Chartres Cathedral Tour du Choeur

The Chartres Cathedral is a monumental, ornate gothic masterpiece, and is reputed to be one of the most magnificent cathedrals in France.

Inside the cathedral, there is a huge, richly worked U-shaped wall called the “Tour du Choeur“, intended to separate the sacred chapel from the choir. It is 100m long, 6m high, and divided into 40 separate sections, each depicting a highly detailed sculptural scene from the life of Mary and Jesus.

The choir screen was created over a period of 200 years, from 1516 to 1714, worked by dozens of master artisans over that time frame. Some of the scenes depicted are from the Christian bible, and others are considered apocryphal but still relevant history.

The carefully worked detail in these scenes is impressive. They were sculpted in sequence, and many of the earlier scenes depict the clothing, accessories, and material culture of the early 16th century. Rather than focusing on the religious story, I’m going to analyse the attire and accessories of selected earlier scenes.

1 – Annunciation of the Birth of Mary to Joachim

2 – Annunciation of the Birth of Mary to Anne

Zooming in, we see the detail of Mary maid’s veil and wimple, and Marys maid’s gown, belt, and sleeve construction.

4 – Birth of Mary

Zooming in, we note several details: on the first attendant, the Flemish cap and pleated midwife apron, as well as her pen case, drawstring bag, and ornately lettered band on her skirt.

The second attendant has a beautiful balzo (stuffed roll cap), a short sleeved mantle or apron over her gown, turned up lined cuffs with carefully depicted prick stitching around the cuff, well as a drawstring bag, and detail on the tie of a second apron tied over the mantle.

5 – Mary Presented at the Temple

Zooming in, young Mary has a beautiful hat with decorative ties, a smock, and a tied apron over it. Anne has a lovely balso with rich embellishment.

And Joachim is very well dressed. His hat is quite jaunty, and he is also wearing an elaborate falling band collar with decorative trim. His ornate belt and belt bag, and elaborately embellished tunic and coat are all indicators of status and means.

6 – Marriage of Joseph and Mary

Zooming in, Joseph’s clothing seems a little lower in status, with less ornamentation and simpler construction. He does have a worked border on his cloak, simple slippers, and is clutching a hat of straw or wool. Mary is wearing a flower circlet befitting a maiden, and the detail of her cloak clasps and trim, and her ornate girdle, speak to means and higher status.

I’m assuming this paternal figure in the 3rd and 4th images is Joachim, again with a fancy hat, a lovely coat with ornamented hem, and a nice belt bag with adjacent ornamentation.

7 – The Annunciation

Zooming in, note that Mary is reading – and history indicates Anne taught her to read, which is very unusual for anyone at that time, especially for a woman. She’s also wearing an elaborate girdle belt. The angel Gabriel is wearing a robe with a fancy tasseled collar, and a middle sleleve layer that is elaborately smocked.

8 – The Visitation

Zooming in, we can see the lady’s maid in detail – her kerchief is an interesting wrap, and I’m going to look into plausible options for thge rectangular the basket-purse over her arm. The embellishment on the lady’s maid layers is more ornate than any we’ve seen before.

Mary’s head wrap is interesting, especially the tasseled finish on the bag at the back of her head, visible from the side in scene 11. She’s got clipped sleeves, and an interesting variant on the money pouch hanging from her girdle belt.

9 – Joseph’s Dream

Zooming in, we see ornate embellishment on Joseph’s tunic and coat, as well as a belt, purse, and pair of gloves. The angel seems to be dressed similarly to young Mary, in scene 5, with the addition of an ostentatious paternoster.

Mary is beautifully dressed in this scene, with layered, embellished head wraps, ornate cloak clasps and brooch, and a gathered kirtle. She’s both sewing and reading (possibly a girdle book?) at the same time – an accomplished woman! She is wearing a paternoster, a belt purse, and a hanging drawstring belt bag.

10 – Nativity of Jesus

Zooming in, Mary’s headwrap is elaborately pleated and twisted, and her cloak seems to have a frilled edge. Joseph has a straw hat, and is wearing something between a collar and a mantle.

11 – The Circumcision

Why? Why is this a sacred moment worth memorializing in sculpture?
Zooming in, we can see greater detail of Mary’s headwear with the tasseled bag on the back of her head, and also more detail on thei attachments and construction.

12 – Adoration of the Magi

This is one of the most detail-rich scenes depicted in the choir screen. Zooming in, we see a straw had and perhaps a coronet ont the first wise man. He has a sumptuous coat, and a gem-encrusted chalice. He has an ornate belt purse, gloves, an embellished walking stick, and multiple frilled and fringed edes on his coat.

The kneeling wise man has a wonderful stiffened, embellished mantle that needs to be re-created. He aso has an ornate belt purse, a brooch gathering his shirt, and boots secured with ties.

The third wise man has large scale jewelry, with a gem-encrusted brooch and tasseled belt. He is wearing a large-scale metal chain diagonally as well, perhaps for a bag, which is ostentatious. His over-tunic is gathered and pleated at the neck.

23 – Christ Arrested

Zooming in, we see one of the guards, squatting with an agonized expression, clothed in a soldier’s coat with button strips, wearing both sandals and a fringed ornament around his calf. We also see another guard with a head wrap, short dagged sleeves to his soldier’s coat, with the coat skirt kilted up and braies visible.

Sources

https://www.cathedrale-chartres.org/cathedrale/monument/lieu-dexception/tour-du-choeur/
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cl%C3%B4ture_de_ch%C5%93ur_de_la_cath%C3%A9drale_Notre-Dame_de_Chartres