Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartes, France
So. Chartres is only an hour train ride out of town, and trains leave every half-hour, so since I wasn't able to go when I was in Paris the first time, I pounced on the opportunity to go now. It's one of those cathedrals that gets studied by anybody with even a passing interest in medieval architecture or sculpture. And lucky for me, the time of year plus the not-so-fantastic weather meant that I had the place just about all to myself.
I was up really early, thanks to jet lag, and wandered down for breakfast at the hotel right at seven am. Then I hopped onto the Metro station nearby, and rode to Gare Monparnasse, one of Paris' several large train stations. It took me about seven or eight minutes to walk from the metro area over into the train area and then to find the ticket booth, because the place was pretty enormous.
My train wouldn't be arriving for a few minutes, so I spent some time wandering around, buying chocolate out of the vending machines (Oh Kinder, how I adore thee), and studying a sign posted by the track. I could make out just enough of what it said to realize that there might be construction on the track or something like that. It actually looked just like something the DC Metro might put up when track work occurs, so I put in some time trying to scrutinize it. At the very least, I'd be prepared for something odd to happen.
The train came, and we all boarded. I think I was the sole tourist among a group of commuters. Sure enough, three stations down the line, the train stopped at a station, all the lights flickered, and an announcement that pretty clearly meant, "Get the hell off the train" came over the loudspeaker. I hopped out, asked a transit officer, and was pointed in the direction of the bus that was taking people the rest of the way. This was actually far cooler than the train, because I got to watch out the window as the bus tore through several small picturesque French towns, with a reckless disregard for life and limb. Seriously, I have no idea how we got around some of the corners we did, especially at top speed. I may have blacked out momentarily in self-defense. Eventually, I could see the cathedral - it's the tallest thing in the area, which is pretty flat farmland. There was no chair-dancing, although I was very tempted.
So, after having been deposited at the train station, I hied up the hill and found the cathedral, dodging a couple of smallish American tour groups that seemed to have come in by bus. Thankfully, I didn't encounter them again.
Here's a link to the floorplan of the cathedral. Actually, the entire site looks pretty awesome, especially if you love diagrams.
Here's the cathedral as it looks when one is walking up to it:
And here it is head-on. This is the west portal, the primary entrance to the church.
Chartres is a pilgrimage church for those en route to Compostella:
The cool thing about Chartres is that even though the cathedral does not all date to one time period, what currently stands is not only mostly untampered-with, but it's really iconographically complete. The first church on the site was possibly erected in the 400s, and records mention a gift of Pepin the Short (Charlemagne's dad) giving
gifts to "the church of St. Mary" in Chartes, so Marian devotion was linked to this church early on. It strengthened with Charles the Bald's gift to the church of the Sancta Camisa, a garment believed to have been worn by Mary when she gave birth to Christ. As Marian devotion grew, so did Chartres' importance, until it became well known as a site of pilgrimage.
What is known is that in September of 1020, a fire destroyed the Carolingian cathedral that stood on the site. St. Fulbert (then just plain old Fulbert, theologian, poet, and professor) decided to go all out for the rebuilding of the church, and was helped with this by a lot of generous donations from nobility. The name of the master of works of the building is not remembered, but he may have come to work on Chartres after working on the cathedral at Laon, which resembles Chartres in several ways.
Several fires destroyed much of Fulbert's version of the building. Rebuilding progressed in various phases, with the Royal Portal, the three lancet windows, and the Notre-Dame de la Belle-Verriere window surviving from 1145-1155, the nave and choir taking shape from about 1194-1220, and the porches on the north and south sides (on the transepts) from about 1235. What this means is that the building spans the transition from late Romanesque into Early Gothic, and then on to High Gothic.
In the right bay on the west portal, Mary sits with Jesus on her lap. Below them is a frieze showing Christ presented in the temple: he's on an altar to indicate his future sacrifice. Below that is a frieze showing the Incarnation, from the Annunciation to the Birth of Christ.
The left bay shows Christ ascending into heaven. The archivolts of this bay are really cool, as they show the Seven Liberal Arts personified by the scholar who best represents them (for example, Euclid for Geometry, and Pythagoras and Music). Alas, I didn't get a good photo of this bay, but I did get postcards!
This is the central, or royal portal, which dates to about 1150. Christ is shown in the tympanum, triumphant and enthroned in a mandorla, and surrounded by the four symbols of the evangelists. The twelve Apostles stand in a row underneath him.
Phew, this is a lot. I'll cut it off here and post part 2 tomorrow! Oh, and I should also say that I'm relying heavily on my copy of Medieval Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture 4th - 14th Century by James Snyder, which I have had for yonks, and Chartres Cathedral: Medieval Masterpieces in Stained Glass and Sculpture by Malcom Miller, a little book I picked up at the cathedral store. I also have my copy of Early Medieval Architecture by Roger Stalley standing by in case of emergency, although I honestly don't think it covers Chartres.
I was up really early, thanks to jet lag, and wandered down for breakfast at the hotel right at seven am. Then I hopped onto the Metro station nearby, and rode to Gare Monparnasse, one of Paris' several large train stations. It took me about seven or eight minutes to walk from the metro area over into the train area and then to find the ticket booth, because the place was pretty enormous.
My train wouldn't be arriving for a few minutes, so I spent some time wandering around, buying chocolate out of the vending machines (Oh Kinder, how I adore thee), and studying a sign posted by the track. I could make out just enough of what it said to realize that there might be construction on the track or something like that. It actually looked just like something the DC Metro might put up when track work occurs, so I put in some time trying to scrutinize it. At the very least, I'd be prepared for something odd to happen.
The train came, and we all boarded. I think I was the sole tourist among a group of commuters. Sure enough, three stations down the line, the train stopped at a station, all the lights flickered, and an announcement that pretty clearly meant, "Get the hell off the train" came over the loudspeaker. I hopped out, asked a transit officer, and was pointed in the direction of the bus that was taking people the rest of the way. This was actually far cooler than the train, because I got to watch out the window as the bus tore through several small picturesque French towns, with a reckless disregard for life and limb. Seriously, I have no idea how we got around some of the corners we did, especially at top speed. I may have blacked out momentarily in self-defense. Eventually, I could see the cathedral - it's the tallest thing in the area, which is pretty flat farmland. There was no chair-dancing, although I was very tempted.
So, after having been deposited at the train station, I hied up the hill and found the cathedral, dodging a couple of smallish American tour groups that seemed to have come in by bus. Thankfully, I didn't encounter them again.
Here's a link to the floorplan of the cathedral. Actually, the entire site looks pretty awesome, especially if you love diagrams.
Here's the cathedral as it looks when one is walking up to it:
And here it is head-on. This is the west portal, the primary entrance to the church.
Chartres is a pilgrimage church for those en route to Compostella:
The cool thing about Chartres is that even though the cathedral does not all date to one time period, what currently stands is not only mostly untampered-with, but it's really iconographically complete. The first church on the site was possibly erected in the 400s, and records mention a gift of Pepin the Short (Charlemagne's dad) giving
gifts to "the church of St. Mary" in Chartes, so Marian devotion was linked to this church early on. It strengthened with Charles the Bald's gift to the church of the Sancta Camisa, a garment believed to have been worn by Mary when she gave birth to Christ. As Marian devotion grew, so did Chartres' importance, until it became well known as a site of pilgrimage.
What is known is that in September of 1020, a fire destroyed the Carolingian cathedral that stood on the site. St. Fulbert (then just plain old Fulbert, theologian, poet, and professor) decided to go all out for the rebuilding of the church, and was helped with this by a lot of generous donations from nobility. The name of the master of works of the building is not remembered, but he may have come to work on Chartres after working on the cathedral at Laon, which resembles Chartres in several ways.
Several fires destroyed much of Fulbert's version of the building. Rebuilding progressed in various phases, with the Royal Portal, the three lancet windows, and the Notre-Dame de la Belle-Verriere window surviving from 1145-1155, the nave and choir taking shape from about 1194-1220, and the porches on the north and south sides (on the transepts) from about 1235. What this means is that the building spans the transition from late Romanesque into Early Gothic, and then on to High Gothic.
In the right bay on the west portal, Mary sits with Jesus on her lap. Below them is a frieze showing Christ presented in the temple: he's on an altar to indicate his future sacrifice. Below that is a frieze showing the Incarnation, from the Annunciation to the Birth of Christ.
The left bay shows Christ ascending into heaven. The archivolts of this bay are really cool, as they show the Seven Liberal Arts personified by the scholar who best represents them (for example, Euclid for Geometry, and Pythagoras and Music). Alas, I didn't get a good photo of this bay, but I did get postcards!
This is the central, or royal portal, which dates to about 1150. Christ is shown in the tympanum, triumphant and enthroned in a mandorla, and surrounded by the four symbols of the evangelists. The twelve Apostles stand in a row underneath him.
Phew, this is a lot. I'll cut it off here and post part 2 tomorrow! Oh, and I should also say that I'm relying heavily on my copy of Medieval Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture 4th - 14th Century by James Snyder, which I have had for yonks, and Chartres Cathedral: Medieval Masterpieces in Stained Glass and Sculpture by Malcom Miller, a little book I picked up at the cathedral store. I also have my copy of Early Medieval Architecture by Roger Stalley standing by in case of emergency, although I honestly don't think it covers Chartres.