Proceedings of The National Conference On Undergraduate Research (NCUR) 2012 Weber State University, Ogden Utah March 29-31, 2012

Our God is a Consuming Fire: The Iconography of Fire in Gothic Art and Architecture Cate Isert History Department Brigham Young University 2130 JFSB Provo, Utah, 84602 Faculty Advisors: Emily Guerry, Paul Kerry Abstract Throughout the history of Christianity, religious symbolism has been used as a tool in art, architecture, and literature to convey deeper meanings to believers. To understand physical manifestations of historical religion, familiarity with historical religious symbolism is necessary. Using Biblical references and early Christian writings, this research shows how religious art supplemented the twofold role of the cathedral: to educate and to sanctify the masses. One prime example is the depictions of fire in Gothic cathedrals. Fire expressed the many facets of God’s nature including judgment and favor. Depictions also showed the futile attempts of anti-Christians to persecute the righteous with fire. Examples of fire in the Bible and in religious art show that fire represented the presence or influence of God. They fall into three categories: the favor of God, the judgment of God, and the attempts of the wicked to persecute the righteous by fire. Two case studies of French Gothic cathedrals are key in understanding the visual use of fire: the Abbey of Saint-Denis, the former burial church of French kings; and Chartres Cathedral, a major center of worship of the Virgin Mary. Both have numerous examples of fire in their stained glass and sculpture, and they both demonstrate the influence of fire throughout their architectural histories. Saint-Denis’s construction and decoration show the influence of anagogy, a physical experience inspiring a transcendental experience. In this case, the physical medium was light, a benevolent form of fire. Chartres, on the other hand, burned five times in three hundred years, making its current form a result of fire. Contemporary poets refer to the destruction of the cathedral as both a judgment of God on the people of Chartres, as well as an opportunity for the cathedral to be rebuilt in a style more fitting to the worship of God. Much of its fire-related art deals with judgment or martyrdom. Through the study of fire symbolism in Gothic architecture and art comes a better understanding of the God’s role as a protector and judge in the Gothic Christian church, thus allowing an acquaintance with Christian symbolism that can transfer across the ages. Keywords: Gothic cathedrals, Fire, Symbolism

1. Introduction Creating clear visual exegesis is a precarious exercise. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, religious artists proved to be masters at transforming verbal symbolism into visual symbolism. This paper will examine how the symbol of fire, as shown in Gothic cathedrals, reveals the nature and actions of God. Cathedrals, as loci of medieval power, are ideal for studying the translation of religious texts into art. Not only did cathedral communities possess the financial assets to lavishly decorate their churches, the churches’ beauty and continuing importance ensured that examples of architecture and art survived the centuries. Artists and theologians converted biblical narrative into carefully designed programs of church decoration. By mingling ancient themes of the zodiac and the labors of the month with Christian stories of miracles and faith from

the scriptures, they showed the both interconnectedness of daily life with religious teachings and also how the celestial is not incongruous with the mundane. For instance, Chartres juxtaposes the labors of the months with the zodiac and the Biblical story of “Job on the Dung heap,” informing viewers of a divine order that touches the spiritual and physical parts of their lives. The artists and clergymen who created monumental Gothic structures aspired to instruct their members about the Christian rationale, including abstract and mystical traditions. To do this, they constructed a corpus of visual similes to extract meaning from their sacred literature. They presented fire as the symbol of the presence and power of God. The elemental power of fire was well known as both practical and destructive in the Middle Ages.1 Although it provided heat and light, it could also devastate cities. Wood was a common medieval building material, and all buildings containing wood were vulnerable to conflagration. Even great churches, built from a combination of wood and stone, were not immune to flames; fire repeatedly burned down one of the most popular pilgrimage cathedrals: Notre-Dame of Chartres, located southwest of Paris, was ravaged by fire no less than five times from 858-1194.2 Not every fire was seen as a disaster, however. When churches were destroyed, fire was at times seen as a directive from God. For instance, after the 1194 fire destroyed the choir, crossing, and parts of Chartres’s nave, the contemporary poet Guillaume le Breton (c. 1175-1226) remarked on how the Virgin Mary allowed the destruction of the cathedral so a more magnificent church could be built. He said, The Virgin Mother of God…desiring that the church which she called her very own be restored specifically for Him with more praiseworthy adornment… allowed [Vulcan] to rage at will against it, so that…this destruction might furnish an excuse for the succeeding structure next to which none in the world gleams so brilliantly this day.3 Guillaume emphasizes the gleaming nature of the new cathedral, subtly underlining its glory, and therefore God’s presence. The Virgin could have protected the cathedral from the fire, Guillaume explains, but she wanted the church to more fully reflect the majesty of God. Through destroying Chartres, fire helped create the cathedral as a gateway to Paradise. The collective social awareness of fire’s paradoxical embodiment of benevolent and destructive properties allowed Gothic artists to convey the dual nature of divine power through visual representations of fire. For example, in Exodus, Moses witnesses God’s presence in the burning bush.4 Medieval artists usually show the bush as a blazing tree that shows no signs of consumption, contrary to the nature of fire. The Moses window at Sens Cathedral, in France’s Bourgogne region, is one example of this. God’s face is surrounded by red foliage, the color of fire; the base of the bush, however, continues to be green, and all of the leaves, regardless of color, maintain their shape.5 The viewer is intended to recognize God’s presence in the portrayal of a fire that does not obey the rules of nature, but instead bends to the will of God. Gothic architecture extended the metaphor of fire to inviting amplified amounts of light into sacred spaces. The two most beneficial products of fire are light and heat. In the earliest époque of Gothic architecture, architects increasingly converted wall space to windows, a tactic that filled churches with natural light. Gothic artists chose to use light as a practical architectural tactic to represent the presence of God, implying by the brightness of Gothic churches that the presence of God is so bright, it is described as fiery. This innovation is historically attributed to Saint-Denis’s renovation in the 1140s. Abbot Suger, who made records of the cathedral’s consecration and administration, was familiar with the writings of the Pseudo-Dionysius, a theologian who wrote about the transcendent power of light. In his Celestial Hierarchy, he claims, “Every procession of illuminating light, proceeding from the Father…restores us again gradually as an unifying power, and turns us to the oneness of our conducting Father.”6 As early as the First Epistle of John, the Apostle declares, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”7 In Gothic architecture, this metaphor takes physical form. Light, a beneficial form of fire, is not only indicative of God’s presence; it is God, and the resplendent design of cathedrals announced his presence and power. Chartres Cathedral and the Abbey of Saint-Denis exemplify the French Gothic style, and their original iconographic programs prove ideal in a study of fire as a symbol of the nature and power of God. Not only were they rebuilt because of fire in their histories, but fire also strongly featured in their decoration. This treatment of the symbolism of fire in Gothic art will focus on the imagery of these two monuments as case studies. They will show that the Gothic symbol of fire reveals the nature of God.

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2. The Symbolism of Fire Many biblical stories refer to the power and presence of fire. Throughout the Old Testament, God often acts in conjunction with fire. The experiences of Moses, with the burning bush and the pillar of fire, as well as the travels of the Israelites, clearly showed God’s presence associated with fire.8 In the Psalms, David describes God’s destruction of his enemies through fire.9 Elijah called upon God to destroy his adversaries, which God did by burning them.10 Isaiah states that, “The Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.”11 The immediate presence of God throughout the Bible is often related to fire. Ezekiel describes the presence of God as “a likeness as the appearance of fire.”12 Daniel adds that his eyes were like flames of fire; this notion is also found in the Revelation of John.13 David says of God, “there went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.”14 Fire, therefore, is intimately connected with the glory of God. Fire appears in judgment when God condemns the wicked. Having removed Lot and his family from the cities, God “rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.”15 The Israelites also witnessed judgmental fire when a number of them disobeyed God.16 In the Old Testament, death by fire is a symptom of wickedness. In fact, no good person in the Bible catches fire; God refrained from burning Sodom and Gomorrah as long as there were at least ten righteous people in the city, and only the rebellious Israelites were burned. John records the angels of the Apocalypse burning the earth at the end of the world and tormenting the wicked who followed Satan.17 To viewers, the message is that fiery judgment comes to the wicked. The incendiary glory of God is what destroys the wicked. The glory of God also fills the faithful with signs of divine brilliance. In the New Testament, allusions to consumptive fire refer to spiritual glorification rather than physical destruction. Consumption, to the righteous, is being filled with the transcendent love of God, the refining glory of fire without the destruction. However, when God visits the wicked with justice, they are consumed because they do not have God-given immunity from immolation. Paul elaborates on this in his epistle to the Thessalonians: “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.”18 The righteous already experienced spiritual consumption, gaining protection from physical destruction. God would also temporarily glorify a person in his presence, and that glorification was signified by a fiery appearance, reflecting the radiance of God. For instance, when Moses spoke to God on Mount Sinai, he returned from that interview with a shining face, indicative of God’s favor.19 To represent their heavenly glorification, artists have circled the heads of prophets and saints with nimbuses since the Late Antique period. The favored were protected by God, a blessing expressed by radiant light. When they were colored, these halos or nimbuses were often depicted in colors related to fire and light, such as red, yellow, and gold leaf.20 Biblical associations of fire with circumstances other than God’s presence are in depictions and descriptions of the wicked being tormented in Hell with fire and brimstone. After describing how people were judged by “the books,” John claims that, “whosoever was not found written in the books of life was cast into the lake of fire,” or the realm of the devil.21 In Deuteronomy, God remarks that his anger, “will burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase,” because of Israel’s unfaithfulness to Him.22 The threat, of course, is being consigned to Hell because of unbelief and disobedience. Dante, in the fourteenth Century, wrote in the Inferno that those condemned for heresy, violence (except suicide), simony, and counseling others to do evil, are punished by fire.23 In Dante’s version of Hell, the deepest circle holds only the most sinful, frozen in a block of ice, punished for their treachery against God. In this way, the worst offenders are punished by their placement in ice, away from all warmth, in the absolute absence of God.24 If God is light and warmth, for Dante, the deepest region of Hell is darkness and ice. Depictions of Hell in the decoration of cathedrals are much simpler than Dante’s version. In judgment scenes, Christ sits enthroned, surrounded by His apostles and elders. He has the righteous on His right hand, which his angels raise into heaven. The wicked are on God’s left, prodded by devils into the flames of Hell. At Bourges Cathedral (c. 1194-1270), in the central portal of the west front, the Last Judgment tympanum is organized into three levels. At the top is Christ in Majesty, surrounded by angels who hold the instruments of His Passion. Below him, Michael holds the scales that weigh the righteous and wicked. To the right of the archangel, the righteous are received into Heaven. To his left, the demons harry the wicked into the fiery mouth of Hell. The teeth of Hell’s mouth are individual flames, undulating around the sinners. Below the wicked, the dead rise from their graves.25

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The west portal presents an organized vision of the future, warning its visitors to obey the commandments of God or face the painful and eternal consequences. The destructive power of fire in the Christian symbolic universe is not, however, solely confined to God’s punishment. Enemies of Christianity used fire to persecute its followers. This maltreatment was not new to the Christian martyrs, nor was the apparent immunity of holy people subjected to fiery persecution. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who lived in Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, refused to worship a statue of the king and were punished by being thrown into a fiery furnace. Although the furnace was so hot that the executioners died from the heat, the youths did not die, instead, walking around in the middle of the furnace. Unwavering faithfulness to God protected the youths from their death.26 Early manuscripts portray them in a position of prayer, such as in the Daniel commentary of the Beatus de Saint-Sever (c. 1072): the youths have their hands outstretched in prayer, and an angel hovers over them in protection. Slight smiles are visible on their faces; there is no registration of the pain expected from a fiery furnace.27 The martyrdom of Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna in the second-century is one of the earliest and most renowned martyrdoms by fire. After his capture by the Romans, Polycarp was taken to an arena and threatened with death upon his refusal to sacrifice to the Roman gods. When he refused, he was placed on a stake in the center of the arena and set on fire. Miraculously, the flame did not appear to cause him pain. Instead of the stench of burning flesh, there was a smell of incense and baking bread. The Romans finally impaled him on a spear.28 Polycarp explained the reason that martyrs had no fear of death from their enemies, saying, “Thou threatenest me with fire that burneth but for a season, and is soon quenched. For thou are ignorant of the fire of the judgment to come, and of the eternal punishment reserved for the wicked.”29 Martyrdom was far better than eternal torment for denying his faith. In addition, if he suffered now for Christ, he would be rewarded beyond anything he could imagine. His saintly love for Christ was greater than his love for his mortal life. Like Polycarp, St. Laurence is an early Christian martyr who experienced martyrdom by fire. According to the Golden Legend, the deacon Laurence and Pope Sixtus were captured and tortured so Decius could learn the location of the money they gave to the needy. He also tried to force Laurence to sacrifice to idols. The martyr refused. He was “subjected to every kind of torture before his eyes,” but instead of subjugating him, this only made him say, “You poor fool, this is the feast I have always longed for.”30 After Laurence was beaten, Decius told him that either he would sacrifice to the Roman gods, or he would “spend the whole night racked with pain.” Laurence replied, “For me, the night has no darkness. Everything is ablaze with light.”31 The torturers strapped Laurence to an iron grill and heaped glowing coals under it. Instead of relenting to the pain, Laurence joked, “Look, fool, you have only roasted one side of me. Turn me over, and then eat.”32 Thanking God for the opportunity to become worthy of heaven, he then died. Although Polycarp and Laurence succumbed to death, they controlled their subjection to fire. They removed the power from their enemies’ hands because they denied the existence of burning pain. In art, Laurence is never shown burning. He is often tied to a grill while the flames lick his flesh. Nevertheless, his body is always whole, and his face is at peace. God has taken away the burning torment of fire. The power of God is visible in the character of fire. The remainder of this paper will discuss the various visual functions and representations of fire in medieval art through two case studies. Both the Abbey of Saint-Denis and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres contain twelfth- and thirteenth-century Gothic images of fire. A discussion of these works and their iconography will reveal how, through the symbolism of fire, God’s people came to know Him better.

3. The Abbey Church of Saint-Denis Saint-Denis is one of the earliest examples of Gothic architecture, and its art and architecture educate viewers about the anagogic use of fire and light. Suger, abbot during the renovation, built the abbey church to uplift worshipers through light and beauty.33 About 1139, Abbot Suger began renovating and expanding the old Carolingian basilica. He justified his work by saying that the current church was too small to accommodate all the pilgrims on feast days. Suger records pilgrims being crushed, squeezed, and forced into the monks’ cloisters, implying that the drastic expansion of the church, culminating in the holistic invention of the extravagant Gothic style, was necessary for the safety of the congregation.34 Saint-Denis was a royal abbey and a pilgrimage church whose estates gave it an ample income for decorating and rebuilding. For pilgrims, the enticement was the worship of relics. The most popular shrine was that of the head and body of the martyr St. Denis.35 In the ninth century, Abbot Hiduin conflated the identity of the Parisian martyr named Denis with other martyrs (and authors) of the same name. This included Denis the Areopagite, who was a

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disciple of Paul’s; Denis of Corinth; and the Pseudo-Dionysius, who wrote The Celestial Hierarchy.36 In the beginning of The Celestial Hierarchy, Pseudo-Dionysius states his belief in progression and return effected by light, quoting James 1:17 and Romans 11:36, which read, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning…For of him and through him and to him are all things: to whom be glory forever. He then elaborates, “Each procession of the Light spreads itself generously toward us, and, in its power to unify, it stirs us by lifting us up. It returns us back to the oneness and deifying simplicity of the Father who gathers us in.”37 Light, the visual product of fire, stimulates transcendence, through which one can eventually work his way back to God.38 Suger would at least have been familiar with the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius, and the abbey of Saint-Denis exemplifies many “Dionysian” principles.39 In particular, there is a new emphasis on the edifying power of light. Increased light marks the most important spiritual places in the church. The nave of the church is comparatively dark, with deep aisles and thick walls that redirect much of the natural light. The crossing and the apse, with the high altar and the relics of St. Denis respectively, explode with light. Their bright prominence draw the worshiper toward them, as the faithful soul is enlightened and inspired as he draws closer to Christ. Here, where Holy Communion is celebrated is the most illuminated in the church; it is also the place and time where Pseudo-Dionysius remarks that one is closest to the True Light.40 If the high altar is dazzlingly bright, then truly the actual presence of God would be comparative to a “consuming fire.”41 Suger describes the entire abbey interior as being consumed by colored light from stained glass and jewels, following the principle that beauty and light brought people to God. He writes, “Sometimes, when out of my delight in the beauty of the house of God, the loveliness of the many-colored gems has called me away from external cares, and worthy meditation has induced me to reflect, transferring that which is material to that which is immaterial, on the diversity of the sacred virtues: then…by the grace of God, I can be transported from this inferior to that higher world in an anagogical manner.”42 Suger carries on the tradition of lavishly decorating the royal burial church, fulfilling his views that beauty and richness lifted the mind to revere God. Through radiant Gothic art, Suger sought to invoke the fiery presence of God. At Saint-Denis, the portal sculpture on the twelfth-century west façade includes representations of fire. The design is relatively coherent and original, despite its destruction and restoration in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the central archivolts to the left of Christ in Judgment, devils drag the wicked down to Hell. Usually, fire is present in depictions of Hell; here, there are no clearly visible flames, only animals and devils eating the wicked. The theme is still one of consumption, even if there is no fire present. However, there is an angel standing in the far left of the tympanum, guarding against any wicked trying to come back into the presence of God. The angel carries a sword, but the sword has a wavy blade. From other depictions showing the Fall of Adam and Eve, such as the ones at Chartres that also depicts Adam, Eve, and an angel with a sword, the formal representation of the event indicates that the sword is made of fire, comparable to the fires of Hell. Although the wicked are not seen in flames, the archangel’s fiery sword prohibits them from entering heaven, and therefore causes misery. The only surviving medieval window showing fire is located in the choir ambulatory, narrating the story of Moses. In the first panel, which depicts God visiting Moses in the burning bush, the face of God is in the center of the bush. Around the holy face is a red band, a sort of fiery nimbus surrounded by the greenness of the bush. This depiction of God is seen in the same form in illustration of the flight of the Israelites across the Red Sea. In this instance, the circle is clearly defined around God’s head; there is a red nimbus filling the space between God and the fire that guided the Israelites. Moses is also nimbed in this scene, but his nimbus is yellow, showing that he has not yet received the full measure of God’s favor. In the two higher windows, Moses’ nimbus is red like God’s, marking that he has been in the unshielded presence of God, which had necessitated Moses’ temporary transfiguration. These events happened after Moses received the Ten Commandments and descended from Mt. Sinai with a glowing face, indicating that some of God’s glory remained with Moses. 43 The abbey of Saint-Denis remains as a marvelous example of the use of fire to glorify, both in the form of light and in religious art.

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4. Chartres Cathedral Destruction by fire shaped both the creation and the people’s veneration of the Chartres Cathedral. In 743, fire razed the earliest architecture of Chartres.44 The fire of 1194 led to the current cathedral. Unlike Saint-Denis, Chartres was not ravaged during the French Revolution. It is the most complete extant Gothic cathedral in France, with most of its stained glass and sculpture original from the thirteenth century.45 Like Saint-Denis, Chartres has a venerable history as a pilgrimage church. Its most popular relic is the chemise of the Virgin. When the cathedral burned for the last time, the chemise was thought to be lost because the destruction was so complete. As is recorded in The Miracles of the Virgin, “The inhabitants of Chartres, clerics as well as laymen…considered as their chief misfortune, or rather the totality of their misfortune, the fact that they, unhappy wretches, in justice for their own sins, had lost the palace of the Blessed Virgin.”46 According to the Miracles, the people of Chartres felt they were unworthy to rebuild the cathedral because they had allowed their most precious relic to be burned. It was only after the chemise was discovered whole and undamaged that the people interpreted the miraculous survival of the Virgin’s relic as a divine endorsement of a new cathedral.47 To show their gratitude and their renewed piety, Chartres was rebuilt as a marvelous shrine to the Virgin. The only representation of fire in connection the Virgin is on the left portal of the north transept entrance. Here, in the scene of the Visitation, the Virgin comes to her cousin Elizabeth, and Elizabeth recognizes that Mary is pregnant with the Son of God. Beneath the Virgin’s feet, there is a bush on fire. This typological arrangement connects Mary with the story of the burning bush. Like the bush, the presence of God descended on her, but it did not consume. Mary is an example of being consumed spiritually, by carrying and giving birth to the Son of God, but not physically; she was thought to have retained her virginity throughout her life.48 She exemplifies the paradox of the consuming nature of God’s presence: through consumption, she is sanctified. The cathedral is dedicated to the veneration of the Virgin Mary, but its iconographic program includes a huge spread of other religious figures, whose hagiography also shows uplifting through fiery trials.49 For example, the north central portal houses a statue of the prophet Elijah. Elijah is associated with fire not only through the incineration of his enemies, but also because he ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire instead of dying, which the north porch statue of Elijah represents. The chariot carriage is clearly visible, but the wheels are prominent. The flames on the wheels’ rims resemble short, thick fur and are most similar to the sword of the garden angel and the south portal’s seraphim. The fire that surrounds the chariot but does not burn it shows that God was with Elijah, and that Elijah received God’s favor. By stepping into the fiery chariot, Elijah stepped into the presence of God.50 In the west rose window, the two lowest panels depict Hell. In the one on the right, demons are carrying the wicked to Hell, while in the panel on the left, the wicked are sitting in Hell’s jaws. A large grotesque monster with fire coming out of its mouth once again represents the jaws of Hell. The flames are tall and thick, very ready to consume the wicked. The sinners who find themselves in this position look worried and uncomfortable. There is no pain yet, but between the flames and the dragon teeth, the viewer understands that the sinful will soon experience eternal torment. Most of the windows show unsuccessful attempts of the wicked to harm the saints through fire. In all of these, the martyrs show that either they are not harmed by fire, as in the St. Thomas Didymus window, or that death by fire does not disturb them. Those that die by fire are at peace, with smooth faces and unmarked bodies. An example of this is St. Vincent who, among other things, was burned on a grill like Laurence. In this window, Vincent is tied onto the grill. He raises his hands in prayer, and his face is quite cheerful. Vincent’s body is unmarked, even though the tall, abundant flames imply that they are going to kill him. Like the windows, the exterior sculpture of the south porch at Chartres shows an array of gruesome trials by fire for the Christian martyrs. Again, they show that fire cannot be used to eternally harm the righteous, because they have already been consumed by the holy fire of God. Laurence, for instance, is martyred on a grill. In his sculpture, the flames shoot from under his entire body, even spreading to the sides. His hands are relaxed, emphasizing his calmness and faith. Laurence is at peace because of his oneness with God’s glory. In its art and history, Chartres is an ideal study on the consuming nature of fire, because although multiple fires destroyed the cathedral, much of its artwork focuses on judgment and salvation through fire.

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5. Conclusion Medieval artists relied on symbolism to convey to viewers basic truths and divine mysteries about the power and presence of God. Because the Bible described God in terms of fire and radiance, artists sought to portray God with visual renditions of those terms. Through studying the fire-related art at the Abbey of Saint-Denis and the Chartres Cathedral of Notre-Dame, it becomes clear that judgment and salvation through fire are integral in the portrayal of God’s fiery nature. Fire is often an instant signifier of God. It allows the artist to describe God’s dual roles as Father and Judge. God gives man everything, and God’s presence uplifts and glorifies those who believe in Him. The Spirit consumes them, but in this consumption they are saved. Those who do not obey the commandments of God are also consumed, but it is a physical destruction. The sinful are unprotected and they succumb to the fierce radiance of God. The art of Gothic cathedrals captures the balance of the paradox between glorious consumption and infernal destruction, revealing the nature of God in fire.

6. Acknowledgements I am so grateful to Dr. Emily Guerry for her enthusiasm, direction, and enormous corpus of knowledge that elevated this project from an Interesting Concept to a scholarly work, and from a general curiosity into a passion; to Dr. Paul Kerry for his encouragement to do more than I thought I could and to believe in myself; and to everyone else who listened to and expressed interest in this project, because the refinement happened when I was able to talk things through.

7. Endnotes 1 M.R. Wright, The Presocratics (Chippenham: Antony Rowe Ltd., 1985), xviii; Jonathan Barnes, Early Greek Philosophy (London: Penguin Books, 1988), 107. Ovid, Metamorphoses: Book I, trans. Frank J. Miller (London: Harvard University Press, 1994), 4-5. 2 George Henderson, Chartres (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd., 1968), 21, 26, 29, 66. 3 Guillaume le Breton, “Philippids,” In Chartres Cathedral, ed. Robert Branner (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1996), 96. 4 Exodus 3:2 5 Stuart Watling, “Sens Cathedral: Bay 15, the ‘Good Samaritan’ Typological Window,” from Sens Cathedral (2008), at http://www.medievalart.org.uk/Sens/15_Pages/Sens_Bay15_Panel07.htm. 6 Pseudo-Dionysius, Celestial Hierarchy, Trans: Robert Pearse (2004), from http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/areopagite_13_heavenly_hierarchy.htm#c1. 7 1 John 1:5 8 Exodus 3:2, Exodus 13:22, Exodus 19:18, 24:17. 9 For instance, Psalms 11:6, 21:9, 50:3, 106:18. 10 1 Kings 18:15-34, 2 Kings 1:10. 11 Isaiah 66:15. 12 Ezekiel 8:2 and 1:26-27. 13 Daniel 10:6; Rev. 2:18, 19:12. 14 2 Samuel 22:9, 13. 15 Genesis 19:24. 16 Exodus 9:23, Leviticus 10:1-2, Numbers 11:1, Joshua 8:8. 17 Revelation 8:7-8, 11:5, 14:10, 20:9. 18 2 Thess. 1:7-9. 19 Exodus 34:29-35. 20 Louis Grodecki, Francoise Perrot, and Jean Taralon, Les Vitraux de Paris de la Région Parisienne de la Picardie et du Nord-Pas-de-Calais (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1978), plate 10, 12.

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21 Revelation 20:10, 12-14. 22 Deuteronomy 32:18-24 23 Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, trans: John D. Sinclair (New York: Oxford University Press, 1961), 121-127 (heretics); 181-188 (violent against God); 312-328 (false counselors); 237-243 (simony). 24 Ice is only mentioned three times in the King James version of the Bible: Job 6:16 discusses ice existing when it is cold, and then melting when there is any sort of heat. Psalms 147:17 and Job 38:29 ice is referred to as one of God’s creations. Clearly, there is not any extensive symbolism in the Bible connecting God and ice. Ice representing an absence of God is an interesting extrapolation of the fire-Divine Presence connection. 25 “Bourges Cathedral Portal: The Last Judgment (detail),” A. D. White Architectural Photographs, Cornell University Library, albumen print, (1865), from http://www.flickr.com/photos/cornelluniversitylibrary/3485979577/. 26 Daniel 3:12-27 27 Beatus de Saint-Sever, Latin 8878, f. 224, France, eleventh century. 28 “The Martyrdom of Polycarp,” trans. Charles Hoole (1885), from Early Christian Writings (2001), from http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/martyrdompolycarp-hoole.html. 29 Ibid. 30 Jacobus de Voragine, “St. Laurence,” The Golden Legend: Selections, trans. Christopher Stace (London: Penguin Books, 1998), 207. 31 Ibid., 208. 32 Ibid. 33 Art for this case study came from the author’s visit to Saint-Denis, as well as Louis Grodecki, Les vitraux de Saint-Denis: Etude sur le vitrail au XII siècle, vol. 1 Etudes, (Paris: Centre national de la recherche scientifiques, 1976). 34 Abbot Suger, “De Consecratione,” trans. Erwin Panofsky in Abbot Suger, 2nd Ed. Ed by Gerda Panfosky-Soergel (Princeton: Princeton University Press 1979), 89. 35 David Hugh Farmer, “Denys,” The Oxford Dictionary of Saints: New Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), 116-117. Montmarte was named eponymously in his honor. 36 Erwin Panofsky, Abbot Suger: On the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis and Its Art Treasures, 2nd Ed. Ed by Gerda Panfosky-Soergel (Princeton: Princeton University Press 1979), 19. 37 Paul Rorem, Pseudo-Dionysius: A Commentary on the Text and an Introduction to Their Influence (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 50. 38 Ibid., 52. 39 Peter Kidson, “Panofsky, Suger, and St. Denis,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 50 (1987), 1-7, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/751314; Grover A. Zinn, Jr. “Review: Conrad Rudolph’s Artistic Change at St-Denis: Abbot Suger's Program and the Early Twelfth-Century Controversy over Art,” The Journal of Religion, 73, no. 2 (Apr. 1993), 251-252, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1204887. 40 Rorem, 53. 41 Hebrews 12:29 42 Suger, “De Consecratione,” 65. 43 Exodus 34:29-35 44 Paul Clemen and Martin Hürlimann, Gothic Cathedrals: Paris, Chartres, Amiens, Reims, trans: Mary Cunyngham (Oxford: B.H. Blackwell, Ltd, 1958), p. 34. 45 Chartres Cathedral, ed. Robert Branner (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1996), 69. 46 John James, Chartres: the masons who built a legend, (Routledge & Kegan Paul: London, 1985), 53; “The Miracles of the Virgin,” in Chartres Cathedral, ed. Robert Branner, trans. Howard Niebling (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1969), 95. 47 Guillaume le Breton, “Philippids,” 96-97. 48 David Hugh Farmer, “Mary (the Blessed Virgin), Mother of God,” The Oxford Dictionary of Saints: New Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), 290. 49 The art for this case study was retrieved from Allison Stones, Images of Medieval Art and Architecture: France: Chartres (Cathedral of Notre-Dame) (Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg, 2009), from http://www.medart.pitt.edu/image/France/Chartres/Chartres-Cathedral/chartres-main.html. 50 2 Kings 2:11

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