Choir Screen Sculptures, Part 2: Scenes After the Resurrection

Turn around after viewing the Crown of Thorns, and the sculptures you meet next, on the south wall, have a very different feel from the north side. Some time after the north work was finished, the sculptor Jean Ravy took over and completed them. Look closely and they may seem to be carved from wood rather than stone, but these intricate figures are all stone, specifically limestone. They look like wood because the whole ensemble was originally painted in rich, vivid colors, a technique called polychromy. Over centuries the paint faded, leaving only traces, which gives the carvings their soft, distinctive look today.

If the north side felt calm and still, this one is far more lively, with emotion bursting out. Look at the faces and gestures of the figures, because these are glorious scenes from after Jesus conquered death on the cross and rose again.

The first standout scene is Mary Magdalene. She mistakes the risen Jesus for the gardener, then recognizes him and kneels in astonishment, a moment portrayed with striking vividness. Jesus then appears to the grieving women and to Peter, the chief disciple. You can also see him appearing to the two pilgrims on the road to Emmaus and breaking bread with them.

And here is a very human moment: Doubting Thomas. Thomas, who had said he would not believe unless he saw with his own eyes and put his hand in the wound, is carved at the shocking instant he slides his finger into the wound in Jesus's side. The final scenes show Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias and on a mountain in Galilee, charging his disciples to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and with that this grand panorama in stone comes to a close. You have now read the whole "Bible in stone" that let people in the Middle Ages, most of whom could not read, take in the Scriptures.