Amiens Cathedral West Facade - the 'Incarnation of Christ' Quatrefoils

The quatrefoils of the south portal contain an unsusual selection of scenes relating to the incarnation
and infancy of Christ. The selection and ordering of the scenes is a little unusual unless one considers
the jamb figures positioned above the quatrefoils, hence I have listed these in the grids below. Particularly
interesting from the iconographical viewpoint are the four prefigurations of the virgin birth (38 + 40) and the
rare scenes of the return of the Magi by sea and Herod's ordering of the destruction of the ships of Tarsus.
These obscure details and many others besides are discussed in detail in Marcia Rickard's excellent article
on "The Iconography of the Virgin Portal at Amiens", published in Gesta, Vol. 22, No. 2 (1983), pp.147-57.

To view any quatrefoil in detail, click on one of the thumbnail images below the plan. The 'next' and 'previous'
buttons on the detail pages follow a simple top to bottom / left to right order. To browse through all the quatrefoils, click here.

Scenes to the left of the south portal

Jamb figures: (Queen of Sheba)	(Solomon)	(Herod)	(3rd Magus)	(2nd Magus)	(1st Magus)
24 - The feast of Solomon	26 - Solomon enthroned	28 - Massacre of the innocents	30 - Herod and his advisors	32 - Isaiah's prophecy of the adoration	34 - Balaam's prophecy of the adoration
24 - Solomon teaching Sheba	26 - Solomon adoring the Ark	28 - Herod orders the burning of the ships	30 - The burning of the ships of Tarsus	32 - The Magi escaping by sea	34 - The dream of the Magi

Scenes to the right of the south portal

(Annunciation; Gabriel)	(Annunciation Virgin)	(Visitation; Mary)	(Visitation; Elizabeth)	(Presentation; Mary)	(Presentation; Simeon)
38 - 'stone not cut by human hands' - Nebuchadnezzar	40 - Gideon sees the dew-drenched fleece.	42 - Annunciation to Zachariah	44 - Zachariah and the people	46 - Flight into Egypt	48 - Fall of the idols of Hermopolis
38 - Moses and the burning bush	40 - Aaron with the flowering staff	42 - Nativity of John the Baptist	44 - The naming of the Baptist	46 - Christ among the doctors	48 - The return from Egypt