Lausanne, Cathédrale Notre-Dame

    Images
    Date

    Begun ca. 1170

    Sculptural Program

    The porch attached to the south flank of the nave at Lausanne cathedral illustrates the panoramic potential of this type of architectural space, and a recent restoration has revived a portion of the polychromy, which has reanimated the players in the dramas enacted in this cubic zone. In light of the panoramic quality of this space, let us begin our examination of the sculpture facing the doorway and proceeding in a clockwise fashion from there.
    Above the doorway is a tympanum with a depiction of Christ in a sharply pointed mandorla, which appears to be supported by two angels. Standing on a shallow pedestal to the right of Christ is a female figure, presumably the Virgin, whose hands are clasped in a gesture of prayer. On the opposite side of the tympanum, an angel presents a crown to Christ, which the latter takes between his fingers. Two standing angels holding censers frame this scene.
    The lintel consists of two panels: on the left is the Dormition of the Virgin; on the right is the Assumption of the Virgin. An entourage surrounds the Virgin in both panels. These scenes appear as pendant pieces, mirroring one another compositionally. Differences emerge in the details, however. In the Assumption panel, angels with brightly colored wings, shown rousing the Virgin, substitute for the earthly figures of the Dormition.
    In the tympanum is the Coronation of the Virgin, but here this theme is taken up differently than it is elsewhere. The Virgin does not appear already crowned (as at Senlis, Mantes, Laon, Braine, Chartres, and Amiens), nor is she crowned by a descending angel (as at Notre-Dame of Paris, Longpont), nor is Christ shown placing the crown on her head (as at Strasbourg and Dijon). Instead, at Lausanne the Virgin stands off to the side, awaiting her Coronation, as an angel offers the crown to Christ. This is the prelude to the Coronation, and this composition is unique among extant depictions of this theme. In his description of the sculpture at Lausanne, Claude Lapaire envisioned the ymagier* of this tympanum at Lausanne as a *metteur-en-scène, who heightened the drama of the Coronation by freezing in time a moment of exchange that led up to the climactic moment. This sense of freedom with the iconography in the tympanum contrasts sharply with the Dormition and Assumption in the lintel below, which have numerous iconographic cognates in sculpture elsewhere. Lapaire believed this porch owed a great deal to the trail blazed by the Coronation portal at Chartres, and yet the former takes liberties with the theme. The iconography of the column figures (the prophets, for example) and the tympanum are unique among extant sculptural programs.
    The bottom edge of the lintel bisects the nimbus of the round-faced angel in the trumeau. Scholars have identified this figure as Michael the Archangel and suggested that he originally held the characteristic scales for weighing souls.
    Triads of column figures from the Old and New Testaments adorn the embrasures and piers of the porch. In the right jamb, from left to right, are Saint Peter, with a key in each hand; Saint Paul, with a closed book in his left hand; and John the Evangelist. Continuing our panoramic sweep clockwise, in the pier mirroring the right jamb, left to right, are the remaining three Evangelists: Matthew, with an open book inscribed "Liber generationis Jesu Christi"; Luke, with a beard in loose snail curls; and Mark, shown unfurling a scroll. Continuing clockwise on to the next pier we find, left to right, a triad of prophets: Isaiah, holding a disc with seven doves; David, who is crowned and carrying an open book; and Jeremiah, with a flaming cauldron. Finally, returning to the doorway, in the left jamb we find Moses with the tablets of the Law; John the Baptist holding a disc emblazoned with the Agnus Dei; and Simeon with an infant tugging at his beard. These columns are further enlivened with hybrid creatures and vegetal motifs that appear at the feet of these twelve figures.
    The archivolt comprises two arches whose voussoirs feature a variety of figures seated on trilobed bases. The archivolts of the surrounding three bays of the porch also feature similar figures, some holding scrolls, some bearded, some crowned, and others nimbed. Claude Lapaire identified these as Elders of the Apocalypse. Although this is a reasonable interpretation (many of them sport beards; some are crowned; and several are depicted with musical instruments), we cannot rule out alternatives.
    The style of this portal corresponds to the north arm of the transept at Chartres, and it also shares some stylistic markers with Strasbourg and Besançon. As Paul Williamson has pointed out, the handling of the polychromy mirrors contemporary ivory painting, where polychromy was used selectively. On stylistic grounds and based on knowledge of the building campaign to which it belonged, this sculptural ensemble can be dated to the 1220s.

    Amsler, C., La rose de la cathédrale de Lausanne: histoire et conservation récente, Lausanne, 1999
    Bach, E., La cathédrale de Lausanne, Berne, 195-
    Beer, E. J., Die Rose der Kathedrale von Lausanne und der kosmologische Bilderhreis des Mittelalters, Bern, 1952
    ----, "Nouvelles réflexions sur l'image du monde dans la cathédrale de Lausanne," Revue de l'Art, vol. 10, 1970, pp 57-62
    Biaudet, Jean Charles, et al. La Cathédrale de Lausanne. Berne: Société d'Histoire de l'Art en Suisse, 1975.
    Blaser, E. M., Gotische bildwerke der kathedrale von Lausanne, Frankfurt, 1916
    Blondel, L., Les origines de Lausanne et les édifices qui ont précédé la cathédrale actuelle, Lausanne, 1943
    Boerner, B., "Überlegungen zur ikonographie des Marienportals," Die Kathedrale von Lausanne und ihr Marienportal im Kontext der europaïschen Gotik, Ed. Peter Kurmann and Martin Rohde, Berlin, 2004, pp 179-202
    Cassina, G.; Huguenin C.; Lüthi, D., Destins de pierre: le patrimoine funeraire de la Cathédrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 2006
    Cathédrale de Lausanne: 700e anniversaire de la consecration solonelle: catalogue de l'exposition, Musée historique de l'Ancien-Évêché, Lausanne, 1er juillet-31 décembre 1975, Lausanne, 1975
    Chamorel, G. P., La Cathédrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1929
    Crotti, P.; Pignat, G.; Rouguin, C.; Stoeckli, W., "Du cumin des prés dans une tombe médiévale (vers 1200), la sépulture Sz du portail peint de la cathédrale de Lausanne," Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte, vol. 39:4, 1982, pp 217-228
    Diserens, E., La rose, Cathédrale de Lausanne, Yens sur Morges, 2000
    Donche Gay, S., Les vitraux du XXe siècle de la Cathédrale de Lausanne: Bille Cingria, Clément Poncet, Ribaupierre, Rivier, Lausanne, 1994
    Duby, G., Merveilleuse Notre-Dame de Lausanne: cathédrale bouguignonne, Paris, 1975
    Dupraz, Emmanuel-Stanislas. La Cathédrale De Lausanne; Histoire, Art, Culte. Lausanne: Lombard et Ryter, 1958.
    Forel, F., "Le carré de la rose de la cathédrale de Lausanne: A propos de l';etude d'Alice Mary Hilton," Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte, vol. 47:3, 1990, pp 235-243
    Gasser, S., Die Kathedralen von Lausanne und Genf und ihre Nachfolge: früh- und hochgotische Architektur in de Westweiz (1170-1350), Berlin, 2004
    Gauthier, L., La cathédrale de Lausanne et ses travaux de restauration, 1869-1898, Lausanne, 1899
    Grandjean, M., Le Cloître de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1975
    ----, "D'Angleterre en Pays de Vaud et en Faucigny à travers roses et remplages," Etudes de lettres: Bulletin de la Faculté des lettres de l'Université de Lausanne et de la Société des etudes de lettres, vol. 2-3, 1987, pp 85-104
    ----, Le magnum portale de la cathédrale de Lausanne et le passage routier de la grande travée, 1975
    Henriet, J., "La cathédrale de Lausanne: la première campagne de travaux et ses sources," Die Kathedrale von Lausanne und ihr Marienportal im Kontext der europaïschen Gotik, Ed. Peter Kurmann and Martin Rohde, Berlin, 2004, pp 61-73
    Hilton, A. M., "La rose de la cathédrale de Lausanne," Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte, vol. 46:3, 1989, pp 251-269
    Jongh, G. de, Lausanne; 76 photos inédits, Lausanne, 1945
    Keck, G., "Un fragment carolingien sculpté en molasses trouvé à Lausanne," Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte, vol. 49:4, 1992, pp 315-320
    Lafond, J., Les vitraux de la Cathèdrale de Lausanne, Paris, 1953
    Lapaire, C., "Les stalles de la cathédrale de Lausanne," Stalles de la Savoie médiévale, Ed. Claude Lapaire and Sylvie Aballéa, Genève, 1991, pp 201-206
    Morerod, J.-D., "L'église de Lausanne et la construction de sa cathédrale," Die Kathedrale von Lausanne und ihr Marienportal im Kontext der europaïschen Gotik, Ed. Peter Kurmann and Martin Rohde, Berlin, 2004, pp 11-33
    Niehr, K., "Die porta picta von Lausanne- Versych einer Strukturanalyse," Die Kathedrale von Lausanne und ihr Marienportal im Kontext der europaïschen Gotik, Ed. Peter Kurmann and Martin Rohde, Berlin, 2004, pp 161-178
    Rossi Manaresi, R., "Considerazioni tecniche sulla scultura monumentale policromata, romanica e gotica," Bolletino d'Arte, ser.6,72:41:Suppl., 1987, II:173-186
    Roussy, T., La Cathédrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1964
    Salet, F., "La cathédrale de Lausanne. A propos du septième centenaire de la consécration de 1275," Bulletin monumental, vol. 135:1, 1977, pp 21-41
    Sandron, D., "La cathédrale de Lausanne et l'architecture du Nord de la France du XIIe siècle au début du XIIIe siècle," Die Kathedrale von Lausanne und ihr Marienportal im Kontext der europaïschen Gotik, Ed. Peter Kurmann and Martin Rohde, Berlin, 2004, pp 125-137
    Sauerlënder, W., "Centre et péripherie: le cas du portail peint de Lausanne," Die Kathedrale von Lausanne und ihr Marienportal im Kontext der europaïschen Gotik, Ed. Peter Kurmann and Martin Rohde, Berlin, 2004, pp 203-217
    Stöckli, W., "La chronologie de la cathédrale de Lausanne et du portail peint. Une rechereche selon les méthodes de l'archéologie du bâti," Die Kathedrale von Lausanne und ihr Marienportal im Kontext der europaïschen Gotik, Ed. Peter Kurmann and Martin Rohde, Berlin, 2004, pp 45-59
    Trümpler, S., "Realität und Interpretation: neue Erkenntnisse zum Rosenfenster der Kathedrale von Lausanne," Künstlerischer Artistic Exchange: Akten des XXVIII. Internationalen Kongresses für Kunstgeschichte, Berlin, 15.-20. Juli 1992, Ed. Thomas W. Gaehtgens, Berlin, vol. 3, 1993, pp 401-402
    Vergnolle, E., "Les plus anciens chapiteaux de la cathédrale de Lausanne," Die Kathedrale von Lausanne und ihr Marienportal im Kontext der europaïschen Gotik, Ed. Peter Kurmann and Martin Rohde, Berlin, 2004, pp 75-87
    Vio, M., La cathédrale de Lausanne, Neuchatel, 1950
    Wilson, C., "Lausanne and Canterbury: a 'special relationship' reconsidered," Die Kathedrale von Lausanne und ihr Marienportal im Kontext der europaïschen Gotik, Ed. Peter Kurmann and Martin Rohde, Berlin, 2004, pp 89-124
    Winterfeld, D. von, "Die Baukunst im Römischen Reich zur Zeit des Neubaus der Kathedrale von Lausanne," Die Kathedrale von Lausanne und ihr Marienportal im Kontext der europaïschen Gotik, Ed. Peter Kurmann and Martin Rohde, Berlin, 2004, pp 139-159
    Wolf, C., "Lausanne VD-Cathédrale, place Nord, Grabungen 1991: Neue Erkenntnisse zur vor- und Frühgeschichtlichen Besiedlung de Cité," Jahrbuch der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Ur- und Frühgeschichte: Annuaire de la Société Suisse de préhistoire et d'archéologie: Annuario della Società di preistoria e d'archeologia, vol. 78, 1995, pp 145-153