Chartres Cathedral: Stained Glass Windows
The Blue Virgin Window (c.1150).
The stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral are some of the most extensive and beautiful medieval windows to survive anywhere. Dating from as early as the 1140s AD, with most of them from 1200-50, there are about 170 Chartres windows (depending on how you count) in total covering 21,000 square feet. Their subjects including biblical stories, legends of the saints, the lives of heroes like Roland and Charlemagne, and scenes of everyday medieval life.
This special section on Sacred Destinations provides an illustrated guide to these fascinating works of medieval art. The photographs in this guide were taken by me over a period of several days in July 2008. Unfortunately several east chapels were under renovation, but I was able to photograph all other main windows in detail.
The captions and accompanying information in this section rely heavily on the excellent Chartres: Guide of the Cathedral booklet available in the gift shop, along with a few of my own observations. Please contact me if you have any further information or corrections, and enjoy! To begin exploring, choose a link from the menu below or click a window on the plan below. More windows will be added regularly. For detailed and large views of all the available windows, please see our Chartres Cathedral Stained Glass Photo Gallery.
| Chartres Cathedral Stained Glass: Table of Contents | ||||
| Introduction and Plan Photo Gallery West Rose Window 1. Jesse Window |
2. Life of Christ Window 3. Passion Window 4. St. John Window 14. Blue Virgin Window |
17. Zodiac Window 25. Becket Window 64. Noah Window |
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Sources
- Personal visits (July 19-22, 2008).
- Chartres: Guide of the Cathedral (Editions Houvet-La Crypte, Chartres). A fantastic illustrated booklet available in the cathedral gift shop.
- Plan Des Virtraux de Chartres. A large color plan of the windows available in the cathedral gift shop.
- Chartres Cathedral - Images of Medieval Art and Architecture
