Description
West Façade, Right Frieze, Life of Christ, Left Side of Right Portal
33: The Entry into Jerusalem
(Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-10, Luke 19:29-44, John 12:12-23)
The center, or pivot point, of this scene is a headless Christ (with cruciform nimbus) riding on a donkey, and he holds a palm frond. To the left stand four barefoot apostles (two bearded, two not), who also hold palm fronds. They look and gesture to one another. There are three men in the left-hand convex corner between the faces of the capital. One holds a long object that Heimann identifies as a pilgrim's staff; she identifies these figures as the pilgrims from Greece mentioned in John 12:20-23 (pp. 86-86). To the right are members of the welcoming crowd. One spreads a cloth (his cloak?) under the feet of the donkey; One of the others climbs a tree to see Christ better. Another one gestures from an arched structure that probably represents the gates of Jerusalem.
See Heimann, pp. 85-87 for a discussion of the iconography and derivation of this scene.
This scene is out of sequence. If the order of events in the Gospels were used, it should have been before the Last Supper.
Compare with panels 23-4 of the Infancy and Life of Christ Window (Delaporte no. 2, Deremble-Mahnes no. 50).
At left are figures from:
32: The Betrayal of Christ.
At right are figures from:
34: The Entombment of Christ
Subject
Cathédrale de Chartres--Pictorial works.;Church decoration and ornament--France--Chartres--Pictorial works.;Church architecture--France--Chartres--Pictorial works.;Christian art and symbolism--France--Chartres--Medieval, 500-1500--Pictorial works.
