The Dormition of the Virgin
on the portals of
SENLIS & MANTES:

On the magnificent little portal of the cathedral of SENLIS (c. 1170??),
on the Left Lintel,
  angels carry the soul upwards, towards the tympanum,
(http://centrechartraine.freeservers.com/senlis/senlpll1.jpg )

On  the  Tympanum
theVirgin is seated next to Her Son (with an arguably ambiguous halo.

Her entombment, by the most dynamic angels in Western art
is on the  Right Lintel .
 

On the portal of the collegial church of MANTES (c. 1180??),
He stands in the center of the  Lintel,
passing the little soul on to an angel;

and, again, there is a coronation by the Son
in the  Tympanum above.

  (*Something* was clearly sculpted in the peak of the arch of the tympanum,
and my over-heated imagination could easily make out the traces of a
nimbus above, clouds below -- the Father??)

  Especially curious (to me) is what could have been *between* the two major figures,
  which seems to have attracted the very special ire of the iconoclasts
(also interesting to note that the head of the Virgin in the Dormition scene itself
is virtually the only one to have survived on the portal).

Ideas?

  Both these portals --undoubtedly the work of closely related workshops of the
  rather new "Early Gothic" stylistic sequence-- appear to have been heavily
  influenced by Byzantine iconography (and style), so very close parallels there
  can surely be found by those that know of such.








(your comments are welcome to: bccrockett@usa.net )