PeriodIndex

New Testament Figures - Bourges Cathedral, Choir Clerestory (South Side, c.1200–1225)

The south side of the choir clerestory at Bourges Cathedral contains a remarkably complete early-Gothic cycle of New Testament figures, created between about 1200 and 1225. These tall, independent lancets depict apostles and evangelists in a unified iconographic programme, forming a deliberate counterpart to the Old Testament prophets on the north side of the choir.

The only New Testament figures not on the south side are those in the apex window, w.200 - the Virgin and Child with St Stephen — which stand on the north side and serve a special liturgical and dedicatory function.

13th century church monuments

In the 13th century (c. 1200–1300), church monuments were effigial tombs, cross slabs, and early brasses, emerging as Gothic art replaced Romanesque. They focused on piety, feudal status, and intercession, with stiff, symbolic figures.

Medieval

Romanesque

Gothic

Henry the Young King - Rouen Cathedral, France

Tomb of Henry the Young King (d1183) son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, brother of King Richard I of England and King John.

Portal Of St. Anne

The portal of St Anne on the right of the western façade was built in 1200 and is the earliest of the three portals to be built. The tympanum is actually dated to about 1150 and was once part of the earlier cathedral of St. Stephen whose western façade was once 40 metres to the west of the present Cathedral.

Richard Coeur-de-Lion - Rouen Cathedral, France

Tomb of Richard I of England (d1199). This is one of three tombs to Richard I, this one is said to contain his heart, his entrails were buried in Châlus (where he died), and the rest of his body was buried at the feet of his father, Henry II, at Fontevraud Abbey in Anjou.

Eleanor of Aquitaine Tomb - Fontevraud Abbey, France

Tomb of Eleanor of Aquitaine (d1204) at Fontevraud Abbey in France. Eleanor was first married to Louis VII of France, and had two daughters by him. However, they divorced in March, and in May of the same year, she married Henry of Anjou the future Henry II of England

Noah Window

This early 13th century window depicts the story of Noah, was donated to the Cathedral of Chartres by the town's carpenters, wheelwrights, and coopers.

Saint Lubin

Saint Lubin, or Leobinus, was a 6th century bishop of Chartres. This window from the early 13th century depicts events in his life, and was donated to the cathedral by the Winesellers and innkeepers of the town of Chartres.

w.208 The Apostles Bartholomew, Matthew, and Simon - Bourges Cathedral

Window 208 forms part of the distinguished apostolic cycle that runs around the clerestory of Bourges Cathedral. It presents three standing apostles in individual lancets: St Bartholomew on the left, St Matthew in the centre, and St Simon on the right. Each is set before a deep blue background and surrounded by the richly coloured geometric border characteristic of the Bourges glazing workshop in the early thirteenth century.

w.206 St James the Greater, St Philip, and St Thomas - Bourges Cathedral

Window w.206 forms part of the major early 13th-century glazing programme of the choir clerestory at Bourges Cathedral. Like the other apostolic lancets in this zone, it presents three full-length apostles standing beneath architectural canopies, each framed by the characteristic red–blue geometric borders of the Bourges workshop. The style, palette, and facial types align closely with the glazing campaigns dated to c.1210–1215.