Abbot Suger and Saint-Denis

Gerson, Paula Lieber, ed. (1986)

Publication Details
Description

Suger, abbot of the French abbey of Saint-Denis, lived from 1081 to 1151. This book
of essays about his life and achievements grew out of a symposium sponsored by the
International Center of Medieval Art and by Columbia University. The symposium was
held in 1981 simultaneously at The Cloisters and Columbia University in conjunction
with an exhibition at The Cloisters that commemorated the 900th anniversary of
Suger's birth. For the symposium, twenty-three medieval scholars from all parts of
the world, representing a wide range of humanistic disciplines, were brought
together to discuss the varied nature of Suger's activities. Suger has been best
known for his contributions as a patron of art and architecture. As H.W. Janson
wrote, "The origin of no previous style can be pinpointed as exactly as that of
Gothic. It was born between 1137 and 1144 in the rebuilding, by Abbot Suger, of the
Royal Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, just outside the city of Paris." Within decades
of its "invention," the style spread throughout the Capetian domains and by the
thirteenth century to all of Europe where it dominated architecture for the next
two to three hundred years. Perhaps because Suger's achievements in art and
architecture were so extraordinary, they have eclipsed the public's awareness of
his crucial role in the growth of the Capetian monarchy and in other aspects of his
participation in twelfth-century affairs. As royal advisor, Suger illustrates that
superb collaboration between church and state so fundamental to an understanding of
the development of the national states of Western Europe. As the essays in this
volume devoted to Suger's political activities and historical writings demonstrate,
he was, in addition to being a brilliantly innovative patron of architecture, an
important architect of the French state. Only by bringing together differing
humanistic perspectives on Suger and Saint-Denis has it been possible to achieve,
for the first time, a fully rounded appreciation of a man who was, at the same
time, a patron of the arts and literature, a politician who adroitly used his
ecclesiastical position to enhance the growth and power of the monarchy, and a
churchman consistently devoted to the promotion of the cult of Saint-Denis, the
patron saint of his abbey and of France.
Table of contents

Foreword
Philippe de Montebello

Preface
Paula Lieber Gerson

Introduction: Suger's Life and Personality

John F. Benton

I. Monastic Life

Suger's Monastic Administration

Giles Constable

Suger, Theology, and the Pseudo-Dionysian Tradition

Grover A. Zinn, Jr.

The Liturgy at Saint-Denis: A Preliminary Study

Niels Krogh Rasmussen, O.P.
II. Political and Social History

Suger's Views on Kingship

Andrew W. Lewis

Suger and the Capetians

Eric Bournazel

A Note on Suger's Understanding of Political Power

Michel Bur

Good Works, Social Ties, and the Hope for Salvation: Abbot Suger and Saint-Denis
Clark Maines

Suger and the Symbolism of Royal Power: The Seal of Louis VII
Brigitte Bedos Rezak

III. Architecture

Suger's Church at Saint-Denis: The State of Research

William W. Clark

What Possible Sources for the Chevet of Saint-Denis?

Jean Bony

IV. Library and Literature

Suger's Literary Style and Vision

Robert W. Hanning

History as Enlightenment: Suger and the Mos Anagogicus

Gabrielle M. Spiegel

Some New Readings of Suger's Writings

Philippe Verdier

The Problem of Manuscript Painting at Saint-Denis During the Abbacy of Suger

Harvey Stahl

V. Sculpture and Mosaics

Suger as Iconographer: The Central Portal of the West Facade of Saint-Denis

Paula Lieber Gerson

The Lateral Portals of the West Facade of the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis:
Archaeological and Iconographic Considerations
Pamela Z. Blum

Did Suger Build the Cloister at Saint-Denis?

Leon Pressouyre

The Mosaic Pavement of the Saint Firmin Chapel at Saint-Denis: Alberic and Suger
Xavier Barral i Altet

VI. Stained Glass and Metalwork

Suger's Glass at Saint-Denis: The State of Research

Madeline Harrison Caviness
The Style of the Stained-Glass Windows of Saint-Denis
Louis Grodecki

Suger's Liturgical Vessels

Danielle Gaborit-Chopin

Traditional Forms in Suger's Contributions to the Treasury of Saint-Denis

William D. Wixom