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Roman Chartres:
The ancient town of Chartres lies on a plateau on the west
bank of the Eure River, in a region originally inhabited by the Carnutes,
a Late Iron Age Celtic tribe who gave Chartres its name. Chartres was a main
center for the Druids, priests of the Gallic religion, and a regional capital
of Celtic France. Along with warriors, the Druids, whose name means "finding
the oak tree," were one of the two privileged classes of ancient Celts.
According to Julius Caesar's accounts of the Gallic Wars (Bk VI, ch. 13-14),
the Druids gathered once a year at the sacred center of the Carnutes in an
oak grove with a well, where they settled legal disputes and religious questions.
This same oak grove would become the future site of Chartres cathedral (fig.1).
Captured by Caesar after the 52-51 BC
revolts of the Carnutes, the Gallo-Roman town was named Autricum or civitas
Carnotum. Excavations at the Place de Halles have revealed remains of a Roman
road 9 m wide, along with Gallo-Roman houses of types also found at Place
Pasteur in Chartres. Evidence of an amphitheater on the slope of the plateau
was found directly beneath the church of Saint-Andre. Remains of the forum
or public square, as well as two aqueducts, have also been discovered on
the north side of the plateau. Two Gallo-Roman cemeteries lay in the northwest
and southeast sections of the ancient city, and another possibly in the southwest
(Bedon et al 1988).
Fig.1: The west façade of Chartres cathedral (photo:
Athena Review).
In the Middle Ages, as the population
of Chartres increased, the town walls were extended towards the valley. The
modern town center, known as the Place des Épars, borders the old
medieval ramparts. The medieval city was divided into an upper part containing
the cathedral, and a lower part linked to trade and other riverine activities.
Numerous gabled houses, some still extant, were also built alongside the
river during this period, including the so-called Maison de l'Homme Sauvage
("House of the Savage Man"). Within the walls or ramparts, neighborhoods
grew around the twelve gates of the city; two of the most important being
the Porte Châtelet, and Porte Sainte-Jean.
Chartres Cathedral
and its Chronology: By the 4th century AD, the first Christian
church was erected at the foot of the Gallo-Roman wall surrounding the inner
town, near the old Druidic well and oak grove. At this time, Adventius was
recognized as the first bishop of Chartres.
Due to frequent fires, the church was
repeatedly rebuilt. In AD 743, the original 4th century church was burned
by the Duke of Aquitaine. A second church was then constructed, later to
be burned along with the town in 858 by Danish Vikings. In
the
wake of these 9th century Norman invasions, Bishop Giselbert rebuilt and
expanded the church.
Today the 9th century crypt of St Lubin,
including its mural paintings (fig.2), is still preserved under the choir of
today's Gothic cathedral.This building, in turn,  was destroyed by fire on
the night of September 7, 1020. The same year, Bishop Fulbert (960-1028)
initiated the construction of a large Romanesque basilica, probably with
3 aisles, and containing a choir complex with an ambulatory, adjacent chapels,
and possibly a transept. The upper church, which measured 108 m in length
and 34 m in width, had nearly the same dimensions as the later Gothic cathedral.
Fig.2: Mural paintings in the 9th century Crypt of St. Lubin
(photo: Athena Review).
After a fire in 1134 destroyed both the
town of Chartres and the west front of the cathedral, rebuilding began in
1145 with the construction of a new west façade. (figs.1,3). Just
as originally planned at the slightly earlier church of
Saint-Denis,
two flanking towers were combined with a tri-partite portal zone, decorated
with an abundance of sculptures, and a crowning rose window. Whereas at
Saint-Denis, the three portals were clearly separated by dividing abutments,
the western entrances of Chartres cathedral, known as the "Royal Portal"
(fig.3) formed a unified whole, connected by a horizontal band or frieze
of sculptures running across the entire portal zone.
The sculptures and reliefs of the celebrated
west façade at Chartres were probably executed between 1145-50. The
three lancet windows above the portals were completed ca. 1155-60, and the
uppermost level including the rose window in 1210-20. The 106 m tall south
tower, regarded as a masterpiece of late Romanesque art, was begun ca. 1144
and completed, with its spire, ca. 1160. The north tower, completed around
1150, had its spire added much later, between 1507-1513. In 1150, the north
tower consisted of only two stories and had a lead-covered roof.
The Romanesque crypt was exceptionally
large, taking up space under the choir as well as the nave. The size of this
crypt is only surpassed by those of St. Peter's in Rome and Canterbury Cathedral
in England. Between 1150 and 1194, the walls of the crypt were reinforced,
suggesting the Romanesque church above was undergoing major restoration before
the disastrous fire of June 1194. (Freigang 2003).
This fire, which destroyed much of the
town, left only the new west façade (fig.3) of the cathedral undamaged.
Efforts to construct a new cathedral in the Gothic style were aided by the
pope's legate, then in Chartres. Within thirty years, between 1194 and 1235,
the main parts of the new cathedral were completed. This included the 3-aisled
nave, the 5-aisled choir and its adjacent chapels, as well as the transept.
The transept's north and south porches were furnished with an elaborate series
of sculptures. The exceedingly high nave, 16.4 m wide between the piers,
is supported outside by three-tier flying buttresses, with the lower two
arcs joined by colonnettes or thin columns. A 13th century labyrinth can
be found within the nave. Pilgrims would follow
the
difficult route of 262 m around 11 bands of concentric circles as a way of
redeeming themselves, echoing the way of the Cross on their journey. The
walls of the nave were structured in three horizontal zones - arcades on
the ground floor, a triforium with four arcades each in the middle, and a
clerestory on top. The clerestory consisted of pairs of lancet windows topped
by a small round window. This window, or oculus, anticipated the design of
classic Gothic tracery windows. .
Fig.3: The "Royal Portal" of the west façade
at Chartres (photo: Athena Review).
Although nearly completed by 1235, the
new Gothic cathedral at Chartres was not consecrated until October 1260.
Minor work performed on the cathedral afterwards included additions to the
north tower, with a third section added during the second half of the 13th
century. In 1507, master mason Jean Textier, known as Jean de Beuce, added
a late Gothic flamboyant spire to the tower, replacing a wooden version destroyed
in the fire of July 26, 1505. A small pavilion at the foot of the tower,
also constructed by Jean de Beuce in 1520, contained the mechanism of a clock
more than 18 ft in diameter.
In 1793, destructive assaults due to the
French Revolution, led to the desecration of the Virgin's Tunic, and the
burning of the 16th century statue of the Virgin Mary in front of the Church.
During the Revolution, Chartres, like Notre-Dame in Paris, was used as a
Temple to the Goddess of Reason. Otherwise, the cathedral survived untouched,
and the late 19th century sculptor Rodin referred to it as the "Acropolis
of France."
Stained
Glass: Whereas the new Gothic style rapidly asserted itself
in cathedral architecture, stained glass windows showed a continued Romanesque
influence for several more decades. The west lancet windows at Chartres,
which belonged to the earlier cathedral damaged in the fire of 1194, retain
Romanesque traits in their composition and the arrangement of dress folds.
These three windows, installed at the beginning of the Gothic era (ca.
1145-1155), are devoted to the life of Christ and the fulfillment of the
prophecies. Influenced by the stained glass at Saint-Denis, the right window
represents the Tree of Jesse; the left window illustrates the story of the
Passion in twelve episodes, known as the Redemption cycle; and the central
window portrays
the childhood and life of Christ (Incarnation cycle).
By the beginning of the 13th century,
the influence of the Gothic style on stained glass windows was increasing.
Stained glass became a narrative medium, and church windows, as Suger
had advocated, were a ready source of instruction for the
illiterate population. Stained glass representations of the lives  of saints
had an important influence in the same vein as that of the literary work
Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine (ca. 1275). An entire window
in the chevet chapel dedicated to the life of St. Martin showed, in 33 glass
panels, many scenes including that where the saint divides his cloak with
a freezing beggar, and the dream where Christ appears with the same cloak.
Other saints whose lives are portrayed in the stained glass at Chartres include
St. Nicolas, St. Remy, St. Chéron, and St. Lubin.
Fig.4: Water carriers in the 13th c. window of Mary
Magdalen (photo: Athena Review).
Today Chartres retains 152 of its original 186
windows, serving as the greatest treasure of medieval stained glass in France
and the source of much of our knowledge about its manufacture.
Amiens,
by contrast, no longer retains any of its original medieval glass, and Reims
preserves only a small portion.
Other innovations in Gothic stained glass include
experimentation with color. The blue known as Chartres Blue (which Violet-le-Duc
compared to the blue of the autumn sky) was first used on the three Romanesque
stained glass windows of the west front. This involved blue tones enhanced
with slight traces of red. Recent discoveries have revealed that the use
of sodium compounds in the glass made it more resistant to dirt and corrosion.
The use of contrastive colors such as red, yellow,
and green helped render the biblical stories more vivid. Such contrast is
effectively used in the windows of the nave clerestory at Chartres which
portray the enthroned Virgin. A parallel development to multicolored glass
windows was the "grisaille" window (grey or uniform, from French
gris), characterized by a very limited range of pale colors and a
solitary ornament, or floral decoration. This type of window has its roots
in Cistercian art that prohibited the use of colors, or the depiction of
human figures. At Chartres, such grisaille windows were often combined with
colored glass as in the story of St. Apollinaris, where the grisaille at
the bottom of the window was inserted in 1328, replacing older panels.
Artists and
Benefactors: As was generally the case in the 12th century,
nearly nothing is known about the individual artists who created the stained
glass windows at Chartres. Only in a few instances are the names either mentioned
in literary sources or a self portrait of the artist included in the window.
Most artists of the period have only provisional titles reflecting a specific
style or masterpiece. Two such artisans who worked at Chartres are known
as the "Master of St Lubin," and the "Master of St Chéron" (Grodecki
& Brissac 1984, Derembles 1993).
All Gothic stained glass windows were
individually endowed, and inscriptions or portraits on the lower window panel
identify the benefactor of each window. The windows at Chartres thus provide
insight into the role of royalty, the aristocracy, and guilds of tradesmen,
all who helped adorn this great cathedral. The north and south transept rose
windows show various allusions to the French aristocracy's identification
with ancient biblical royalty (Dierick 1957; Erlande-Brandenburg 2003). In
the north transept, a huge rose window shows Mary surrounded by angels, the
kings of Judea, and prophets. Below the rose window, five lancet windows
display Mary's mother, St. Anne holding her child, and four kings and high
priests of the Old Testament (David and Solomon on the left; Melchizedek
and Aaron on the right). The whole composition is combined with numerous
smaller windows
containing golden lilies on blue backgrounds (the arms of the French royal
family), and a golden castle on red ground for the arms of the family of
Blanche of Castille who rul ed France when the cathedral of Chartres was built.
The representation of a youthful king Solomon in a contemporary style of
clothes and haircut may be a portrait of the young Louis IX, son of Blanche
of Castille (Jantzen 1984).
Fig.5: Masons and sculptors
in the window of St. Chéron (photo: Athena Review)].
The patronage of guilds, which also donated
considerable funds for the decoration of the cathedral, was portrayed through
scenes of their daily working life. A series of scenes showing guild workers
from the first two decades of the 13th century adorns the lower part of numerous
stained glass windows at Chartres. These include water carriers in the window
of Mary Magdalene (fig.4), shoemakers in the window of the Good Samaritan,
and masons and sculptors in the St. Chéron window (fig.5). Through
such representations of various guilds on stained glass, typical crafts and
trades of the Gothic era can be identified. In their choice of the window
theme, it is thought that the guilds paid tribute to the patron saint of
their corporation.
Chartres cathedral is one of the great
achievements of Western architecture. Its soaring proportions, wealth of
sculpture, and glorious stained glass have had a profound effect on the
preservation of medieval culture until the present day.
References:
Bedon, R., P. Pinon, and R. Chevalier. 1988. Architecture et Urbanisme
en Gaule Romaine, Tome 2. Paris, Éditions Errance.
Bony, J. 1983. French Gothic Architecture of the 12th and 13th
centuries. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London. University of California
Press.
Caesar, Julius 58-50 BC. The Conquests of Gaul. (tr. S.A. Handford,
1951, revised in 1982 by J.F. Gardner). New York, Viking Penguin Inc.
Dermembles, C. 1993. Les vitreaux narratifs de la cathedral de
Chartres. Paris, Léopard d'Or.
Freigang, C. 2003. Vom mythos mysticher Lichtarchitektur. Die
großen Kathedralen. Gotische Baukunst in Europa (ed. U.A. Oster).
Darmstadt, Primus.
Houvet, É. (revised by M. Miller) 2002. Chartres: Guide
of the Cathedral. Chartres, Éditions Houvet-La Crypte.
Jantzen, H. 1987. Kunst der Gotik. Klassische Kathedralen Frankreichs.
Chartres, Reims, Amiens. Berlin, Dietrich Reimer Verlag.
Jantzen, H. 1984. High Gothic: The Classic Cathedral of Chartres,
Reims, and Amiens. (tr. J. Palmes). Princeton, Princeton University
Press.
This article appears on pages 46-47 of Vol.4 No.2 of Athena
Review. .
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