JEAN DE CHELLES
(fl. 13th c.). Jean de Chelles is mentioned by name only in the honorary inscription at the
base of the south-transept façade of the cathedral of Paris (Anno D[omi]ni MCCLVII
mense Februario idus secundo [h]oc fuit inceptum Christi genit[ri]cis honore kallensi
lathomo vivente Johanne magistro). On the strength of this evidence, however, he is
viewed as the designer of Notre-Dame’s north-transept façade, built between ca. 1247/50
and 1257. This original and influential frontispiece combined a screen of gables across
the portal, inspired by the west front of Saint-Nicaise, Reims, with the glazed triforium
and enormous rose-in-square window derived from the Saint-Denis transepts. Jean’s
architecture is characterized by its tone of metallic preciosity as well as by its subtle
tensions and contrasts, as individual forms achieve a limited independence within a
crisply framed rectilinear grid. Attempts have been made to credit Jean de Chelles with
the construction of the nave and choir chapels of Notre-Dame adjacent to the north
transept, the south transept of Saint-Denis, the royal chapel at Saint-Germain-en-Laye,
and the choir of the cathedral of Le Mans, although in the absence of positive
documentary proof these attributions must remain speculative.
Michael T.Davis
[See also: PARIS]
Bouttier, Michel. “La reconstruction de l’abbatiale de SaintDenis au XIIIe siècle.” Bulletin
monumental 145(1987): 357–86.
Branner, Robert. Saint Louis and the Court Style in Gothic Architecture. London: Zwemmer, 1965
Kimpel, Dieter. Die Querhausarme von Notre-Dame zu Paris und ihre Skulpturen. Bonn, 1971.
——, and Robert Suckale. Die gotische Architektur in Frankreich, 1130–1270. Munich: Hirmer,
1985.
JEAN DE FÉCAMP
(ca. 990–1078). An Italian, Jean accompanied his uncle William of Volpiano when the
latter came in 989 to reform the abbey of Saint-Bénigne in Dijon. In 1028, Jean was
named abbot of Fécamp, which William had reformed in 1006. He wrote an important
contemplative treatise, which has survived in three distinct forms: Confessio theologica
(before 1018), Libellus de scripturis et verbis patrum (1030–50), and Confessio fidei (ca.
1050). Inspired by the Bible and the church fathers, Jean was a Christ-centered mystic
who believed that Jesus was healer and support to sinners. He was also the author of
several Latin poems and corresponded with both William the Conqueror and Pope Leo
IX.
Grover A.Zinn
[See also: MYSTICISM; WILLIAM OF VOLPIANO]
Jean de Fécamp. Opera. PL 143. 797–800; 147.453–58, 463–76.
Leclerq, Jean, and Jean-Paul Bonnes. Un maître de la vie spirituelle au XIe siècle:Jean de Fécamp.
Paris: Vrin, 1946.
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