Dom Michel Felibien, a Benedictine monk of the Maurist congregation,
thus describes a screen erecting at St. Denis in his time: "They are now
working at the erection of a screen of iron-work, of the Ionic order,
with pilasters terminating in caryatides; the centre door will be
surmounted by a cross, covered with plates of gold, enriched with
ornaments and precious stones, the workmanship of which is traditionally
ascribed to S. Eligius."—Histoire de l'Abbaye Royale de S. Denis; Paris,
1706, p. 533.
From this description it is evident that this screen, with the exception
of the cross, must have been of wretched design; still there is all the
principle of the olden arrangement; and in the plan of the church
figured in the same work, the two staircases leading up to the ambones
for the Epistle and Gospel are distinctly marked. This screen, which
replaced the ancient jubé, probably erected in the time of Abbot Suger,
was entirely demolished in 1792.