ART-HIST 100
Fall 2021
Lecture 14
The Art of Persuasion: Sculpture and the Gothic Portal
Introduction
As clergymen and architects collaborated to create the new form of architecture that has
come to be known as Gothic, they were also developing a new kind of sculpture to
“speak” to congregants. This sculpture represents an elaboration above and beyond the
tympana scenes that appear on Romanesque cathedrals, to encompass tremendously
complex programs covering nearly every surface of the church’s exterior.
These programs include: jamb figures, scenes within quatrefoils, smaller figures lining
archivolts, life size sculptures on trumeaux (the singular form is trumeau), and episodic
narratives told in the medium of stained glass. In addition, sculptors develop favored
themes and iconographies that appear with regularity, including depictions of the Virgin,
saints, and the Last Judgment. Together, all of these components of the Gothic church
contribute to the Church’s mission to persuade the public that, through prayer and
attendance at church, they could access salvation.
Key Images
Last Judgment Tympanum, St Denis, France, c.1140
Jamb figures, Cathedral of Chartres, France, c.1145-1155
Last Judgment Portal, Cathedral of Notre Dame d’Amiens, France, 1220-1269
Resurrected Figures, Notre Dame de Paris, West Façade, c.1220-1230
Beau Dieu, Cathedral of Notre Dame d’Amiens, France, 1220-1269
Vierge Dorée (Golden Virgin), Cathedral of Notre Dame d’Amiens, France, 1220-1269
Saint Maurice, Magdeburg Cathedral, Germany, c.1250
Key Terms
archivolts
jamb
trumeau
tympanum
quatrefoil