EmbrasurEs and door jambs 1 © John James 2020 Chartres Royal Portal - the embrasures and door jambs Links to the Series In bold those that have been completed. 1. Summary 2. Towers, narthex, portal plinths 3. Embrasures and jambs 4. Colonnettes, portal heights 5. Capitals, plinths and imposts 6. Lintels and plinth geometry 7. Central tympanum 8. Lateral tympani, archivolts 9. Contractual issues 10. Carvers identifed? Do we know this man? Two similar and powerful fgures were carved in the upper right side of the central door and in a capital immediately above. Their heads are characterful, depicting a cultured, intelligent, self-assured and yet benign individual. The details, the sharp nose, almond-shaped eyes and so on are handled in much the same way on the jamb and in the capital, and may have been the same carver. The unusual concertina-like folds in the jamb fgure suggest the left arm had just been raised at that moment. Unlike the majority of male fgures in the capitals, this one has no beard. Was this a portrait of the bishop of Chartres at that time? It would have been Geoffroi II de Lèves who had been bishop for over thirty years John James Part 3 of the Royal Portal Series November 2020 Central door, right top jamb fgure Capital above right, central door