A Short History of the Middle Ages Fourth Edition

Plate 6.6: Reims Cathedral, West Portal, Saint Joseph (c.1240). Compare Saint Joseph on this Gothic portal
with the portrayal of Eve on the Romanesque lintel at Autun in Plate 5.7. Forgetting, for the moment, the
differences in subject matter, note the change in style: Eve’s body adheres to the flat surface behind her and
conforms to its shape. By contrast, Joseph breaks away from the column behind him and is carved fully in
the round.