Art 222 Labors of the Months Chartres

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LABORS OF THE MONTHS January 26, 2001 Chartres Cathedral The Royal Portal of the West facade dates to ca. 1145-1155. The far left doorway has been interpreted as depicting the Second Coming of Christ. Surrounding the image of his descent from the cloudy heavens are zodiac signs paired with agricultural labors, representing the cycles of the agricultural and celestial year. These images can be seen to represent time, and Christ's return marks the beginning of the End of Time. The depictions are not in a clear calendar order, but generally rise through January to June; descend June to December. The images are placed so that the Virgin Mary (representing Virgo) is given a place of honor at the top. This portal shows numerous signs of re-working. Probably for reasons of space, Gemini and Pisces in fact appear on the far right doorway of the facade. See these additional large overall images of the left doorway, one in color, and one in black and white. Pass your mouse over the images below for identifying information. Not all of the images are securely identified.

Web Resources on Chartres

• Medieval Chartres, a site from Aliston Stones, University of Pittsburgh.
• An extraordinary number of great images of Chartres are part of Stephen Murray's Gothic Sculpture site.
• There are a number of images on the Chartres Cathedralfrom Virginia Raguin's site at College of the Holy Cross.
• More New Age (and less scholarly), Louis Charpentier has linked Chartres to mystic imagery of Virgo.

Back to Labors of the Month Two

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Updated February 7, 2001