The Western Facade of Poitiers Cathedral

The facade sits recessed between two towers and dates from the middle of the 13th century. The main features are a 9 metre wide central rose window and three great doors set into gables. The style is Northern Gothic. The rose window resembles that of the south transept of Notre-Dame de Paris.

 

 Western facade of the Cathedral.

Over the central door is depicted the Last Judgement carved in three rows. The dead are rising from their tombs in a mass movement. Saint Michael, sword in hand, separates the damned, who are thrown into the monsterous jaws of Leviathan. Christ the Judge shows his wounds. Kneeling at his sides are the Virgin and Saint John as well as angels displaying the instruments of the Passion. Characters from the Old and New Testaments are carved around the mouldings. 

 

 Central door.

The left door is similar, but with two rows, depicting Mourning the Virgin and the Coronation of the Virgin. The characters who crowd around Mary, attending her deathbed at the moment of the Assumption, are remarkable for the elegance of the their silhouettes, by the depth of carving and fluidity of their drapes, and by the dignity of their poses. Above, Christ blesses his mother, crowned by angels. Taking their place in the mouldings are saints and clerics. 

 

 Left hand door.

 

The tympanum of the door on the right is dedicated to Saint Thomas. This choice of theme is rare in Gothic sculpture. If the scene of the incredulity of the Apostle is traditional, the iconography of the upper register uses the version of the story told by Jacques de Voragine in the Legende Dorée (the Gilded Legend) involving the celestial apparition of a palace which the Apostle must construct for an Indian king. You can make out a building in the form of a tabernacle above the scene showing Saint Thomas preaching, baptising and distributing alms. This scene shows that the real palace is spiritual and not material. In the mouldings are the figures of angels, saints armed as knights, as well as the parable of the Wise Virgins and the Foolish Virgins.

 

Right hand door.

Executed around 1250 by one or several workshops, certainly including those who worked at Charroux, the collection of sculptures around the great doors of Poitiers Cathedral rival those of Paris, Bourges and Reims.

The level above the tympanums is dominated by a great rose window.

The gallery and the gable above that were added in the neo-gothic style in the 19th century.