Lectern-Chartres Cathedral. The winged Ox, symbol of St. Luke
St. Luke: Symbolized by the Winged Ox. The form of the ox, the beast of sacrifice whose blood was shed in atonement for sin, a major theme in Luke's gospel.
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Chartres Cathedral-The Virgin Mary and Christ Child
This polychrome statue, made of pear wood, was sculpted in the 16th century and placed upon a pillar from a 13th century rood screen. In the 18th century is was surrounded by a wooden structure in Neo-Gothic style. Mary's crown was added in the 1855 during the papacy of Pius IX. In troubled times children would come here, kneeling, torch in hand, chanting a Slave Regina.
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Chartres Cathedral-Magnificent windows soar above the semicircular apse on the cathedral's east end
The nave and transepts are flanked by single aisles, broadening to a double-aisled ambulatory around the choir and apse. From the ambulatory radiate three deep semi-circular chapels.
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Chartres Cathedral: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin |
Chartres Cathedral: Detail-The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin |
Chartres Cathedral |
Chartres Cathedral-Ceiling detail in the ambulatory |
Chartres Cathedral |
Chartres Cathedral-Screen detail-The Visitation. Elizabeth greets Mary
"At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! (Luke 1:39-42)
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Chartres Cathedral |
Chartres Cathedral-Notre-Dame de la Belle-Verrière window
A 12th-century window, perhaps the most famous at Chartres is the so-called " Notre-Dame de la Belle-Verrière ", found in the first bay of the choir after the south transept. This window is actually a composite; the upper part, showing the Virgin and child surrounded by adoring angels, dates from around 1180 and was probably positioned at the centre of the apse in the earlier building. The Virgin is depicted wearing a blue robe and sitting in a frontal pose on a throne, with the Christ Child seated on her lap raising his hand in blessing.
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Chartres Cathedral |
Chartres Cathedral-The transept |
Chartres Cathedral-A relatively modern window honoring the Society of American Architects
"Hommage des Architectes des Etats-Unis (In honor of the Architects of the United States). The American Institute of Architects has, over the years, provided financial support to restoration work in the cathedral.
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Chartres Cathedral |
