Editing Chartres Cathedral (section)

==The portals and their sculpture==
The cathedral has three great [[Portal (architecture)|portals]] or entrances, opening into the nave from the west and into the transepts from north and south. The portals are richly decorated with sculptures, which rendered biblical stories and theological ideas visible for both the educated clergy and layfolk who may not have had access to textual learning. Each of the three portals on the west façade (made 1145–1155) focuses on a different aspect of Christ's role in the world; on the right, his earthly Incarnation, on the left, his Ascension or his existence before his Incarnation (the era "ante legem"), and, in the center, his Second Coming, initiating the End of Time.<ref name="katzenellenbogen1959">Adolf Katzenellenbogen, ''The Sculptural Programs of Chartres Cathedral'', Baltimore, 1959</ref> The statuary of the Chartres portals is considered among the finest existing Gothic sculpture.<ref>Houvet (2019) pp. 32–33</ref>

===West, or Royal Portal (12th century)===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="250">
File:Chartres - portail royal, tympan central.jpg|Central [[tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] of the Royal Portal. Christ seated on a throne, surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists; a winged man for St. Matthew, a lion for St. Mark; a bull for St. Luke; and an eagle for St. John.
File:Chartres Cathedral Royal Portal Statues 2 2007 08 31.jpg|Jambs of the center doorway of the Royal Portal, with statues of the men and women of the Old Testament
File:Chartres - Westportal Monatsbilder.jpg|West portal, tympanum of left door. It depicts Christ on a cloud, supported by two angels, above a row of figures representing the labours of the months and signs of the [[Zodiac]]<ref>Houvet (2019) p. 33</ref>
</gallery>
One of the few parts of the cathedral to survive the 1194 fire, the ''Portail royal'' was integrated into the new cathedral. Opening on to the ''parvis'' (the large square in front of the cathedral where markets were held), the two lateral doors would have been the first entry point for most visitors to Chartres, as they remain today. The central door is only opened for the entry of processions on major festivals, of which the most important is the ''Adventus'' or installation of a new bishop.<ref>Margot Fassler, ''Adventus at Chartres: Ritual Models for Major Processions'' in ''Ceremonial Culture in Pre-Modern Europe'', ed. Nicholas Howe, University of Indiana Press, 2007</ref> The harmonious appearance of the façade results in part from the relative proportions of the central and lateral portals, whose widths are in the ratio 10:7 – one of the common medieval approximations of the [[square root of 2]].

As well as their basic functions of providing access to the interior, portals are the main locations for sculpted images on the Gothic cathedral and it is on the west façade at Chartres that this practice began to develop into a visual ''[[summa]]'' or encyclopedia of theological knowledge. Each of the three portals focuses on a different aspect of Christ's role in salvation history; his earthly incarnation on the right, his Ascension or existence before the Incarnation on the left, and his Second Coming (the Theophanic Vision) in the center.<ref name="katzenellenbogen1959"/>

Above the right portal, the lintel is carved in two registers with (lower) the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Annunciation to the Shepherds and (upper) the Presentation in the Temple. Above this the [[Tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] shows the Virgin and Child enthroned in the ''[[Seat of Wisdom|Sedes sapientiae]]'' pose. Surrounding the tympanum, as a reminder of the glory days of the School of Chartres, the [[archivolt]]s are carved with some very distinctive personifications of the [[Liberal arts|Seven Liberal Arts]] as well as the classical authors and philosophers most closely associated with them.

The left portal is more enigmatic and art historians still argue over the correct identification. The tympanum shows Christ standing on a cloud, apparently supported by two angels. Some see this as a depiction of the Ascension of Christ (in which case the figures on the lower lintel would represent the disciples witnessing the event) while others see it as representing the ''Parousia'', or Second Coming of Christ (in which case the lintel figures could be either the prophets who foresaw that event or else the 'Men of Galilee' mentioned in Acts 1:9–11). The presence of angels in the upper lintel, descending from a cloud and apparently shouting to those below, would seem to support the latter interpretation. The archivolts contain the signs of the [[zodiac]] and the [[labours of the months]] – standard references to the cyclical nature of time which appear in many Gothic portals.

The central portal is a more conventional representation of the End of Time as described in the [[Book of Revelation]]. In the center of the tympanum is Christ within a [[mandorla]], surrounded by the four symbols of the [[four evangelists|evangelists]] (the ''[[Tetramorph]]''). The lintel shows the [[Twelve Apostles]] while the archivolts show the [[24 Elders of the Apocalypse]].

Although the upper parts of the three portals are treated separately, two sculptural elements run horizontally across the façade, uniting its different parts. Most obvious are the [[jamb statue]]s affixed to the columns flanking the doorways – tall, slender standing figures of kings and queens from whom the ''Portail royal'' derived its name. Although in the 18th and 19th century these figures were mistakenly identified as the [[Merovingian]] monarchs of France (thus attracting the opprobrium of Revolutionary iconoclasts) they almost certainly represent the kings and queens of the Old Testament – another standard iconographical feature of Gothic portals.

Less obvious than the jamb statues but far more intricately carved is the [[frieze]] that stretches all across the façade in the sculpted capitals on top of the jamb columns. Carved into these capitals is a very lengthy narrative depicting the life of the Virgin and the life and Passion of Christ.<ref>Adelheid Heimann, ''The Capital Frieze and Pilasters of the Portail royal, Chartres'' in ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtland Institutes'', Vol. 31, 1968, pp. 73–102</ref>

===North transept portals (13th century)===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="250">
File:Cathedrale nd chartres nord040.jpg|Saint Anne holding the infant Virgin Mary on the trumeau of the central portal of the north transept
File:Portail de la Cathédrale de Chartres.jpg|The tympanum over the center portal of the north transept. On the lintel are the Dormition (Death) and Assumption of the Virgin. Above is the Coronation of the Virgin: Mary, in her living body, will rule the heavens alongside her Son Christ.
File:Cathedrale nd chartres nord049.jpg|New Testament figures Simeon, John the Baptist, and Saint Peter, with his keys
File:Chartres - north portal - right bay - right part.jpg|Unidentified characters from the [[Old Testament]]
</gallery>
The statuary of the north transept portals is devoted to the [[Old Testament]], and the events leading up to the birth of Christ, with particular emphasis on the [[Virgin Mary]].<ref>Houvet (2019) p. 37</ref> The glorification of Mary in the center, the incarnation of her son on the left and Old Testament prefigurations and prophecies on the right. One major exception to this scheme is the presence of large statues of St Modesta (a local martyr) and St Potentian on the north west corner of the porch, close to a small doorway where pilgrims visiting the crypt (where their relics were stored) would once have emerged.<ref name="katzenellenbogen1959"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Iconography of the various elements of the north transept portals
|-
! !! Left (east) portal !! Central portal !! Right (west) portal
|-
| '''Jamb figures:''' || [[Annunciation|Annunciation to Mary]] and the [[Visitation (Christianity)|Visitation]]|| Old Testament Patriarchs, [[John the Baptist]] and [[St Peter]] || King [[Solomon]], the [[Queen of Sheba]], various prophets
|-
| '''[[Lintel]]:''' || [[Nativity of Jesus|Nativity]] and [[Annunciation to the Shepherds]] || [[Dormition of the Theotokos|Dormition]] and [[Assumption of Mary|Assumption]] of the Virgin || [[Judgement of Solomon]]
|-
| '''[[Tympanum (architecture)|Tympanum]]:''' || [[Adoration of the Magi]] and the [[Biblical magi|Dream of the Magi]] || [[Coronation of the Virgin]] || [[Job (Biblical figure)|Job on the Dunghill]]
|-
| '''[[Archivolt]]s:''' || [[Personification]]s of the [[Seven virtues|Virtues]] and [[Vice#Roman Catholicism|Vices]] || [[Tree of Jesse]] / [[Prophet]]s || Old Testament Narratives (Esther, Judith, Samson, Gideon and Tobit)
|}

As well as the main sculptural areas around the portals themselves, the deep porches are filled with other carvings depicting a range of subjects including local saints, Old Testament narratives, naturalistic foliage, fantastical beasts, Labours of the Months and personifications of the 'active and contemplative lives' (the ''vita activa'' and ''vita contemplativa''). The personifications of the ''vita activa'' (directly overhead, just inside the inside of the left hand porch) are of particular interest for their meticulous depictions of the various stages in the preparation of [[flax]] – an important cash crop in the area during the Middle Ages.

===South portal (13th century)===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="250">
File:Chartres cathedral 023 martyrs S TTaylor.JPG|Christian Martyrs framing the south portal (13th century); including the "Perfect Knight" [[Roland]], (far left) and [[Saint George]] (second from right)
File:Chartres - south portal - central bay - Christ.jpg|Central doorway of the south portal, with column statue of Christ. His feet rest on a lion and a dragon.
File:Chartres2006 076.jpg|The Apostles
</gallery>

The south portal, which was added later than the others, in the 13th century, is devoted to events after the Crucifixion of Christ, and particularly to the [[Christian martyrs]]. The decoration of the central bay concentrates on the [[Last Judgment]] and the Apostles; the left bay on the lives of martyrs; and the right bay is devoted to confessor saints. This arrangement is repeated in the stained glass windows of the apse. The arches and columns of the porch are lavishly decorated with sculpture representing the labours of the months, the signs of the zodiac, and statues representing the virtues and vices. On top of the porch, between the gables, are pinnacles in the arcades with statues of eighteen Kings, beginning with [[King David]], representing the lineage of Christ, and linking the Old Testament and the New.<ref>Houvet (2019), pp. 55–58</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Iconography of the various elements of the south transept portals
|-
! !! Left (west) portal !! Central portal !! Right (east) portal
|-
| '''[[Jamb Statues|Jamb figures]]:''' || [[Christian martyrs|Martyr]] saints || The [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]] || [[Confessor#Confessor of the Faith|Confessor]] saints
|-
| '''[[Lintel]]:''' || The martyrdom (by stoning) of [[Saint Stephen]] || The [[weighing of souls]] and separation of the blessed and the damned || Scenes from the lives of [[Saint Nicholas]] of Bari and [[Martin of Tours|Saint Martin]] of Tours
|-
| '''[[Tympanum (architecture)|Tympanum]]:''' || Stephen's beatific vision of Christ || Christ showing his wounds with the Virgin and [[St John the Evangelist|St John]] and angels bearing the ''[[Arma Christi]]'' || Further scenes from the lives of Saint Nicholas and Saint Martin
|-
| '''[[Archivolt]]s:''' || Assorted martyr saints || Choirs of angels and the dead rising from their tombs / [[Prophet]]s || Life of [[St Giles]] in lower register, other Confessors in the remaining [[voussoir]]s
|}