Chartres : cathedral of Notre-Dame

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Cathédrales de France

There is always something new to discover at the emblematic Chartres Cathedral. The reopening of its treasury in the Chapelle Saint-Piat, restored to showcase the most beautiful pieces of Gothic sculpture and adorned with contemporary stained-glass windows, has brought to light an exceptional 14th-century painted decoration. It depicts the edifice under construction. While the 12th-century lancets, and the 13th-century rose window and gallery of kings on the west facade are identifiable, the decoration is the first known representation of elements that have since disappeared : the Romanesque north spire and the medieval roof of the nave. The Virgin Mary introduces the building site, a probable allusion to the legendary founding of the cathedral during her lifetime, orchestrated by the canons who, around the famous relic of the Virgin's Veil, produced images the society of their time and the orientations of the Church. The painting is a new testimony to the admirably preserved stone and glass treasures of the cathedral. With rare clarity, this book highlights the close ties between the architecture, the sculpture of the nine portals, the 150 colour stained-glass windows, and the polychromy of the interiors, restored to blaze anew. It also touches on the rediscovered brilliance of the stone lacework of the choir screen carved in the early 16th century, the stucco and the blue draperies of the choir renovated to please 18th-century tastes, and the liturgical furnishings designed by the goldsmith Goudji for the transept crossing.