The Saint Anne Portal - Notre-Dame de Paris

The Portal of Saint Anne, in Romanesque style, is the oldest of the three portals. It depicts episodes from the childhood of Christ. In the center, the Virgin and Child are flanked by the King of France and the Bishop of Paris, a testament to the close ties between royalty and Christianity.

The Portal of Saint Anne stands to the right of the central portal. Installed around 1200, it is the first of the three portals set on the western facade. Some sculpted pieces were repurposed from a tympanum created fifty years earlier for the old Saint Stephen Cathedral. This is why its Romanesque style appears more archaic compared to the other two portals.

Vue d'ensemble du portail de la Vierge encadré de sculptures

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Saint Marcel, Bishop of Paris

The central trumeau between the two doors features Saint Marcel, Bishop of Paris in the 4th century. He crushes a dragon, symbolizing the plagues afflicting his diocese. The original statue, mutilated during the revolution, was replaced in the 19th century. Nine statues standing on either side of the two doors were also redone in the 19th century under the direction of Viollet-le-Duc. They depict, on the left, a king, the Queen of Sheba, King Solomon, and Saint Peter; on the right, Saint Paul, King David, Bathsheba, and another king. The ironwork on the doors is an exceptional example of medieval ironwork.

Anne, Mother of Mary

This portal is dedicated to Saint Anne, the mother of Mary. Below the tympanum, the two lintels depict, in the lower part, the marriage of Joachim and Anne (parents of Mary) and the marriage of Mary and Joseph (parents of Jesus). The upper part narrates scenes from the life of Christ: the Annunciation (Gabriel’s announcement to Mary), the Visitation (Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, visiting Mary), the Nativity (birth of Christ in Bethlehem), and the Epiphany (adoration of the Magi).

The Romanesque Style

Like queens in the Middle Ages, the Virgin and Child sit on a throne under a canopy and bear royal attributes: the crown and the scepter. She holds her son Jesus on her lap, who blesses the faithful and presents the Book of Law. This representation of the Virgin and Child is characteristic of the Romanesque style with a frontal, hieratic posture. This style draws inspiration from the Greco-Byzantine style with the succession of small folds on the robe.

A Bishop and a King

The identities of the figures representing the Bishop of Paris (on the left) and a King of France (on the right) remain unknown. They might be Bishop Saint Germain and King Childebert, founder of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, who died in Paris in 558.

In the concentric voussures above the tympanum, the heavenly court (angels, kings, prophets, and elders of the apocalypse) sings the glory of God.