containing 20.5 carat gold.)  In 1241, Louis IX obtained other objects from Baldwin of Jerusalem. The list of items that Louis IX bought:

1. - A piece of the cross

2. - Blood of Christ
3. - The "nappies" of the infant Jesus
4 - Another piece of the cross
5. - Blood from a picture of Christ
6. - The chain
7. - Sacred cloth inserted in a picture (Mandylion)
8 - Stone from the tomb
9. - Milk of the Virgin Mary
10. - The spear
11. - A victorious cross
12. - The purple mantle
13. - The reed
14. - The sponge
15. - A part of the shroud (sudarii) in which Christ's body was wrapped in
the sepulcher
16. - The towel used to dry the Apostles' feet
17. - Moses’ rod
18. - A part of John the Baptist’s head
19. - St. Blas’[Blaise's] head
20. - St. Clement’s head
21. - St. Simeon’s head (Cesar Barta. The Shroud sent to Louis IX of France by Baldwin II, the Latin Emperor at Constantinople. <https://www.shroud.com/pdfs/n56part5.pdf>)

Peasants mowing hay from June in Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Sainte-Chapelle is on the upper right.  Made about 1410-1489. 

<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Les_Tr%C3%A8s_Riches_Heures_du_duc_de_Berry_juin.jpg/371px-Les_Tr%C3%A8s_Riches_Heures_du_duc_de_Berry_juin.jpg >                 

     King Louis IX built his jewel of a chapel to house his collection of relics including the Passion relics that he may have intended to become a pilgrimage site.  It was built in what the 19th century art historians called the Rayonnant (radiating) style named for the radiating spoke in a rose window.  The masonry walls all by disappear, replaced with the red and blue jewel colors of stained glass.

     The chapel was built on two levels.  The lower chapel functioned as a parish church.  But the tall splendid upper chapel was a royal chapel for the use of the king and court. The stained glass windows feature many scenes of coronations.  One art historian has suggested that Louis IX, the most Christian of kings, intended the chapel as a pilgrimage site not for a saint but for the concept of sacred kingship,  The French king controlled only a fraction of modern day France directly.  About half the territory was controlled by others as fiefdoms, and England directly controlled south-west France.  So the cult of the king needed to be bolstered to strengthen the monarchy. (See: Meredith Cohen. The Sainte-Chapelle and the Construction of Sacral Monarchy: Royal Architecture in Thirteenth-Century Paris. (2014) New York: Cambridge University Press.)

     In 1794 a Parish mob broke into the chapel and dispersed or destroyed the relics except for the reed base of the Crown of Thorns now house at Notre-Dame in Paris and many of the individual thorns that were disbursed as gifts including a pair of thorns to Mary Queen of Scots when she married the French Dauphin in 1560. (Several of the Holy Thorn Reliquaries were on exhibit at the British Museum in the fall of 2011. See: <http://www.learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/The-Holy-Thorn-Reliquary.php >
<http://www.learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/Reliquary-Pendant-for-the-Holy-Thorn.php> < http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20110923_1.htm>)

     In the 1840s the Sainte-Chapelle was restored.  The stained glass windows were again restored from 2008-2015.

     On the northeastern side of the east end chevet is a two lancet window in bay J.  The right hand window is a Jesse Tree and the left hand window has scenes from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The tall Jesse Tree window contains 57 sections with figures.

Isaiah and Jesse Window in bay J with tracery at the top of the double lancet window.

<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Sainte-Chapelle_haute_vitrail_12.jpeg>

Whole Jesse Tree window in bay J.

Photo credits for all Jesse Tree window pictures: Painton Cowen

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6l-whole.jpg>

Top two panels of the Jesse Tree window with six gold and white doves and 2 angels praying.  (I am not sure what happened to the seventh dove when the window was restored in the 19th century.) The two angels appear to be mirror images of each other.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-9-11-IMG_8788.jpg>

First panel below the top panels with  Jesus Christ seated.  He holds a cross scepter in his left hand and rest a book, the Gospels on his left knee.  The right hand is held up in blessing.  He is flanked by two unidentified prophets.  Each of the prophets in this Jesse Tree window has a blue nimbus.

http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-14-16-IMG_8788.jpg

Second panel below the top has the Blessed Virgin Mary.  She is crowned and grasping the Jesse vine with both hands.  She is not holding any objects. Two unidentified prophets flank her.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-19-21-IMG_8788.jpg>

First panel below the Virgin Mary. The center section of the generic King of Judah is a replacement. This is the 14th king in the Jesse Tree window and 13th generic King of Judah.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-25-27-210506.JPG>

Second panel below the Virgin Mary.  Subject is a generic crowned King of Judah, the 12th generic king and the 13th king. The center section is a replacement panel. Note that the prophets are not identified.  They are repetitions of other prophets in the Jesse Tree window.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-32-34-IMG_8787.jpg>

Third panel below the Virgin Mary.  This is the 11th generic King of Judah and 12th king in the window  The prophets are not identified and their designs are repetitions of other prophets.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-38-40-IMG_8787.jpg>

Fourth panel below the Virgin Mary.  This is the 10th generic King of Judah and the 11th king in the window.  Prophet on the left is identified as Amos.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-45-47-IMG_8786.jpg>

Fifth panel below the Virgin Mary,  This is the 9th generic King of Judah and 10th king in the window.  The prophets are nor identified.  Their designs are repeats of other prophets in the window.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-51-53-IMG_8786.jpg >

Sixth panel below the Virgin Mary,  This is the 8th generic King of Judah and 9th king in the window.  The prophet on the left is Isaias (or Isaiah).  The prophet on the right is not identified.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-56-58-IMG_8786.jpg>

Seventh panel below the Virgin Mary.  This is the 7th generic King of Judah and 8th king in the window.  The prophet on the left appears to have something written on the scroll but it is not now readable.  The prophet on the right is a repeated figure.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-63-65-IMG_8782.jpg>

Eight panel below the Virgin Mary,  This is the 6th generic King of Judah and the 7th king in the window.  The king section of the panel is a replacement.  Neither flanking prophet is identified and both are repeated figures.

http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-67-69-IMG_8783.jpg

Ninth panel below the Virgin Mary.  This is the 5th generic King of Judah and the 6th king in the window.  Neither prophet is identified and both are repeated designs.  Both the replacement king above and this king appear to have wings or something else beside an invisible chair behind them.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-74-76-IMG_8783.jpg>

Tenth panel below the Virgin Mary.  This is the 4th generic King of Judah and 5th king in the window.  Neither prophet is identified and both prophets are repeats of other prophets in the window.
<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-80-82-IMG_8781.jpg>


Eleventh panel below the Virgin Mary.  This is the 3rd generic King of Judah and the 4th king in the window.  Though both prophets appear to have writing on the scrolls that they hold, it is not now readable.
<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-87-89-IMG_8781.jpg>

Twelfth panel below the Virgin Mary.  All three sections of this window are replacements.  This is the second generic king of Judah and 4th king overall.  This king also appears to have wings as seen in one original and one replacement panel above.  The designs for the prophets are also repeats. 

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-93-95-IMG_8779.jpg>

Thirteenth panel below the Virgin Mary. The flanking prophets in this panel are replacements.  This king who is immediately above King David should be King Solomon but there is no identifying iconography.  This is the second "original glass" panel that appears to have a king with wings.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6r-98-100-IMG_8779.jpg>

Fourteenth panel below the Virgin Mary and first panel above Jesse.  This is King David bowing a waisted vielle.  Both prophets with indecipherable writing on the scrolls that they hold are replacements.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6-105-107-IMG_8778.jpg>

The bottom panel with Jesse sitting up in bed.  The trunk of the white tree grows from his loins.  The center section and the two flanking prophets are all 19th century replacement panels.

<http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/StChapelle/images/w6-105-107-IMG_8778.jpg>

   Because of the complexity of the Jesse Tree Window at Sainte-Chapelle, I thought that a diagram might be helpful in keeping track of the replacement sections in the window and the repeated panels.  I assigned each row and column a letter and number designation to make it easier.  Row 1 and 2 represent the top of the lancet window and not the tracery above.

ROW	Column  A	Column B	Column C
1		2 golden doves
2	Angel mirror image of C2	4 doves	Angel mirror image of A2
3	Blue nimbed prophet pointing down.  Same as A6 & A9	Jesus Christ seated with cross halo. Right hand raised in blessing.  Book resting on left knee and cross-scepter in left hand.	Blue nimbed prophet with scroll in left hand and right hand across chest..
4	Blue nimbed prophet with arms across chest, pointing outward with left hand.  Same as A7	Crowned and seated Virgin Mary with both hands holding white Jesse Tree vine	Blue nimbed prophet holding scroll with both hands .  Same as C13, & C15
5	Blue nimbed prophet. Same as A13 &A14	King of Judah holding vine Modern replacement	Blue nimbed prophet with scroll.  Same as C9 &C11
6	Blue nimbed prophet pointing down. Same as A3 & A9	King of Judah holding vine Modern replacement	Blue nimbed prophet with scroll pointing to king.  Same as C7
7	Blue nimbed prophet with arms across chest, pointing outward with left hand.  Same as A4	King of Judah holding on to Jesse Tree vine. Same as B5 and B6 that are modern replacements.	Blue nimbed prophet with scroll pointing to king. Same as C6
8	Forward facing blue nimbed prophet Amos.  Amos written on scroll. Same as A10 A11, A12, & A16 .	King of Judah holding on to Jesse Tree vine.	Blue nimbed prophet with both arms pointing toward king. Same as C10, C12 & C14.
9	¾ forward facing, blue nimbed prophet. Similar to A3 & A6	King of Judah holding on to Jesse Tree vine.  Same as B10, B14 &B15	Blue nimbed prophet pointing to king.  Same as C5 & C11
10	Prophet Isaias (Isaiah). Same as prophet Amos, A8 and prophet A11, A12, & A16,.  Name written on scroll.	King of Judah holding vine.  Same as B9, B14 & B15.	Blue nimbed prophet with both arms pointing toward king, Same as C8, C12, & C14.
11	Prophet with name on scroll standing in same position as A8, A10, A12, & A16. Cannot decipher name.	King of Judah holding vine.	Blue nimbed prophet.. Same design as C9 &C5.
12	Prophet with scroll standing in same position as A8, A10, A11, & A16. No name of scroll	King of Judah holding on to vine.  19th century replacement	Blue nimbed prophet with both arms pointing toward king, Same as C8, C10, & C14.
13	Prophet with scroll pointing toward king. Same as A5& A14	King of Judah holding on to Jesse Tree vine.  Replacement B12 was copied from B13. Same as B17.	Blue nimbed prophet with scroll in both hands.  Same as C3 & C15,
14	Prophet with scroll pointing toward king. Same as A5 & A13	King of Judah holding on to Jesse Tree vine.  Same as B9, B10, & B15	Blue nimbed prophet with both arms pointing toward king, Same as C8, C10, &C12.
15	Blue nimbed thin bearded prophet holding scroll.  Name not readable.	King of Judah holding on to Jesse Tree  vine.  Same as B9, B10 &B14	Blue nimbed prophet with scrollin both hands. Same as C3 & C13,
16	Blue nimbed prophet with scroll. 19th century replacement. Same design as A8, A10, A11, & A12	King of Judah holding on to Jesse Tree vine.  19th century replacement.  Similar to B12 and B13.	Prophet with right hand pointing toward king and holding a scroll in the left hand.  19th century replacement.
17	Blue nimbed prophet holding scroll with both hands. 19th century replacement	King of Judah holdling on the Jesse Tree vine.  Design is similar to B12, B13	Blue nimbed prophet with scroll.  19th century replacement.
18	Blue nimbed prophet holding scroll with both hands. Modern replacement. Same as B19.	King David playing a waisted vielle with bow.	Blue nimbed prophet holding scroll in left hand. Modern replacement
19	Blue nimbed prophet holding scroll with both hands. Modern replacement. Same as B18	Jesse asleep in bed though sitting up.  Jesse Tree is growing from loins.	Blue nimbed prophet holding scroll in both hands. 19th century replacement.

   Jesse Tree of Sainte-Chapelle by the numbers:

• 34 Old Testament figures all blue nimbed.  This is more than the 4 major and 12 minor prophets included in even the largest presentations of the Jesse Tree.  So one has to assume that the artisans who drew the figures were also including Old Testament figures such as Moses and Aaron and Old Testament patriarchs such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel among others.
• 14 Kings of Judah including the only identifiable king in the window, King David who is playing a waisted vielle in his lap.
• 13 sections of panels that were replaced in the 19th century.(This might not be completely accurate.  Medieval glass made north of the Alps has a significantly different  chemical composition from modern soda-lime-silicate glass and from glass made using the Roman techniques that continued in the Mediterranean area. The northern glass has a much higher potassium or potash content and calcium content. This allows analysis of the glass using various spectroscopic techniques as well as chemical analysis.  Techniques such as specialized spectroscopy suggest that the identification of medieval and 19th century glass by inspection may not be that accurate.)
• 6 doves.
• 8 figures including the Virgin Mary and seven kings posed in the same frontal manner
• 5 prophets with scroll in left hand. 
• 5 prophets with banderoles across chest
• 4 kings facing forward and grasping the vine in the same manner.
• 4 kings, 2 original glass and 2 replacement sections that appear to have wings.
• 4 prophets pointing
• 3 prophets holding scrolls with both hands. 
• 3 prophets pointing toward the king. 
• 2 angels
• 2 prophets who are named, Amos and Isaias.
• 1 Jesse figure
• 1 Blessed Virgin Mary
• 1 Jesus Christ seated in majesty.

      For all its height, the Jesse Tree window at Sainte-Chapelle is not especially complex.  The center panels contain static forward facing figures except for King David playing an instrument.  The prophets and Old Testament figures are drawn in more positions, but even here, the designs are repeated to simplify the assembly of the window from the various pieces of glass.  The two most distinctive features of this window are the large number of crowned kings and the multitude of Old Testament figures who are unidentified for the most part.  As has been noted in the past, this window is a celebration of kings and kingship.

  

Seven Doves in Stained Glass windows: Part III b.

Some twenty years ago, I was asked to take on and develop a program about a Jesse Tree for children for the First Sunday of Advent at the Chapel of the Cross where I attend church.  All I could remember was the Jesse Tree window of Chartres and a brief mention of the ceiling at St. Michael’s Church at Hildesheim that was destroyed during World War II.  It was a dim haze of memory, at best.  It has been a long time since I took the required History of Art course with the 1st edition of H. W. Hanson’s weighty book, that eventually became a classroom staple for decades.  But at least it was a place to start learning more about the great variety of Jesse Trees.

Even now, the single lancet Jesse Tree at the west end of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres is the prototypical Jesse Tree that most students of introductory art history classes know. The window was made shortly after 1144.  The Chartres Jesse Tree window is a copy of the one ordered by Abbot Suger for the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis in Paris that was completed on or before 1144 when the rebuilt choir of St. Denis was dedicated. [The famous art historian, the late Erwin Panofsky, dated the rise of Gothic architecture to the reconstruction of the east end of St. Denis.]  The Chartres’ Jesse Tree window is probably the oldest complete Jesse Tree window still existing.

The Jesse Tree window of Chartres Cathedral. Delaport window #1

Photo credit: Painton Cowen. 

http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chartres/images/w49-whole-comp.jpg 

Detail of top of Jesse Tree window with Jesus Christ seated in majesty, surrounded by seven doves.

http://therosewindow.com/pilot/Chartres/images/w49-7+8-70367.JPG

The model of the St. Denis-style or Dionysian Jesse Tree window is a vertical glass cartoon for a single lancet window containing two sets of stories: the family tree of Jesus and the prophesies of the Messiah.  In the bottom center panel, Jesse, the father of David, is reclining.  From his abdomen arises a tree trunk or vine.  In the center glass panels, one above another, are two and often more kings of Israel.  The center panels are an abbreviated ancestry of Jesus from Jesse and Kings David and Solomon.  In the earliest windows such as Chartres, the kings are not identified with iconographic symbols such as a harp or scepter.  The two kings above Jesse are assumed to the David and Solomon followed by one or more generic kings.  Above the kings is the Virgin Mary seated at the feet of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is enthroned in majesty at the top of the panel.  The figures are seated in static frontal poses frequently with hands grasping the Jesse Tree vine. 

On each side of the seven central glass panels in the Chartres window are representations of 14 Old Testament prophets, priests, and leaders: Nahum, Hosea, Samuel, Amos, Ezekiel, Micah, Zechariah, Joel, Moses, Balaam, Isaiah, Daniel, Habakkuk, and Sophonias or Zephaniah.  The prophets in the Jesse Tree window at Chartres hold scrolls or banderoles with names. I wish I knew why the Jesse window at Chartres does name its prophets but the windows that generally followed the design of Chartres have only generic unidentified prophets.  It is only a century latter that sometimes there are names or identifying verses for the prophets.  Unfortunately without names or banderoles or standardized symbols, there is no way to identify the prophets portrayed in the windows found in France and England.  The numbers of prophets, patriarchs and the addition of one or two sibyls are all variable in the surviving 12th and 13th century windows and fragments.  The Jesse Tree is topped with seven doves surrounding the head of Christ.  This vertical design is sometimes given the shorthand name of “Norman stack.”

The stained glass windows of the Royal Abbey of Saint Denis were made beginning about 1140 or so, probably only a few years before the Jesse window at Chartres.  At that time, St. Denis was a small town north of Paris.  Now St. Denis is part of Paris.

The Jesse window and the other stained glass windows at St.Denis were made under the direction and supervision of Abbot Suger.  They were costly to make and considered quite precious by Abbot Suger.  He wrote:

“Since their marvelous workmanship and the cost of the sapphire and painted glass makes these windows very valuable, we appointed a master craftsman for their protection and maintenance, just as we also appointed a skilled goldsmith for the gold and silver ornaments.”[1]

The windows at the Abby Church of St. Denis managed to survive the Wars of Religion (1562-1598) that ended with the coronation of Henri IV and the issuing of the Edict of Nantes that granted substantial political and social rights to the Huguenots.  The Jesse window and the other windows even survived the French Revolution when many windows within the reach of the stones and other objects wielded by mobs were destroyed.  In 1799, Alexandre Lenoir removed about 140 stained glass panels that were to be exhibited at his Musée des Monuments Français in Paris.  Only 31 panels were returned to the choir of the church.  The rest were smashed in an oxcart accident or sold by Lenoir privately to collectors.[2]  

Fortunately some of Suger’s windows were sketched in 1794-5 by Charles Percier, including the reclining Jesse.  He had been commissioned to design the installation of some royal tombs removed during the French Revolution.  He apparently sketched the windows at part of his plans for the design.  His sketches are the only surviving record of the scheme of the gothic windows.  The sketches were helpful when restoration of the window began in 1847 by Viollet-le-Duc.  Fortunately for the Jesse Tree window, some of the center panels were not lost or broken.  Pieces of the border survived and so the complete window could be pieced together with original and reproduced glass in the 19th century. 

The restored Jesse Tree window at St. Denis.

Photo credits: Painton Cowen

http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/France-O-Z/images/st-denis-8186-sc.jpg

Detail of top of Jesse window at St. Denis 1140 and 19th century.

http://www.therosewindow.com/pilot/France-O-Z/images/st-denis-8185-sc.jpg

The man whose vision and direction authorized the renovation of St. Denis and the production of its stained glass was Abbot Suger.  He was probably a native of St. Denis, born about 1081.  He was given at age 9 or 10 (oblate) to the monastic community at St. Denis. He had short stature and small size. The humble origins and size of Suger have been summed up in Simon Chevre d’Or’s epitaph:

Small of body and family, constrained by two fold smallness,

He refused in his smallness to be a small man.[3]

Suger was educated and served in a number of capacities at the monastery and at the courts of Louis VI and VII, Kings of France.  He led an active life travelling to Normandy and south France and Rome as part of his duties.  When elected Abbot in 1121-1122, he was on another trip to Rome.  Abbot Suger was a shrewd administrator and astute financier permitting the extensive rebuilding of St. Denis.  At his death, in 1151, Abbot Suger left behind substantial written material including a memoir of his administration.  It was probably written between 1144 and 1148.  Unfortunately the Jesse Tree window of St.-Denis only gets a passing mention by Suger in Ch. 34 of On what was done under his Administration (Liber de rebus in administratione sua gestis).  He wrote, “we caused to be painted, by the exquisite hands of many masters from different regions, a splendid variety of new windows, both below and above; from that first one which begins the series with the Tree of Jesse in the chevet [east end] church to that which is installed above the principal door in the church's entrance.”[4]  At St. Denis, the Jesse window is still located at the east end of the church in the ambulatory chapel.[5]

Abbot Suger sought to bring the light of God into the darkened world to uplift the congregation.  A substantial amount of literature exists about the Abbot bringing Pseudo-Dionysian thinking about the mystical power of light to the church,  especially the church of St. Denis.[6]  The poem in his book of administration written for the front doors of the church summarize this thinking.

All you who seek to honor (or extoll) these doors,

Marvel not at the gold and expense but at the

craftsmanship of the work.

The noble work is bright, but, being nobly bright, the work

Should brighten the minds, allowing them to travel through the lights

To the true light, where Christ is the true door.[7]

The place of origin of the “master(s)” who made the Jesse Tree window has been the subject of speculation though at least some came from Burgundy since scholars have suggested a stylistic similarity between the figures in the Jesse Tree window and illuminated manuscripts made at the Cistercian Abbey of Cîteaux.  No one answer though has been found to be satisfactory since some scholars point to similarities in sculpture more than illuminated manuscripts as the source for the windows.  The matter is still one of scholarly investigation. [8]

The single lancet Jesse Tree window has surviving examples in France before it crossed the channel to England.  The earliest Jesse Tree window at Canterbury Cathedral bears much similarity to the window at St. Denis and Chartres.

---

[1] Abbot Suger: On what was done in his Administration. Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham Univerisity. http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/sugar.html

[2] Hayward, Jane. "Stained Glass at Saint-Denis." In Sumner McK. Crosby, ed. The Royal Abbey of St.-Denis in the Time of Abbot Suger (1122-1151). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art (1981): 61-71.

[3] John F. Benton. Introduction: Suger’s Life and Personality in Paula L. Gerson, ed. Abbot Suger and Saint-Denis: A Symposium (1986) Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

[4] Abbot Suger: On what was done in his Administration. Medieval Sourcebook.  Chapter 34. Fordham University. http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/sugar.html

[5] http://www.medart.pitt.edu/image/France/St-denis/windows/Jesse/SDenis-JesseW-Frame.html

[6] For example: Michael Cothren. Picturing the Celestial City: The Medieval Stained Glass of Beauvais Cathedral. (2006), Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp.71-96.  Also Madeline Caviness. "Suger's Glass at Saint-Denis: The State of Research," in  Paula L Gerson, ed. Abbot Suger and Saint-Denis: A Symposium, (1986) New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp.257-72.

[7] Abbot Suger: On what was done in his Administration. Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham University. chapter 27 http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/sugar.html

[8] Nolan, Kathleen, "Arts of the Medieval Cathedrals: Studies on Architecture, Stained Glass, and Sculpture in Honor of Anne Prache" (2015). Books by Hollins Faculty. Book 78.

http://digitalcommons.hollins.edu/facbooks/78.   Madeline H. Caviness. Suger’s Glass at St. Denis: The State of Research in Paula L. Gerson, ed. Abbot Suger and Saint-Denis: A Symposium. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (1986) New York: Henry N. Abrams, Inc.  Hayward, Jane. "Stained Glass at Saint-Denis." In Sumner Crosby, ed. The Royal Abbey of St.-Denis in the Time of Abbot Suger (1122-1151). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art (1981): 61-71.