Virgin crowned, and over her a small gabled construction referring to the Ark of the Covenant. On the upper part of the arch in the lower division are three prophets and three kings. In the second angels hold the winding-sheet in which Mary’s body lies, near a coffin-shaped tomb. Over this stands Christ with eight apostles. In the third division we see Mary glorified. In the _voussure_ are sixty figures of angels, patriarchs, kings and prophets as witnesses of the Virgin’s glorification. Under the large statues are medallions referring to incidents in the lives of those represented. Thirty-seven bas reliefs ornament the sides and pillars, amongst them being the signs of the zodiac and symbolic representations of the months of the year. The ironwork of the doors of this and of the adjoining portals is of a splendidly elaborate character, due, according to a quaint tradition, to the skill and energy of the devil. [Illustration: _Photo_] [_Ed. Hautecœur, Paris._ FIGURE OF ST. MARCEL, PORTE SAINTE ANNE.] [Illustration: _Photo_] [_Ed. Hautecœur, Paris._ THE LAST JUDGEMENT. (From the central doorway.)] [Illustration: _Photo_] [_Ed. Hautecœur, Paris._ TYMPANUM OF THE PORTE SAINTE ANNE.] The _Central portal_ has suffered more from mutilation than those which are on either side of it. In the eighteenth century the architect Soufflot--a man who was nothing if not “classic”--removed the dividing pier and cut away the lower division of the tympanum in order to facilitate the passage of processions on high ceremonial occasions. All traces of his vandalism have been removed, and the dividing pillar bears a modern statue of Christ by Geoffroy Dechaume. The pedestal is a pentagon, and has seven bas-relief medallions. At the sides are the apostles, while in the medallions are represented the virtues and vices. Traces of mutilation are apparent in much of this work. The tympanum itself is devoted to the Last Judgment. “First we have figures of the dead rising at the blast of the trumpet. Men and women of all conditions and ranks wearily shake off the sleep of death.” Also there is the Archangel, with representations on the right of “the elect joyfully glancing heavenwards, while on the left the grinning demons haul a row of chained souls to hell. Crowning all is seen the Redeemer, showing the wounds in His hands. Near Him are two angels, and behind the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist interceding on their knees for fallen humanity. As a setting to this magnificent composition are six rows of sculptured forms, making a _voussure_ or set of curves, with figures of prophets, doctors, martyrs, devils, toads, damned souls, and a hideous ape with crooked toes and fingernails. Some of the ornamentation of the six ranges of arch curves is gruesome and terrible. It relates either to the celestial or infernal results of the last judgment.” In its original state this great doorway must have