The West Portals of Notre-Dame in Paris

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Stephan Albrecht
• Subject Area: Art History
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 508402959

The West Portals of Notre-Dame in ParisThe research project focuses on the west façade of Notre-Dame in Paris with its complex three-portal system. Unlike any other French Gothic building, the portals are so consistently integrated into an overarching order that fuses the facade into a single unit. At the same time, on close inspection, the differences between the individual portals are unusually great. Each portal differs in its combination of architecture and sculpture, proportion, formal conception, technical construction, and, finally, figural style. Even the design of the pedestal zones is solved differently in all three portals. Unity and diversity of artistic solutions go hand in hand on the Paris west facade.While the unity of the façade has always been emphasized by researchers as a special quality, the diversity appeared to be a problem. It was explained by reasons of architectural history: rapid successive changes of plan and altered stylistic ideas would ultimately have led unintentionally to a non-uniform, asymmetrical juxtaposition. This assessment may be the reason why, although individual studies exist on each portal, the context has rarely been investigated.Contrary to research opinion, the project assumes that the facade was executed in parallel by three different sculptor's studios without major modifications according to a uniform basic design. An exact measurement of the portal zone, which will be made in the course of the investigation, serves as a basis for argumentation. These plans allow conclusions to be drawn about the drafts and the practical execution of the facade. Absolute measurements play a special role in the question of the design: the radii of the archivolts, the angles of the portal bays, the width and the proportions of the portals. Is there a common basic dimension? Are the geometries of the portals coordinated? At the same time, it will have to be clarified to what extent the facade is oriented according to the specifications of the nave. The study of the construction will then work out how the design was transferred to the cutting of the individual stone blocks. How were the requirements of figurative sculpture reconciled with the geometric conception? To what extent does the iconography determine the dimension of the stone blocks? Is there a relationship between stone format and content?The west façade of the Paris Cathedral remained undamaged in the fire, but cleaning is necessary in the course of reconstruction. In this context, all parts of the facades, inside and out, will be freely accessible from the fall of 2022. This offers a unique historical opportunity for an investigation close to the object. Results can be expected that will be fundamental not only for the understanding of Notre-Dame, but also for the portal in the Middle Ages.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants