The south portal of ca. 1270 features a trumeau statue of the Virgin and Child, Vierge
Dorée, and scenes from the life of St. Honoré, a 6th-century bishop of Amiens, in the
tympanum. Swaying poses, delicate faces, and complex drapery characterize this elegant
Gothic style. Two 13th-century bishops have bronze slab tombs in the nave. Two chapels
of ca. 1375 contain statues of Charles V and his sons. John Ruskin called the late 15th-
and early 16th-century carved choir screen and stalls the “Bible of Amiens” because of
their wealth of scriptural subjects. The 13th-century edifice, its sculptured portals, and
Gothic furnishings make Amiens one of the great medieval churches.
Karen Gould
[See also: CORMONT; GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE; GOTHIC ART; ROBERT DE
LUZARCHES]
Amiens (Somme), Notre-Dame,
façade. Photograph: Clarence Ward
Collection. Courtesy of Oberlin
College.
Hubscher, Ronald, et al. Histoire d’Amiens. Toulouse: Privat, 1986.
Jantzen, Hans. High Gothic: The Classic Cathedrals of Chartres, Reims and Amiens. New York:
Pantheon, 1962.
Thiébaut, Jacques. Les cathédrales gothiques en Picardie. Amiens: Centre Régional de
Documentation Pédagogique d’Amiens, 1987.
The Encyclopedia 59