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There has been so much to learn on this trip. I am usually quite excited about rushing into a cathedral to look at the windows, the arches, and the vaulting to see how these medieval masons put it all together in such beautiful and inventive ways. Visiting the Cathedrale Notre-Dame (more often called the Chartres Cathedral) taught me to spend
more time on the outside and look – really look – at the building’s external sculpture.

The tympanum is the semicircular or triangular area above an entry and is often filled with relief sculpture. There are several recurring themes in medieval church tympana – the Last Judgement; the birth and life of Christ; the birth, life, and crowning of Mary; and sometimes the life and martyrdom of a saint that is important to that church. The sculptors were endlessly  imaginative and created small details that are easy to overlook, so I hope you will enjoy some of the close-up photos of the outside.

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