The Story of Chartres

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tesques constructions de l'Egypte, aux monstrueuses pa

world to explore, as if one explo

, the animated harmony of its members, and also to the sensation of space, not emptiness, to the impression of massiveness which is y

enius, beyond, but concurrently with, all these, the Church of Chartres has still the gift of a unique power of impressing. In comparison, the other famous Churches of

came a shining light which dimmed the candles that were lit, and a noise as of thunder that drowned the voices of the many faithful praying in

ent from the manner in which they have been applied to the walls and the buttress

al, whose personality has filled the north transept, the Rose of France and the north porch, attended with all his family, and with multitudes of pe

its three twelfth-century windows, alone remained. Beyond the church stood the two towers still, but their bel

the corridors of the crypt; a vast transept was added; an enormous choir, with double aisles and apsidal chapels, was erected over new vaulting of the crypt; the narthex was displaced and made room for two new bays in the nave; whilst the west porch was moved skilfully westwards, with the same object, and set in a line flush with the two

also-for the thick radii of the circle still suggest the spokes of a wheel quite as much as the petals of a rose-the rather earlier Wheel of Barfreston (Kent, 1180). It is 46 feet in diameter, and has been set, designedly, not in the exact centre of its flat stone frame, in order to counter

en niched figures which have earned for this gallery the title of the Gallery of Kings. Higher still is the gable which terminates the front, containing i

represent the Kings of Judah, but there is no reason to doubt the tradition that, like the royal statues at Wells and Notre-Dame de

the French nobles who despised him for his smallness, he slew a raging lion single-handed, and then demanded, 'Do you think me worthy to rule you now?' The ninth statue was broken by a cannon-ball in the siege of 1591. It was Cha

grouped round the soaring spire of a central tower which was to rest on the four huge piers at the point of intersection of the transepts of the nave and c

sons, Laon and Paris had been striving, was struck out at last. It was to serve as a model for Central Europe throughout the thirteen

s have come down to us. All we do know is, as has been said above, that there was an active school of architects and sculptors, drawn chie

rk roomy spaces, and the dim distances of the mysterious aisles, render Chartres 'awful' in a manner seldom or never elsewhere achieved by Gothic architect. But the proportion of the nave to the choir, or, again, to the vast transepts, is not perfect, for the builder was limited by the existing towers. As a pioneer, too, he was limited by inexperience. There is, indeed, no effect of heaviness in this nave, for the massiveness of the work, which is almost equal to that which we call Norman, is relieved by the stupendous height. And the solemnity, the overwhelming impressiveness of Chartres are due, it might almost seem, to that accident of ignorance. For if he had dared, if he had known that it was possible and safe, can you doubt that the architect would have added to the soaring spires of Chartres the soaring nave of

o believe to the full in the capacity of stone. Here, for instance, in the nave, the blind triforium has not broken yet into one continuous window, as it was soon to do in the Church of S. Père, of S. Ouen at Rouen, and at Amiens; nor have the heavy masses of stone been resolved into a network of delicate tracery, leaving not a span uncovered by its gossamer thread. The desire for lightness, again, which was in time to lead to the adoption of bar tracery is, in the case of the windows, evident, but not fully attained. Combined, however, with the rare opportunities offered to the architect by the excellent quality of the ston

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This is borne by flying buttresses of enormous solidity, composed of an upper and a lower section, which are strengthened in turn by an arcade. The arcading is remarkable for its rugged grac

or with the almost impudent development of the use of them in the Abbey Church of S. Père, and,

to the Clocher Neuf, with its Flamboyant spire, the work of Jehan de Beauce (1507-1513); built after the spire of timber and lead, which replaced the one destroyed in 1194, had been destroyed itself in 1506. It was raised 4 feet by Claude Augé in 1690, so that the present height of the Clocher Neuf is 378 feet, that of the Clocher Vieux being 3

he Chambre des Sonneurs, as the third storey is called, is graven in Gothic, but now scarce legible characters, an inscription in six quatrains, in which the clocher tells us the history of the disaster of 1506, and

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reat bells cast in 1840, Marie (C., 13,228 lbs.) and Jose

ghted with the voice of one of the lads singing in the choir that she begged him of the canons, and when they granted her request she thanked them in these words: 'Messieurs, you have given me a little voice, and I in return wish to give you a big one.' This she did, giving them the bell which has ever since been called

corners, which tie the balustrade to the tower and support, each of them, three colossal statues (John the Baptist and the eleven Apostles). Light flying buttres

he peculiar grace of God this pyramid was preserved from the effects of a fire (1674) due to the watchman's carelessness. This good man, Gendrin by name, finding that the hours of the night watch hung heavy on his hands, used to amuse himself by reading. One night the candle fell and set light to his straw mattress, and thence the flames spread ra

yvet, as the inscription tells us, 'Petrus Sayvet me fecit.' Another and longer inscription, in beautiful Gothic characters, runs round the bell in two lines. The bell, speaking in Latin verses, tells us that it has been raised 'to the lofty summit of this mighty building to announce the

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Notre-Dame, and the escutcheon of a dauphin

f timber known to the people as The Forest, because, one old chronicler explains, had the trees of which it was composed still been growing they would constitute a large forest by themselves; because, says another, the sight of it recalled to the people the sacred groves of the

(Marie) had been re-made in 17

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iful will not dismiss it so contemptuously. From this pavillon de l'horloge there used to run alongside the nave up to the transept some fourteenth-century buildings, which were demolished in 1860. They served as a lodging for the S?urs-cryptes, who, when the epidemic known as the Mal des Ardents was scourging France in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, had charge of the H?pital des Saints-Lieux-Forts, organised in t

sh passions of the world, a man may cool his hands awhile in the gray twilight of Gothic things. More souls, they say, have been healed at Chartres than bodies at Lourdes. In solitude and silence it is best; but wonderful also and impressive is the Cathedral when filled with long trains of pilgrims, whose shuffling feet and murmured prayers echo through the vast nave and resound from the innumerabl

of perverted faith and false enthusiasm, and it is magnificent with the chanted hopes of the faithful and the undying promises of the Risen Lord. The blood of martyrs and the blood of infidels

houlder with the consecrated sword and made 'a knight in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.' Hither, again, courtier pilgrims have brought with them the perfume of Paris, and Norman peasants the odour of the fields. Here many a pe

of the cross; noble lords, clad in velvet and brocade, with plumes in their hats and swords at their sides, carry in their hands tall canes, with golden knobs, and bow to great dames with powdered hair, who hide behind their fans lovely faces powdered, painted, patched. And in the aisles a crowd of youthful artisan

ecessities of which the great church had shaped itself. For all those various 'offices' which, in pontifical, missal and breviary, devout imagination had elaborated from age to age with such a range of spiritual colour and light and shade, with so much poetic tact in quotation, such a depth

nal exercise,-la Lieue, it is vulgarly termed, for the miniature pilgrimages, along the line of white stones, with prayers at stated intervals, as once at Reims, Amiens, Arras, and Bayeux, earned many indulgences, and too

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any sepulture.' But there was one exception. One military leader was interred there with all honours in 1568, within the precinct of the high altar itself. Much against their will, the canons had yielded to the pressure of the King and the Court, and consented at last to inter in the Choir the body of the Baron of Bourdeilles, the colonel of the Gascons, who had fallen in the defence of the breach against the Huguenots (see p. 277). To the sound of tabourins and fifes the funeral cortège wound its way through the town of mourning citizens, and the remains of the valiant D'Ardelay w

rt of the naves of Bourges and Amiens, and of Beauvais, which out-rivalled even its sisters, and fell in the moment of its mad success. But it is an unprofitable business, this comparison of cathedrals. One is not less beautiful because anot

was 'nearly as massive as Norman work, although the effect of heaviness is removed by the enormous hei

ints where each of the main ribs rise two other cross-ribs also spring. These at their points of intersection are adorned with crown-shaped bosses, for the most part enric

orman, are rare in France. Examples of them are, however, to be found at Laon, Soissons and Paris. The capitals are rich and varied, and consist chiefly of foliage; those of the piers in the Chapel of the Seven Sorrows (Clocher Neuf), and, again, those of the Norman pillars, in the deambulatory of the choir opposite the shrine of Notre-Dame du Pilier, are r

The arches of the smaller bays into which each main bay is divided are pointed. The soffit is flat, with a round m

a rose window above them, which fill the whole available space

rbon, and dedicated to the Annunciation. It has recently been restored. The style is incongruous with this massive transitional nave, but serves perhaps to accentuate the beauty

made in the eighteenth century within the choir.[80] The Chapter, about 1750, was composed of men with much taste, all of it bad. A terrible mania for ugliness had seized mankind. Men like Bossuet, Fénel

A few fragments only remain in the Chapel of S. Martin in the crypt. The pillar upon which the Vierge Noire (Notre-Dame du Pilier) was then set

ore aujourd'hui un majestueux et sublime édifice que Notre-Dame de Chartres. Mais si belle qu'elle se soit conservée en vieillissant, il est difficile de ne pas

ed by Bridan, two of which have been removed to the Bishop's Palace. The old paving of the choir, on which S. Louis and a thousand other illustrious pilgrims had knelt, was also removed, and an utterly unsuitable pavement of black and white marble laid down in its stead. In order to throw light upon the atrocious transformation that had been wrought, several of the priceless thirteenth-century windows were taken out and plain glass substituted. To such an exte

to destroy it. For anything more detestably out of place than this soulless mass of Carrara marble in the old Gothic sanctuary it is impossible to discover without going to Westminster Abbey. It is the work of

of all countries. Even the beautifu

, Chartres

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and defiled by the ignorant vandalism of impious idiots and pious pilgrims, whose zeal has eaten them

forty groups, representing the principal scenes in the life of the Virgin and the Gospel story was drawn up by the Chancellor of the Chapter, Mainterne, at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The work was begun in 1514 unde

ion. A wealth of ornament, of foliage and arabesques, of mythical personages and fantastic beasts, covers the base and the innumerable columns about it. The stone openwork above and the canopies are exquisite in their lightness and finish. Before he died in 1529 Jehan de Beauce had passed completely under the influence of the Renaissance. The elegant and ingenious clock tower, which breaks the series o

ase. The first on the south side refers to the Siege of Chartres by Rollo in 911; the next fifteen to the lives of David, Daniel, Moses,

oned S. Fulbert and S. Ives at the eastern extremity. The small doors in their beautiful frames g

o is watching his flocks with two shepherds and a dog, and announcing the birth of the V

exact observation. There is something Flemish in his closeness to life. The third group, where the aged couple meet and embrace before the Golden Gate, shows a minute and vivid understanding of the gestures of old age, and the attitude of the servant is admirably sugg

to his chisel. They show (5) the Virgin Mary ascending the steps of the Temple with S. Jo

is eyes only but his whole body proclaims profound slumber), learns in a dream the immaculate conception of the Virgin. Then follow three excellent groups-the Adoration of the Shepherds and Angels, the Circumcision and the Adoration of the

s of the influence which the Italian Renaissance was to exercise upon French art. The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan (15), which follows, is by Nicholas Guybert, who lacked the draughtsmanship and anatomical study of Marchand, but was inspired with a devotional feeling

f several saints in rich caskets (SS. Piat, Lubin, Calétric, Tugdualus, etc.); but those have disappeared, a

s late as 1714, and are by Simon Arazières. They depict (23) the Agony in the Garden, (24) the Betrayal, (25) the Trial before Pon

esurrection, (31) the Holy Women bringing vases of perfume to the Tomb, (32) Ch

nd contrast favourably with the cold and Pagan feeling of the foregoing. They are probably the work of a pupil of that sculptor, and were made under th

é apparoist à la Vierge Marie. Chris

uped round the stone which bears the imprint of the Saviour's feet, look up

The tongues of fire descending on the day of Pente

Adoration of the Cross by the Virgin, accomp

o lies upon a couch, holding a taper, whilst all the Apostles attend-S.

in is borne on the shoulders of eight Apost

f the Virgin from the Tomb, whilst Christ descending between t

he three Persons of the Trinity is a charming group, worthy to be

r the direction of Jean des Carrières, 'mason and master of the work of Notre-Dame.' The Chapel of Notre-Dame du Pilier is not, properly speaking, a chapel, but part of the ambulatory of the choir in which the statue of the Vierge Noire du Pilier or the Vierge aux Miracles is set. A priest from the ?uvre des clercs is always in attendance; innumerable lamps and candles burn before the shrine, and countless pilgrims kiss the pillar devoutly and obtain the forty days' indulgence granted for that act of faith. 'The column,' said Rouillard (1608), 'is worn hollow by the kisses of the faithful.' The statue dates from the latter part of the fifteenth century,

he setting sun. The effect of this gallery of seven hundred thirteenth century statues of all sizes is splendid enough as it is, but it must have been greatly enhanced originally, when, in accordance with the early regulation of the church, every piece of carving was coloured or gilded. The same perfect harmony of structure which distinguishes the western and southern porches is visibl

eyond the line of the building, relieving thereby the severity of it, is significant. It indicates the change from the primitive architecture of the church. For the early buildings, the style of which was based on that of the Roman basilicas, had closed porches beneath which persons of importance were buried, catechumens were instructed and baptized, and exorcisms of the devil performed. But in the thirteenth ce

sion to the new Christian ideal of character in a type of Germanic origin, with wavy hair and prominent forehead, which he has observed from the men and women of his own time and country. He has given expression, that is, to the ideal of humility and graciousness which has been traced by the teaching of chivalry, with all its appreciation of physical perfection and its teaching of noble manners. 'We have then,' it has been well observed, 'in this new art, evidences of a sudden increase in the feeling for pure sensuous charm, and at the same time for spiritual grace.' A perfect union between sense and spirit h

f the vestibule on which it used to be. The statue of his son, Louis VIII., however survives (central bay). Louis IX., S. Louis, followed the example of his mother, Blanche of Castile, and, besides founding windows and chapels, he, 'by reason of his parti

prerogatives, her acquaintances, her virtues, her occupations, her life, death, assumption and crowning in heaven.' Then come the personages and the biblical scenes which have foreshadowed the Messiah and His Mother; S. John the Baptist and S. Peter, who inaugurated the Christian era; and to conn

r Baldwin sent the head of S. Anne, the Virgin's mother, to Chartres, 'in order that the head of the mother might rest in the house of the daughter.' Departing, therefore, from the almost invariable custom by which the Virgin is represented on the pier between the two sections of the ce

phasise once more the parallelism of the Old Testament and the New; the New hidden in the Old; the Old made manifest in the New. The same thought is symbolised by the figurative image of the Son which the five statues on the left carry, and the effigy of our Lord which is b

the left, and on the right, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Simeon, S. John the Baptist and S. Peter. S. John is introduced as the link between the old and the new, the prophecy and its fu

at the waist by a knotted girdle, and on his head a Papal tiara of the thirteenth centur

Priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning after the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave tithes; Melchizedek, the King of Righteousness as his name implies, and the King of P

bolises Christ, the Deliverer and the Law-Giver. His right hand points to the serpent and suggests the words of our Lord himself, 'Even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life.' Next comes Samuel, clad in a garment which resembles the taled of the Jews, preparing to sacrifice and to anoint Saul, who is represented by the small kneeling figure beneath. This statue illustrates 1 Samuel ix. Lastly David, crowned in royal majesty, carries the lance and crow

lly-wrought Greek cross and recalling to mind his own words, 'Is it nothing to y

aresses the young Christ whos

n the Apostolic costume of tunic and mantle, and as with the Apostles his feet are bare. He tramples under foot a dragon which typifies Vice, not a locust as some suppose. The extraordinary tenderness with which he clasps to his breast the lamb, which is Jesus, the lively expression of his worn

t with extraordinary skill and minuteness, so that, like that of the we

orway. For they are Elijah and Elisha, who were the types of the ascension and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Elijah is show

th halos, bearing censers, torches, books and palms, witnesses of the triumph of the Virgin. The next four rows exhibit the ancestors of Mary according to the flesh and according to the spirit-the prophets, that is, who announced her. Together they form a tree of Jesse growing from between the feet of Jesse below on the left. Compare it with the tree in the twelfth-century Jesse window of the Porte Royale and you will see that, though it follows the same order, the stone tree is even more complet

sion full of life and grace, the costume of striking simplicity. Next to these two there used to be, before the Revolution, statues of Philippe-Auguste, King of France, and Richard C?ur-de-Lion, rivals in the field but united here in their generous devotion to Notr

the young shepherd being anointed by Saul, (2) David chasing away the melancholy of Saul, (3) David armed befo

and next to him Louis VIII. and Isabella, his daughter, pious Sister of S. Louis. She i

of Samuel. The prophet is shown with Hannah and Elkanah taking a lamb to Eli, serving in the Temple, beholding a vision.

left is Isaiah, the prophet of the Incarnation, on the right Daniel. The heads of Isaiah and Gabriel are broken, and indeed most of this bay is in a deplorable state. Of the surviving figures those of Mary, of Elizabeth and Dan

ght, modest and veiled, hold their flaming lamps upright. The rest of the third row represents the battle of the Vices and the Virtues; Wisdom carrying an open book, and at her feet Folly nude and eating a stone; Justice with her sword and a balance, which the Injustice whom she tramples on vainly endeavours to disturb; Christian Strength in full armour, with Cowardice, a terror-stricken soldier, grovelling before her; Temperance caressing a dove, and at her feet Luxury, the abandoned courtesan. On the right hand, after these cardinal virtues, are the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity, and also Humility, with their corresponding vices

Martha and Mary. Here, on the left, the active life is portrayed with extraordinary vividness and delicacy in the character of the virtuous woman described in the last chapter of the Book of Proverbs. 'She seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands ... she layeth her hands to the spindle and

seem to be connected with the subject of the active and the contemp

heaven the bodies of the just shall enjoy the seven beatitudes, which are Beauty, Swiftness, Strength, Liberty, Health, Pleasure, Longevity;

estals of these and the two other statues which were on these piers, but of which one only, that of Phili

ch they rest demand careful study, but especially the statue of Joseph, the precursor of Christ in his persecution, his selling into captivity, and his deliverance of the people. A beardless figure with curling hair and a simple, open countenance, with Pharaoh's ring upon his finger and the sceptre of authority in his hand, and about hi

un of Justice. The vaulting above contains twelve angels doing homage to Christ, then, on the left, the story of Samson, the story of Esther, and, on the right, the story of Gideon and that of Judith. The fourth row tells the story of

nd, King of Castile, a great benefactor of the Cathedral, who was c

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ich he made to Chartres in 1260, walking, in spite of extreme fatigue, barefoot all the way from Nogent-le-Roi. He is represented, it will be noticed, with bare feet here, either in allusion to this pilgrimage, or to his annual practice of visiting barefoot, and in penitential

ely representations of the seven liberal arts taught since the sixth century. The artist of S. Louis's day is breaking away from the old tradition. He invents new types; he is looking for a new system. Lastly, on the western side of the porch, are two very beautiful statues, the one of S. Potentian, the other of S. Modesta (see p. 18). Below the former is a scene in which he, together with SS. Altin and Eodald are baptizing a n

f the windows and the porches; not only because it is later in date-it was begun under Philippe-Auguste, at the expense of Pierre Mauclerc, Count of Dreux, and only finished in the reign of Philippe le Be

ntageous position on top of seventeen steps, appears much larger and more imposing. The bays and the vestibule are peopled by 783 figures, in which the visitor will note the advance in art made by the sculptors since they took in hand the statuary of the western and, again, of the northern porch. The anatomy of these figures and the treatment of their drapery are infinitely more correct; the pose is more probable, the work more polished, the whole undoubtedly much more beautiful according to all the canons of classical art. But quite as un

honour as the Master in the midst of His Apostles. On His right is the bay of the martyrs, whose strength He is, and He is the Light of the confessors in

s wife, who spent some 10,000,000 francs upon this porch and the rose window above. They are

s martyrdom, standing upon the Indian King who gave him to the priests to be cut in twain; and similarly with swords, and trampling on their persecutors, S. Matthew and S. Simon. Opposite are S. Paul and the beardless John, the former holding and pointing to the sword of his martyrdom, and trampling down Nero, the latter with the (broken) palm of his martyrdom and the book of his Gospel, and, beneath him,

ation of the just from the unjust. On the right of the archangel is the glorious army of the elect, clad in long robes, and wearing an expression of serene happiness. They are being led by guardian angels to the abodes of everlasting joy. On the continuation of the lintel are several types of the elect being

of angels, then twenty-eight pairs of statuettes, representing the prophets of the Old Testament; and, lastly, fourteen admirable figu

orresponding Virtues, in accordance with which the Last Judgment is decided. Here, then, we have once more, as on the north porch, Faith and her cross opposed to Idolatry and her idol, Hope to Despair, Charity to Avarice; Chastity, with her curious symbol, the Ph?nix, confronts Luxury, Prudence, Folly, Humility, Pride

S. Theodore. The latter is clad in a coat of mail, of the time of S. Louis and the Crusaders. The statue is beautifully modelled and splendidly wrought, and forms a noble counterpart to the magnificent portrait of S. George opposite, who, likewise accoutred for battle, is trampling on the whe

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wenty-eight statuettes, representing the hierarchy of martyrs; in the sixth, the parable of the wise and foolish

characters and typical minds of the Middle Ages, was Bishop of Chartres the last three years of his life. Among the other martyrs are several whose names occur in the story of Chartres-S. Blaise, S. Leger, S. Vincent, S. Laurence, S. Chéron; on the south face, S. John the Baptist,

in of Tours, S. Jerome, S. Gregory the Great, S. Avitus (also fourteenth century). The tympanum gives the story of the lives of S. Martin and S. Nicholas. In the vaulting above S. Léon the legend of S. Giles is told, and in the outermost row of the vaulting are ten of the Apostles, crowning

mi consecrating and S. Solemnis blessing Chlovis; S. Laumer healing the Abbess Ulfrade; S. Calais or Karilef digging (the cloak in which, whilst he was working in his vineyard, a wren nested and laid an egg, is suspended from a neighbouring tree); S. Hilarion visiting S. Anthony. On the east face, S. Sylvester baptizing Constantin; S. Martin restoring a child to life near Chartres; S. Calétric visiting S. Lubin; S. Benedict blessing the poisoned cup (appearing thus for the second time on this pier, first as a hermit in the Cave of Subiaco,

s; S. Marcel of Paris leading a dragon in his stole; S. Giles casting out a devil from a man at Athens; S.

e ancestors of Christ, and that was the only merit of some of them, as their history is given us in the Books of Chronicles and Kings. Varied in age and

exclusively at sensuous beauty or at anatomical perfection, and they did not attain it. They were concerned with psychology as well as and even more than anatomy, and they strove to give by their art not only pleasure but instruction also. The perfection of the human body was not so obvious to them as the imperfection of the human soul. For them the flesh was only desirable when it exhaled the odour of virtue, when it was inspired by the sympathetic sadness which springs from the consciousness of frailty

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