Four artists' hands are commonly detected in the carving. Stylistically, the west façade of Chartres represents a significant exploration of stylized, classicizing elements. The three together show the myriad ways Christ has appeared and will continue to appear to the people of the earth, a sort of imagining of time and chronology of the Christian Church.
The program focuses on Christ in three stages of his presence, pre-Incarnation, his Incarnation which prefigures his sacrifice and reign in heaven, and his Second Coming at the end of time. Probably put in place around 1145-1150, it is the earliest program of its kind to attempt to convey complex, multivalent theological messages through its images. The west façade of Chartres Cathedral shows the hand of the School of Chartres in its arrangement and iconography. Their clothing was of a type worn by noble and royal people of the region in the twelfth century, and would have thus been a recognizable indication of power and authority to contemporary viewers. Their elongated, upright posture creates an intimate connection with the architecture they are true column figures. The jamb sculptures represent Old Testament kings, queens, and prophets. The capital frieze depicts scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary and from the Passion of Christ.
FORUM DE LA MADELEINE CHARTRES FULL
The voussoirs show the elders of the apocalypse in three bands.Īll three portals are united by a band of jamb sculptures and a historiated capital frieze that stretches the full length of the façade. The tympanum depicts the fearsome Christ seated in judgment at the end of time, surrounded by the figures of the tetramorph, the lion, the bull, the eagle, and the angel. The lintel shows apostles seated under an architectural canopy. The central portal shows the Second Coming of Christ. The voussoirs on this portal depict the labors of the month and the signs of the zodiac in two bands. The prophets hear of, but cannot yet fully see, the coming of Christ. According to Margot Fassler, he is the representation of Christ before time, pre-incarnation, and the angels below gesture to the prophets to attempt to inform them of his impending arrival. The tympanum depicts Christ in a swirl of clouds, arms thrown open, flanked by two angels. The second register shows four angels gesturing at the prophets below. These can be read as prophets, waiting to hear of the coming of Christ. The figures carry books, scrolls, and writing implements. The lowest register of the lintels depicts ten seated figures under an architectural canopy. Some scholars believe it refers to the Ascension of Christ, however Margot Fassler has recently and convincingly argued that the portal deals with Christ in his pre-Incarnation form.
The north portal's theme has been highly debated. The two bands of voussoirs show the personifications of the Liberal Arts (females), their exponents (male), and angels. The tympanum is an image of the Sedes Sapientiae, or Throne of Wisdom, showing the Virgin and Child enthroned in majesty flanked by two angels. The second register shows the Presentation in the Temple. The lowest lintel depicts, from left to right, the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, and the Annunciation to the Shepherds. The south portal displays the Incarnation Cycle and the Sedes Sapientiae. The west façade of Chartres Cathedral has a program of three sculpted portals.