As Notre-Dame grew, it mirrored the humanizing trend of the times. By 1215 the builders had raised the main body of the Cathedral, and work was in progress on the transept—the lateral wings that gave the church its cruciform shape. Chartres' transept, the largest in France, was dressed with two sumptuous portals. The sculptures ordered for both portals took on a new animation and individuality.
These qualities, hallmarks of the mature Gothic style, pervade the statues at right, which guard the middle door of the south portal. Mounted on the center post is a grave but vital figure of Christ as teacher. At right are realistic statues of St. Paul, St. John and St. James the Great, The relief above Christ's head, part of the Last Judgment, shows St. Michael (foreground) separating the elect (left) from the damned (right). This stately treatment of the theme conveys a sense of resignation rather than the anguish and desperation of Romanesque versions. Through the open doorway can be seen dazzling examples of another Gothic triumph—the vivid stained-glass windows above Chartres' north portal.
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