In the register just belowĬhrist, we see the blessed and the damned. And, then kneelingĪngels at the far corner. Who look very real to us today would have appeared so much more lifelike when they were painted.
You look very closely, you can just make out drops of blood coming from his wounds from the cross. Christ sitsĪs judge, in this case on a low stool. Judge in the tympanum and above that an apocalyptic Christ. What I find fascinating is that this is the lowest of Standing on two creatures, one that looks like a lion,Īnother that looks a dragon or a serpent. We get a sense of being blessed as we enter the church. His drapery points upward towards the Bible, drawing Got his right hand raised in the gesture ofīlessing, in his left hand he holds a book. Known as the Beau Dieu, the Beautiful God and he is beautiful. Let's start in the veryĬenter with the trumeau. Sin created by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Christian theology as the second Eve, who with Christ, sets right the original For instance, just below the Virgin Mary, you see Eve who's being offered the apple by the devil in the guise of the serpent. Jamb figures there are these architecturalĬanopies and below that wonderfully complexįigures and in some cases they seem to relate to Simplicity of the figures in their drapery and in their faces that has been noted by art historians. Interest here in showing the body underneath the drapery. And, here theĭrapery falls quite naturally in folds that appear three-dimensional. The earlier jamb figures that we see at Chartres where the figures are very separate, very columnar. I love the sense of naturalism in these figures, the way in This is Mary being visitedīy her cousin Elizabeth who's pregnant with St. On the left is theĪrchangel Gabriel announcing to the Virgin Mary that Let's spend a moment looking at some of the jamb figures The head of the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and That's the Coronation of the Virgin Mary.
Scene that is quite common in Gothic sculpture and Move up to the very top of the tympanum, we see a And, I love the slight distinctions that help us tell one from the other. Sculptures, although they tell different stories seem Have been assumed bodily into Heaven and we seeĪngels lifting her up. And, on the right, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The Dormition, or the death of the Virgin. And, above that in the tympanum, two scenes from the life of the Virgin. And, on either side of that we see three patriarchs. And, that's the ark that would have held the 10 Commandments. And, within it is a representation of the Ark of the Covenant. And above her we see anĪrchitectural structure that is a kind of tabernacle.
She's crownedīecause this is a representation of Mary as the Queen of Heaven. You can still make out theīlue paint that would have originally covered her dress. She holds the ChristĬhild, her palm is forward as if she's presenting him to us. To a lizard-like body which represents evil On a creature that has a human head but attached Let's take aĬlose look at the portal that's devoted to the Virgin Mary. See Christ presented to us in three ways. On the right we have Mary, the intercessor between mankind and God. The stories of a local saint, who would have been especially venerated by the people of AmiensĪs their first bishop. Understand this is to think about this left portal as telling us Of Old Testament kings that Christians believe were The king's galleryįunctions as a Tree of Jesse. And, then onĮither side, two towers which are actually later additions. We see a row of figures standing in niches and this And, above theĭoorway, we see pointed arches decorated with quatrefoilsĪnd then typically for many Gothic churches, Messages of the figures that are carved within these portals, that their voices are amplifiedīy the multiple arches that radiate outward. Yes, there isĪ sense of movement in, but at the same time there's a sense of amplification outward. These are decorated with dozens of figures and almost act like funnels that draw us into the church. Starting at the bottom, we have these three large doorways and that mirrors what we would find inside the church, a large, central nave and then smaller aisles on either side. Kind of complex surface that's almost like lace inĪ way that it's opened up. Great example of the Gothic because the front of theīuilding is not so much a stone wall, but a This is a Gothic masterpieceīoth in architecture and in sculpture. In the square outside of the beautiful 13thĬentury Cathedral of Amiens.