It comprises the first twelve groups in the south ambulatory. These were
wrought by or under the supervision of Jehan Soulas, a Parisian
sculptor, engaged for that purpose by the Chapter (1518). For Jehan de
Beauce, being an architect and not a sculptor, was responsible only for
the framework, and not for the groups of figures. But that framework is
a masterpiece of delicate grace and prolific imagination. A wealth of
ornament, of foliage and arabesques, of mythical personages and
fantastic beasts, covers the base and the innumerable columns about it.
The stone openwork above and the canopies are exquisite in their
lightness and finish. Before he died in 1529 Jehan de Beauce had passed
completely under the influence of the Renaissance. The elegant and
ingenious clock tower, which breaks the series of niches on the south
side of the clôture, with its decorative Titus and Vespasian, and so
forth, gives evidence of this. The elaborate clockwork with which it was
originally provided, and which showed the days, hours, months, time of
sunrise and sunset, and signs of the Zodiac, was destroyed in 1793. The
initial F, with a crown, which appears on the vertical band, refers to
the then reigning François I.
Apart from the infinite variety of other ornamental details in which the
framework is so rich, there are thirty-five medallions on the base. The
first on the south side refers to the Siege of Chartres by Rollo in 911;
the next fifteen to the lives of David, Daniel, Moses, Samson, Abraham
and Jonas; the next twelve to mythological subjects--Labours of
Hercules--and the last seven are heads of Roman emperors.
The pillars of the screen carry statuettes of founders and bishops, of
whom we have already mentioned S. Fulbert and S. Ives at the eastern
extremity. The small doors in their beautiful frames give access to
rooms of which four were once chapels, and two others served for the
night-watchers.
The first group in the south ambulatory represents the angel appearing
to S. Joachim, who is watching his flocks with two shepherds and a dog,
and announcing the birth of the Virgin. This and the three following
groups are certainly the work of Jehan Soulas (1520).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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