Window 007 - Death and Assumption of Mary (restored)
Bottom to top, left to right. • Row 1: Cobblers, donors of the window • Medallion 2: Apostles around Mary's deathbed • Medallion 3 (small-missing): Jesus receives soul (small child). • Medallion 4: Mary's funeral (note the coffin held up at the top). • Medallion 5 (small): Angels with censers • Medallion 6: Mary placed in the tomb surrounded by apostles. • Medallion 7 (small): Mary's bodily assumption to heaven, flanked by two angels. • Medallion 8: Jesus crowns Mary as Queen of Heaven. • Medallion 9 (small): Angels bear the crown.
Bottom to top, left to right. Circles start at 6 o'clock, proceed left to right: • Panels 1,2,3: Cobblers, the donors of the window - • Quadrant 4: Jesus tells a parable. • Quadrant 5: Man leaves Jerusalem for Jericho • Center 6, quadrant 7: Thieves leap out to attack and rob him • Quadrant 8: Priest and levite pass by without helping. - • Panels 9,10,11: Samaritan binds his wounds, places the man on his donkey, and takes him to a waiting inn-keeper. - • Quadrant 12: Samaritan cares for wounded man at the inn. • Quadrant 13: God creates man, (breathing into Adam the breath of life?). • Center 14: Adam in paradise. • Quadrant 15: God makes woman from rib ('tsela') as Adam sleeps. The appearance of the legs matching both Adam and Eve is a beautiful bit of work, rich with symbolism. • Quadrant 16: God forbids the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. Note the red serpent already coiled about the trunk. - • Panel 17: They sit under the tree (a first step toward sin, perhaps?). • Panel 18: Satan tempts them and they eat. Note the dark, ominous red background which echoes the serpent from Quadrant 16, and contrasts with the refreshing blue of the previous. • Panel 19: God calls to them, but they hide and make fig-leaf aprons.
• Quadrant 20: Cherubim drives them from the garden and tree of life. • Quadrant 21: Adam digs while Eve spins with a distaff. • Center 22: God/Christ judges their sin but also promises redemption. {? makes covenant with them) • Quadrant 23: Cain takes an axe to Abel's head; the first murder. Abel's name can be made out in text below the panel. Like Abel--and the man in the parable--we have fallen victim to a fallen world, and lie wounded and bleeding. • Quadrant 24: Christ sits to redeem and judge, surrounded by angels. Reminds us that he is the ultimate figure to whom the parable of the Samaritan points.
Bottom to top, left to right. Circles are SW to SE, then NW to NE: • Panels 1,2,3: Water-bearers, the donors of the window - • Quadrant 4: Mary Magdalen at Simon's house • Quadrant 5: Lazarus dies • Quadrants 6, 7: Funeral of Lazarus, with mourners to the left, the bier to the right. - • Panels 8,9,10: Jesus comes to Bethany and is met by Mary and Martha, he then raises Lazarus (? while on-lookers are amazed) - • Quadrant 11: Mary Magdalen at the sepulchre of Christ (Lazarus is being used as a type of Christ's resurrection) • Quadrant 12: Jesus appears to Mary. • Quadrants 13, 14: Mary tells the apostles of the resurrection; they do not believe her. - • Panels 15,16,17: Mary comes to Provence; Mary's brother Saint Maximus preaches. - • Quadrant 18: Mary Magdalen's death. • Quadrant 19: She is buried. • Quadrants 20, 21: Jesus receives Mary into Heaven. (Thanks to Him, she too has been 'raised,' just as Lazarus and Jesus were.) - • Panels 22: Angel with censer.
Window 059 - Symbolic Window, Typology of the Passion of Christ (restored)
NB: Read TOP to BOTTOM, unlike most windows. Some are modern (marked *).
• Row 12: (Bottom row): Blacksmiths as donors. • Row 11: Samson carries gates of Gaza; Christ's body being annointed; David slays lion to protect sheep [some argue for Samson slaying lion, but sheep make me think likely David. On the other hand, the other side panels are often of the same characters, so I suppose a repeat of Sampson would fit that pattern. - GLS] • Row 10: Elijah raises son of widow of Sareptha; Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh; Elijah meets widow of Sareptha. • Row 09: King David with pelican feeding young on her own blood. • Row 08: Abraham takes Isaac to Mount Moriah for sacrifice; Descent from the Cross; Abraham is stopped from sacrificing Isaac. • Row 07: Jonah near Ninevah (*). • Row 06: Moses shows brass serpent; Adam collects blood at the foot of the cross (*); Israelites mark their doorposts with blood of the lamb (tau). • Row 05: The Church (the NT, new faith); Crucifixion with Longinus and Stephaton (*); Synagogue (the OT, old faith). • Row 04: Gideon sees angel (*). • Row 03: Christ is mocked and crowned with thorns; Israelite scouts return from promised land with evidence of its richeness; The Scourging of Christ. • Row 02: Women weep at the Crucifixion; Jesus carries the cross (*); Soldiers preparing for the crucifixion. • Row 01: Christ (with candelabra) (*).
Window 014 - Temptation of Christ, Marriage at Cana, Blue Virgin (restored)
Top to bottom, left to right • Row 01: Temptations of Christ: stones into bread; pinacle of the temple; on the mountain with Jesus saying "get thee behind me." • Row 02: Marriage at Cana: Jesus goes to marriage feast; at the feast; Mary tells Jesus they've run out of wine. • Row 03: Marriage at Cana: Mary tells servants to do whatever Jesus tells them; Jesus turns water into wine; Servant takes wine to the feast's governor. • Row 04: Angels with censers and bearing pillars which support Mary's throne • Upper half: Mary with the Infant Christ. The three panels containing Mary and Christ, along with the three lancet windows beneath the western rose, are the sole remaining example of the glass from the cathedral largely destroyed in the fire of 1194, dating to approximately AD 1180. The face of Mary is modern; note how she is shaped almost throne-like as Christ sits enthroned upon her. Often called "Notre Dame de la Belle Verrière" (Our Lady of the Beautiful Stained Glass Window). The framing panels and remainder of the window are from the current cathedral--circa 1215 - 1220.
Window 176 - West Rose - Last Judgment • Center: Christ enthroned in glory, displaying his wounds. Four beasts and angels surround him.
• First circle: Twelve apostles, with Abraham's bosom at 12 o'clock, and the judgment (weighing of souls) at 6 o'clock. Note the angel to the left and devil to the right. • Outer circle: Starting from the 12:30 position, and proceeding clockwise (each circle on the right is paired with one on the left). (1, 12) Instruments of the passion; (2, 11) angels blow trumps; (3, 10) the resurrected dead awaiting judgment; (4,5,8,9) resurrection of the dead (naked, having just come from their graves); (6,7) hell (at the bottom of the circle, naturally enough).
† Window 145 - North rose: Rose of France glorifying the Virgin (restored)
Virgin in center with Infant Jesus. Surrounded by four doves, four angels, and four Thrones. These are followed by twelve kings of Judah, Mary's ancestors. The outer ring contains twelve minor prophets.
The window was donated while Queen Blanche was regent of France (circa 1230). The arms of France alternating with Castile are seen below the rose itself. The entire ensemble is a none-too-subtle bit of royal propaganda, with Mary (the Queen of Heaven) at the center of it all. Note too that the figures below the rose in the lancets contrast a legitimate righteous sovereign with corrupt, foolish, or fallen ones. Blanche seems to have wanted no doubt about how she ought to be considered.
†North side, lancets, left to right: True versus false sovereigns (restored)
• Window 145C - North side, far left lancet: Melchizedek standing over Nebuchadnezzar (true king over the false Babylonian pretender to world-lordship, worshipping idol of his dream).
• Window 145B - North side, near left lancet: King David standing over King Saul (the chosen king over the apostate king rejected by God, who dies via suicide in despair).
• Window 145A - North side, central lancet: Saint Anne holding Infant Mary. Beneath this are the arms of France.
• Window 145D - North side, near right lancet: Solomon over Jeroboam, who worships golden calf (wise king over the fool who worshipped idols and abandoned the LORD).
• Window 145E - North side, far right lancet: Aaron above Pharoah, covered by the Red Sea (true priesthood and power over the false).
