The Royal Portal on the west façade (1145-1155)

The Royal Portal, on the threshold between Romanesque and Gothic art, miraculously survived the fire of 1194 and all further calamities. While not the historical beginning of Gothic sculpture - that honour belongs to Saint-Denis - this homogenous ensemble in Chartres forms the most important sculptural group from that era.

The Royal Portal

Right doorway dedicated to the Virgin Mary. (Royal Portal, 1145-1155)

Figures of the Old Testament

The iconic elongated statues on the Royal Portal. (Royal Portal, 1145-1155)

Majestas Domini

(Royal Portal, tympanum, central doorway, 1145-1155)

The Ascension

Although disputed by some scholars, this tympanum is generally seen as a depiction of Christ's Ascension and the promise of his return. In the archivolts the Labours of the Months alternate with the signs of the Zodiac. (Royal Portal, left doorway, 1145-1155)

July - Harvest of cereals

Labours of the Months. (Royal Portal, archivolts, left doorway, 1145-1155)

August - Threshing; May - Falconry

Labours of the Months. (Royal Portal, archivolts, left doorway, 1145-1155)

The Massacre of the Innocents

A vividly dramatic rendition of the slaughter. (Royal Portal, capital, left doorway, left side, 1145-1155)

The Last Supper

The Prediction of Judas' betrayal. (Royal Portal, capital, between central and right doorway, 1145-1155)

The triumphal entry into Jerusalem

Detail of the barefooted apostles following Christ entering Jerusalem. (Royal Portal, capital, right doorway, left side, 1145-1155)

Elders of the Apocalypse

Detail of two Elders holding music instruments, in the Apocalypse scene of the central portal. (Royal Portal, central doorway, left archivolts, 1145-1155).

A queen

(Royal Portal, central doorway, 1145-1155)

Job

Detail of the Old Testament portal, illustrating the story of Job, seen on his dung heap, tortured by Satan and afflicted with horrible skin sores. (North transept, right portal, tympanum, ca. 1220)

Triumph of the Virgin

Jeremiah, Simeon, John the Baptist, Peter. (North transept, central portal, right jamb, ca. 1205-1210)

The Last Judgment

The resurrection of the death and the damned escorted to hell. (South transept, central portal, right archivolts, ca. 1210-1215).

A poisoned cup

Detail of the priest who offered Saint John a poisoned cup. (South transept, central portal, right jamb, pedestal, ca. 1210-1215).

The Confessors Portal

The tympanum and the lintel depict scenes from the lives of St. Martin and St. Nicholas, the archivolts show saints and confessors. The jambs from left to right: St. Laudomarus, a pope (Leo the Great?), an archbishop (St. Ambrose or Thomas Becket), a bishop (St. Nicholas or Nicasius of Rheims), St. Martin of Tours, St. Jerome, St. Gregory the Great and St. Avitus. (South transept, right portal, ca. 1220, 1235)

The murder of Thomas Becket

The veneration of archbishop Thomas Becket as a martyr began soon after his death in 1170. His blood was taken to Chartres by his former secretary, John of Salisbury, bishop of Chartres (1176-80), to be venerated as a holy relic. His murder figures quite naturally amongst the martyrs on the south porch of the cathedral. (South porch, left pillar, ca. 1230-1240)

The dream and the awakening of the Magi (ca. 1240)

Detail from the rood screen. The cathedral of Chartres is one of the best preserved examples of French gothic art, yet unfortunately that doesn't include its rood screen, which was following the new trends in the wake of the Council of Trent dismantled by the clergy in 1763. Only a few fragments survive. By its ornamental richness, complex composition and stylistical diversity the rood screen of Chartres represented the pinnacle of the French gothic style.