173. Three Kings and One Queen of the Old Testament, jamb figures,

right side of wall of the west portal called “Royal Gate”,

1145-1155. Notre-Dame Cathedral, Chartres. Gothic.

 

 

These still, columnar figures are ranged on either side of each of the three doors of the “Royal Gate” of Chartres Cathedral, as if forming a receiving line, welcoming those who enter the sanctuary. While their elongated proportions and stylised drapery tie them to the sculpture of the Romanesque period (see no. 213), their placement is new. The two churches that revolutionised the Gothic style, Saint-Denis and Chartres, both employed sculpted figures on the columns of the door jambs. These figures do not replace the columns, as did the caryatids of the classical world (see no. 71); instead, they are affixed to the front of the column. Each figure is a king or queen of the Old Testament, and together they give the entryway the name “The Royal Portal”.

These gentle-looking kings and queens symbolise the base that was the Old Testament, on which Christ and the events of the New Testament would rest.