Chartres Cathedral

Chartres Cathedral, Gothic cathedral located in the town of Chartres, northwestern France. Generally ranked as one of the three chief examples of Gothic French architecture (along with Amiens Cathedral and Reims Cathedral), it is noted not only for its architectural innovations but also for its numerous sculptures and its much-celebrated stained glass. The cathedral’s association with the Virgin Mary (the supposed veil of the Virgin is kept in the cathedral treasury) made it the destination of pilgrims in the Middle Ages, many of them invalids seeking a cure for their afflictions. It continues to be a pilgrimage site for Roman Catholics in the 21st century.

The oldest parts of the cathedral are its crypt and the west portal, or Royal Portal, which are remnants of a Romanesque church that was mostly destroyed by fire in 1194. The present cathedral was constructed on the foundations of the earlier church and consecrated in 1260. It is built of limestone and stands some 112 feet (34 metres) high and is 427 feet (130 metres) long. In many ways, the cathedral’s design resembles those of its contemporaries, especially Laon Cathedral, but it displays innovations with its tall arcades, unusually narrow triforium, and huge clerestory—the massive weight of which required using flying buttresses in an unprecedented manner.

The cathedral contains an immense amount of sculpture, particularly figure sculpture, ranging from large column statues to miniatures. As the purpose of the sculptures was to preach and instruct, they mainly depict scenes and figures from the Old and New Testaments. The sculptures from the Royal Portal were executed about mid-12th century and reveal the Gothic era’s growing interest in naturalism. This is evident in the kings and queens that decorate the jambs. Their bodies are elongated, echoing the form of the columns to which they are attached, yet they have benevolent expressions distinct from the neutral gaze of Romanesque figures. Meanwhile, the sculptures of the south transept, constructed after 1194, are even more expressive. The figures of saints that decorate the jambs of the right doorway (Porch of the Confessors, c. 1220–30) have individual facial features that sometimes communicate with their neighbours. Notably, Saint Theodore (from the Porch of the Martyrs, c. 1230) is more fully in the round, practically detached from the architecture, and more dynamic, with swaying hips and shoulders that recall the contrapposto pose that ancient Greek sculptors had perfected.

Chartres Cathedral contains 176 stained-glass windows, the feature for which it may be best known. Like the sculpture, the stained glass was intended to be educational. The five windows of the choir hemicycle (a semicircular arrangement) relate in various ways to the Virgin Mary. The rose window in the north transept portrays figures from the Old Testament. The south transept, which is representative of the New Testament, has a rose window depicting the Apocalypse.

Several alterations have been made to the cathedral. The northwest tower’s distinctive spire, for example, was added in the early 1500s. Chartres emerged with relatively little damage from the political and religious upheavals of the 16th century and sustained less damage than most cathedrals during the French Revolution (1787–99). After a fire damaged the roof in 1836, a series of restorations were carried out during the 19th century. In 1979 Chartres Cathedral was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. During the late 20th century preservation efforts concentrated on protecting the cathedral’s stained glass from air pollution damage, and the interior underwent a controversial cleaning and restoration in the early decades of the 21st century.