MEDIEVAL SCULPTOR, French
(active around 1150 in Poitiers)

West façade

c. 1150
Stone
Notre-Dame-la-Grande, Poitiers

The three-story west façade of the former collegiate church of Notre-Dame-la-Grande in Poitiers (Vienne) is similar to Angoulème, being determined by vertical lines; these are formed by a central portal, a window above it and an immense mandorla in the gable storey, all accompanied by corner towers. The iconographical program is simple. The mandorla contains a standing Christ and the Evangelists' symbols, and it is accompanied by the twelve apostles in the upper storey. They are shown sitting in the eight arcades of the lower register, while the four apostles above are standing. The figural ornamentation of the lower storey is restricted to the area between the upper storey's arcade string course and the portal arches.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.