South Rose Window, Chartres Cathedral_0347
Eighty kilometres southwest of Paris, the town of Chartres is home to one of the finest and best preserved cathedrals in all of Europe. In fact, for my money the cathedral is Europe’s single most stunning piece of medieval art. Its windows are spectacular beyond compare—most of them original, having survived intact since the 13th century.
After having escaped damage during the French Revolution, the cathedral came within a hair’s breadth of being destroyed during the Second World War. On 16 August, 1944 as a corps of General Patton’s Third Army was preparing to capture Chartres, an order was issued to shell the cathedral on suspicion its tower was occupied by German snipers and observers. It was spared only by the actions of an American Army officer, one Colonel Welborn Barton Griffith, who volunteered to go behind enemy lines and reconnoiter. At great personal risk he determined that the cathedral was empty, the order was rescinded and one of western civilisation’s great cultural monuments was preserved. In a bitter irony, later that same day only a few kilometres away in the town of Lèves Griffith was killed in action.
The incident is a sobering commentary on the degree to which the fog of war can lead us to contemplate actions which, under normal circumstances, we would view as unthinkably barbaric.
In the centre of the Rose window seen here, the victorious Christ sits on his emerald throne. In the central lancet window below, Mary, crowned and with the Christ Child on her left arm, stands between lancets depicting the four major prophets of the Old testament carrying on their shoulders the four New Testament evangelists.
© Irwin Reynolds, all rights reserved. If you are interested in using one of my images or would like a high quality fine art print, please send me an email (irwinreynolds@me.com)
South Rose Window, Chartres Cathedral_0347
Eighty kilometres southwest of Paris, the town of Chartres is home to one of the finest and best preserved cathedrals in all of Europe. In fact, for my money the cathedral is Europe’s single most stunning piece of medieval art. Its windows are spectacular beyond compare—most of them original, having survived intact since the 13th century.
After having escaped damage during the French Revolution, the cathedral came within a hair’s breadth of being destroyed during the Second World War. On 16 August, 1944 as a corps of General Patton’s Third Army was preparing to capture Chartres, an order was issued to shell the cathedral on suspicion its tower was occupied by German snipers and observers. It was spared only by the actions of an American Army officer, one Colonel Welborn Barton Griffith, who volunteered to go behind enemy lines and reconnoiter. At great personal risk he determined that the cathedral was empty, the order was rescinded and one of western civilisation’s great cultural monuments was preserved. In a bitter irony, later that same day only a few kilometres away in the town of Lèves Griffith was killed in action.
The incident is a sobering commentary on the degree to which the fog of war can lead us to contemplate actions which, under normal circumstances, we would view as unthinkably barbaric.
In the centre of the Rose window seen here, the victorious Christ sits on his emerald throne. In the central lancet window below, Mary, crowned and with the Christ Child on her left arm, stands between lancets depicting the four major prophets of the Old testament carrying on their shoulders the four New Testament evangelists.
© Irwin Reynolds, all rights reserved. If you are interested in using one of my images or would like a high quality fine art print, please send me an email (irwinreynolds@me.com)