PORTAIL DE LA SAINTE VIERGE.]
The sculptured decoration of the three great portals exceeds, if not in actual ornateness, at all events in real beauty, that of any cathedral in the west of Europe. Much of it has suffered at the hands of the iconoclast, but, looking to the vicissitudes through which Notre Dame has passed, it is wonderful that so much of the original sculpture has been preserved. The recent restoration has been carried out with a skill which is simply marvellous, and the uninformed observer may easily be betrayed into the belief that he is looking at an unaltered ancient work. Whether this is a gain or a loss each of us must decide for himself. Some able writers have urged that the success with which ancient work has been imitated shows that modern artists are capable of the triumphs of the middle ages. Others dismiss the new work as an unpardonable forgery. It is outside the scope of this book to attempt to describe in detail the wealth of statuary and carving which the thirteenth-century craftsmen and those of modern times have lavished on these portals. For such a description we must refer the reader to the voluminous accounts of Viollet-le-Duc and other writers. The sculptures of the north door, called the Portail de la Saint Vierge, have been described as constituting a complete poem in stone. Viollet-le-Duc considered the portal as the masterpiece of French carving of the early thirteenth century. I adapt the following description of the chief sculptures from Mr. Lonergan: On the pedestal of the central pier are bas reliefs representing the Creation of Eve, the Temptation in the Garden of Eden, and the Ejection from Paradise. Above is the Virgin crowned, and over her a small gabled construction referring to the Ark of the Covenant. On the upper part of the arch in the lower division are three prophets and three kings. In the second angels hold the winding-sheet in which Mary’s body lies, near a coffin-shaped tomb. Over this stands Christ with eight apostles. In the third division we see Mary glorified. In the voussure are sixty figures of angels, patriarchs, kings and prophets as witnesses of the Virgin’s glorification. Under the large statues are medallions referring to incidents in the lives of those represented. Thirty-seven bas reliefs ornament the sides and pillars, amongst them being the signs of the zodiac and symbolic representations of the months of the year. The ironwork of the doors of this and of the adjoining portals is of a splendidly elaborate character, due, according to a quaint tradition, to the skill and energy of the devil.
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[Ed. Hautecœur, Paris.
FIGURE OF ST. MARCEL, PORTE SAINTE ANNE.]
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