Sainte-Chapelle’s upper chapel in Paris contains 15 main stained-glass windows.
The windows date mainly from the 13th century and rise through much of the walls of the Gothic upper chapel. Together, they present an extensive sequence of biblical history, from Genesis through events associated with the life of Christ and the relics held by the French monarchy.
Each window is divided into many individual panels, so the figure 15 refers to the large architectural window openings, not to the total number of pieces of glass. This distinction explains why descriptions may also mention hundreds of separate scenes and thousands of fragments.
Sainte-Chapelle was built within the royal palace on Paris’s Île de la Cité. Its unusually large areas of colored glass are a defining feature of Rayonnant Gothic architecture.