Figure 2.14 Column statues on the central doorway of the Royal Portal at Chartres reflect the soaring vertical lines of the architecture.
Stained Glass Stained-glass windows featured detailed and complicated stories of the life of Christ or the saints. They also often included symbols or motifs of the individual or guild who paid for them.
The height, intricate patterns of the tracery and the latticed web of intense colour make Gothic windows very difficult to ‘read’, but the coloured light creates a beautiful atmosphere and mood.
The windows of Sainte Chapelle in Paris are famous for their magnificence but by the time of their making in the 14th century, less care was taken in separating the colours. This means the red and blue blend together in a purplish haze and no detail in the individual scenes or figures can be identified in the imagery (Fig. 2.16).
