Notre Dame de Paris / A Short History & Description of the Cathedral, With Some Account of the Churches Which Preceded It

by Charles Hiatt

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[Ed. Hautecœur, Paris.

APOSTLES.
(From the central doorway.)]

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[Ed. Hautecœur, Paris.

THE PORTE SAINTE ANNE.
(Figures from the Old Testament)]

The doorway on the south is variously described as the Portal of St. Anne or St. Marcel. According to some writers it is the most ancient of the three, and contains fragments of “the sculpture which formerly adorned the old church of St. Stephen (St. Etienne). These, it is said, were executed at the expense of Etienne de Garlande, who died in 1142. The dividing pier or trumeau bears the statue of St. Marcel ([see p. 33]). The tympanum is adorned with the “History of Joachim and Anna,” the “Marriage of the Virgin,” and the “Budding of Joseph’s Staff.” Each side is occupied with four statues of saints of the Old Testament. The four main buttresses which divide the façade perpendicularly into three parts are pierced with niches containing statues on a level with the vaulting of the portals. These statues represent Religion, Faith, St. Denis, and St. Stephen.