Paris’s Sainte-Chapelle is illuminated by 15 large stained-glass windows.
The chapel was built in the 13th century by King Louis IX to house important Passion relics, including the Crown of Thorns. Its upper chapel is famous for walls that seem almost entirely made of colored glass, supported by slender stone tracery and exterior buttresses.
The 15 windows contain roughly 1,113 individual biblical scenes. Their cycle begins with stories from the Old Testament and continues through the life of Christ and the discovery and transfer of the relics to Paris. The arrangement connected sacred history with the authority of the French monarchy.
The glass was extensively restored in the 19th century, and later conservation campaigns have addressed pollution, weathering, and structural problems. The number 15 refers to the tall lancet windows in the upper chapel; the building also has a large western rose window, so counting every glazed opening produces a different total.