Description
The Passion Typological Window
Delaporte no. 3, Deremble-Manhes no. 51
Panel 27-The Entombment of Christ (Matthew 27:53-6l; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-55; John 19:38-42)
Three men prepare the body of Christ for burial while a woman (the Virgin Mary?) and a man (St. John?) look on.
A sarcophagus is at the bottom of the composition, parallel with the plane of the panel, its side decorated with quatrefoils.
At the extreme left and right men are lowering the body of Christ (halo with cross) into the tomb. The body is on a large cloth- the men hold the ends of it while they use their hands to guide the edges to the cloth without touching the body. Between them, a bearded man wearing a cap pours a liquid from a round flask onto the body (ointment or perfume?). In a similar scene in the west facade capital frieze, Heimann says that the combination of anointing with the Entombment is new to the west and that this iconography indicates Byzantine influence. (Heimann, p. 87)
Behind them stand two haloed figures, the Virgin Mary and St. John.
At the top of the panel is a green beam with a yellow curtain hanging from it (an allusion to the Cross? To a liturgical drama?).
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.
