There are three doors on the western entrance of Chartres. Together they form what is known as the Royal Portal. The three doors are symbolic of the Holy Trinity; God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. This symbolism is recurrent in Gothic architecture. The door jamb sculptures are slender, columnar figures. They depict Old Testament kings and queens. The royalty is frontal, with their arms on a vertical plane, their halos flat, and their feet slanting downward. The cathedral portal in contrast to the Roman arch highlights the symbolic connection between the interior of the church and Jerusalem. The right portal depicts scenes of Christ’s Nativity and childhood on a double lintel. On the tympanum Mary and Christ sit on a throne surrounded by the Seven Liberal Arts which are depicted in the archivolts. The Liberal Arts are represented in the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic), and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music.) This shows the importance Christians placed on knowledge in relation to becoming one with God. Scenes of the Ascension are depicted on the northern tympanum. The archivolts contain zodiac signs. The central portal contains an apocalyptic vision of Saint John the Divine. On the tympanum Christ is seated surrounded by an oval mandorla and the four apocalyptic symbols of the Evangelists. Christ is only slightly larger then St. Mark and St. Luke; however, his superiority is still maintained. Underneath the tympanum the 12 apostles are arranged in four groups of three. At both ends of the lintel a single prophet stands holding a scroll which is presumably the New Testament. Overall, the Royal Portal of Chartres offers the viewer the entirety of Christian history. The beginning and the end of Christ’s life is placed at the right and left doors, in keeping with Western traditions of reading. The Old Testament kings and queens on the door jambs are the symbolic ancestors of Mary and Jesus.
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