25/04/2019
For the History Nerds Like Me: One of the interesting things I came across while getting ready for our latest podcast episode was an academic article, written by M. Cecilia Gaposchkin about the iconography above the Porte Rouge, a door used exclusively, at the time it was built, by the leaders of the Notre Dame. The sculptures above the door depict a king and queen bowing down to Mary, aka Our Lady, aka Notre Dame. At the time there was tension between the leaders of the church and King Louis IX. King Louis IX did not financially support Notre Dame, instead he had his own church built just a few blocks away (the Sainte Chapelle) and gave money to monastic orders. This was not well received by the Bishop of Paris who saw himself as the head of the church in Paris. The iconography above the door through which the leaders entered the church, was an expression of how they saw Notre Dame’s place in France: it was ordained by Christ and the King was under its authority.
