title

The West or Royal Portal ^1.
TWELFTH CENTURY

This portal, originally built (c. 1145) on a line further
back than the towers, was meant as the front of a narthex
preceding the former eleventh century church. Very likely
it was only a few years after its erection that it was
moved forward to be flush with the front walls of the two
towers; and later it became the main entrance to our
cathedral.One single motive seems expressed in the decoration
of the three doorways leading into the central nave. The
right bay, which belongs to the Virgin, represents the
descent of Christ to our world; the left, his ascension
into heaven; while, on the middle tympanum, He is seen
on His second coming when He is to judge the quick
and the dead. Between these culminating moments of
his Nativity and his Ascension, the whole of his earthly
life is depicted on the capitals, on which incidentally we
migt count no less than two hundred little figures carved
in the most naive and charming manner.The subjects of these scenes are taken both from the
New Testament and the Apocryphal Gospels; they do
not follow in the proper chronological order, no doubt
on account of blunders committed in the process of
reconstruction. The story begins on the left of the central
door, continuing on to the northern tower; then you
return to the central door, and on as far as the southern
tower.

1.	1. Joachim and Anne are spurned by the high priest because the are childless.
2.	2. They go away, grieving.
3.	3. Joachim, seen among his flocks, is visited by an angel.
4.	4. He meets his wife at the Golden Gate.
5.	5. Mary is born and washed in a tub by two women.
6.	6. Joachim and Anne decide to bring their young child to the temple.
7.	7. The three are seen journeying thither.
8.	8. Mary ascends the steps, while her father stands by and her mother is sitting.
9.	9. The parents go home.
10.	10. Mary is taken to the altar by the high priest and Saint Joseph, who holds a flowering stem.
11.	11. Joseph and Mary join hands before the high priest who is marrying them.
12.	12. They go to Nazareth.
13.	13. The pair are sitting; to the left, an angel foretells the birth of Christ.
14.	14. Mary visits her cousin Elisabeth and wonders, seeing her with child.
15.	15. The Nativity. Jesus is lying on his mother's bed. Saint Joseph sits close by, in an armchair; and the two midwives, Zelemi and Salome, stand near by, ready to help. The ox is seen in the background.
16.	16. Angels bring the good tidings to the shepherds.
17.	17. The Wise Men inquire of Herod about the birthplace of the new king of the Jews.
18.	18. They bring their offerings to Jesus, while their servants hold the horses.
19.	19. The flight into Egypt.
20.	20. The Massacre of the Innocents. A soldier brings a mother and her son to Herod, who sits on his throne, with his drawn sword in his fist. Another ruffian wields a sabre, and a third dashes out the brains of a helpless babe.
21.	21. Jesus among the doctors.
22.	22. The Circumcision.
23.	23. The Presentation of our Lord in the temple.
24.	24. The visit to Jerusalem.
25.	25. The journey back to Nazareth.
26.	26. The Baptism of Christ. The water of Jordan is shown by waving lines.
27.	27. The temptation in the wilderness.
28.	28. Judas is prompted by two Jewish priests to sell his master.
29.	29. The Last Supper.
30.	30. The Betrayal scene. On being kissed by Judas, Jesus is led away, while Saint Peter cuts off the ear of Malchus, in his defence.
31.	31. The Entry into Jerusalem.
32.	32. The Entombment of Jesus.
33.	33. The Holy Women, coming to the sepulchre, find it empty; the soldiers set to watch, are asleep under it.
34.	34. Jesus washes the apostles' feet.
35.	35. He walks with the two disciples of Emmaus.
36.	36. He sits at meat with them.
37.	37. The disciples return to Jerusalem in order to relate what they have seen.
38.	38. The Saviour's last apparation.

Now we have done with the capitals, let us make a
study of the other parts.

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^1.	The name of "Royal Portal" very likely goes as far back as the time of its erection. Ms. 1058 of the Municipal Library in Chartres gives material proof it was used in the first decades of the thirteenth century.

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Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com

Publication Information: Book Title: An Illustrated Monograph of Chartres Cathedral. Contributors: Etienne Houvet - author. Publisher: E. Houvet. Place of Publication: Chartres. Publication Year: 1930. Page Number: 7.