The North Facade of St. Mary Magdeleine of Chateaudun

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The present north façade of the former collegiate abbey of St. Mary Madeleine of Châteaudun is totally devoid of any significant figurative sculpture:

However, it seems that this was not always the case.
Engravings made for the academician Antoine Lancelot during an extended visit to the town which he made in 1733 (and subsequently published by the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres in 1738) depict an extraordinary display which has sculptures spread across nearly the whole façade: on the wall surfaces, in the spandrals of the arch of the central portal, and even on the outer faces of each of the five butresses:

(click on the image for a larger one)

Indeed, this 1738 engraving, made after (since lost) drawings made for Lancelot, suggests that we are in the presence here of at what was once (given the surface area covered) by far the largest sculpural program in the whole of the Chartrain region.

Although the numerous figures we see are spread across the whole façade, there appears to have been a special concentration of them around the central portal, which projected outwards slightly from the main plane of the façade, framed by buttresses on either side:

(click on the image for a larger one)

Though it apears that this portal was without a tympanum, it was decorated with three ranks of sculpted archivolts, the outermost ornamental or foliate, the inner two containing figures, visible to some extent in Lancelot's engravings, though not in sufficent detail to allow for any iconographic (much less stylistic) identification:

(click on the image for a larger one)

However, though now nealry completly effaced, these figures were legible to Lancelot, who characterised them as being part of a Last Judgement iconographic program, with the Saved souls on the right, the Damned on the left.

Iconographically, and perhaps formally, this portal would seem to be similar to two others in the region —a lost one which was once on the cathedral of Orléans

and one which survives (albeit in a much "restored" 19th century form) on the parish church of St. Basile of Ètampes:

(This photograph, taken in 2005, shows the considerable deterioration of the stone —which was restored in the mid-19th century— since the time of the photograph below, circa 1900:)

The portal of St. Basile of Etampes (c. 1900)

The portals of Orléans and Étampes, both clearly conceived without a tympanum, also seem to have had the very curious feature of an "expanded" inner archivolt, which formed a sort of mini-tympanum. At Ètampes (and, perhaps, at Orléans) this element contained a scene depicting the Weighing of Souls.

Lancelot had come to Châteaudun in the first place because it was thought by the canons of the church in his time that their institution had been founded by Charlemagne and, as a consequence, he was interested primarily in the iconography of the scuptures of the façade, which seems to depict figures from the legendary history of that renowned King and Emperor (e.g., it was supposed that we can see the olifant of Roland over the right shoulder of the figure in the left spandral of the portal).

In addition to the iconographic details which we can easily discern in them, the drawings which Lancelot had made of the larger figures were quite detailed, and were clearly executed by a very competent artist who was able to reproduce with considerable accuracy the quite curious forms of the drapery patterns visible on the larger figures, which were in a style which was totally alien to not only his own time, but also to that of the mainstream of surviving medieval ("romanesque") sculptures as well. No 18th century artist could have made up these bizarre patterns himself; we must, therefore, assume that they (more or less) accurately reflect what was visible before his eyes.

Although Lancelot's interpretation of the iconography of the figures (which range in height from "4 pieds 5 pouces" to "7 pieds 6 pouces") figures on the rest of the façade is, perhaps, questionable, the basic elements of the style of these lost sculptures is legible clearly enough in these carefully executed drawings/engravings. Indeed, a second, detailed plate in his publication is entirely devoted to these larger sculptures alone, and in these we can clearly see that this style is both reliably represented (within the state of survival at the time) and quite curious.
Some of the figures show a complex, but quite "muddled" articulation of the drapery (especially figure 1 here), which may be due to the state of preservation of the sculptures, making their fold patterns illegible :

In others we can see an equally complex, although perhaps more coherent, articulation of the drapery. In particular, we can see patterns of folds on the legs which imminate from the knees in concentric patterns (most clearly seen in nos. 6 and 8) :

In addition to these coherent patterns on the legs, some of the figures have mantles or cloaks over their shoulders which extend down to the elbows and cover the pecterals, from one or both sides :

These mantles are particularly clear on Lancelot's figure 7, where we can see a complex articulation of the folds and the presence of a wide, bordered hem. All these features strongly recall what we can see on the column figures in the "Étampes style" on the portals of both Étampes and Chartres:

Chartres, Royal Portal, LPL3
(N.b. The head is a
medieval replacement)

Engraving made for Antoine Lancelot in 1736 of a figure formerly on the north façade of the collegiate abbey of St. Mary Magdelene of Châteaudun.

Étampes. Royal collegiate abbey of St. Mary, South portal, column-figure R1.

Beyond the mantles, there are multiple details which all three figures have in common: the curious, flowing treatment of the "open" sleeve ends; the "broken" wrists (with extended index finger); an overgarment which falls in a scalloped "V" between the legs; splayed feet resting on cloud-forms. Iconographically, all three have an open scroll falling down the left leg and the remains of some sort of staff held vertically down the axis of the figure.

It would seem clear that we are in the presence here of sculptures which are certainly within the same (Kublerian) Stylistic Sequence and, while we cannot say with certainty that they are all the work of the same master, given their chronological proximity, it is most probable that they are at least that of the same (very coherent) workshop, and one which was, furthermore, making use of a single figure-conception in three geographically and temporalily distinct monuments.

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The present north façade of the former collegiate abbey of St. Mary Madeleine of Châteaudun is totally devoid of any significant figurative sculpture: However, it seems that this was not always the case. Engravings made for the academician Antoine Lancelot during an extended visit to the town which he made in 1733 (and subsequently published by the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres in 1738) depict an extraordinary display which has sculptures spread across nearly the whole façade: on the wall surfaces, in the spandrals of the arch of the central portal, and even on the outer faces of each of the five butresses: (click on the image for a larger one) Indeed, this 1738 engraving, made after (since lost) drawings made for Lancelot, suggests that we are in the presence here of at what was once (given the surface area covered) by far the largest sculpural program in the whole of the Chartrain region. Although the numerous figures we see are spread across the whole façade, there appears to have been a special concentration of them around the central portal, which projected outwards slightly from the main plane of the façade, framed by buttresses on either side: (click on the image for a larger one) Though it apears that this portal was without a tympanum, it was decorated with three ranks of sculpted archivolts, the outermost ornamental or foliate, the inner two containing figures, visible to some extent in Lancelot's engravings, though not in sufficent detail to allow for any iconographic (much less stylistic) identification: (click on the image for a larger one) However, though now nealry completly effaced, these figures were legible to Lancelot, who characterised them as being part of a Last Judgement iconographic program, with the Saved souls on the right, the Damned on the left. Iconographically, and perhaps formally, this portal would seem to be similar to two others in the region —a lost one which was once on the cathedral of Orléans and one which survives (albeit in a much "restored" 19th century form) on the parish church of St. Basile of Ètampes: (This photograph, taken in 2005, shows the considerable deterioration of the stone —which was restored in the mid-19th century— since the time of the photograph below, circa 1900:) The portals of Orléans and Étampes, both clearly conceived without a tympanum, also seem to have had the very curious feature of an "expanded" inner archivolt, which formed a sort of mini-tympanum. At Ètampes (and, perhaps, at Orléans) this element contained a scene depicting the Weighing of Souls. Lancelot had come to Châteaudun in the first place because it was thought by the canons of the church in his time that their institution had been founded by Charlemagne and, as a consequence, he was interested primarily in the iconography of the scuptures of the façade, which seems to depict figures from the legendary history of that renowned King and Emperor (e.g., it was supposed that we can see the olifant of Roland over the right shoulder of the figure in the left spandral of the portal). In addition to the iconographic details which we can easily discern in them, the drawings which Lancelot had made of the larger figures were quite detailed, and were clearly executed by a very competent artist who was able to reproduce with considerable accuracy the quite curious forms of the drapery patterns visible on the larger figures, which were in a style which was totally alien to not only his own time, but also to that of the mainstream of surviving medieval ("romanesque") sculptures as well. No 18th century artist could have made up these bizarre patterns himself; we must, therefore, assume that they (more or less) accurately reflect what was visible before his eyes. Although Lancelot's interpretation of the iconography of the figures (which range in height from "4 pieds 5 pouces" to "7 pieds 6 pouces") figures on the rest of the façade is, perhaps, questionable, the basic elements of the style of these lost sculptures is legible clearly enough in these carefully executed drawings/engravings. Indeed, a second, detailed plate in his publication is entirely devoted to these larger sculptures alone, and in these we can clearly see that this style is both reliably represented (within the state of survival at the time) and quite curious. Some of the figures show a complex, but quite "muddled" articulation of the drapery (especially figure 1 here), which may be due to the state of preservation of the sculptures, making their fold patterns illegible : In others we can see an equally complex, although perhaps more coherent, articulation of the drapery. In particular, we can see patterns of folds on the legs which imminate from the knees in concentric patterns (most clearly seen in nos. 6 and 8) : In addition to these coherent patterns on the legs, some of the figures have mantles or cloaks over their shoulders which extend down to the elbows and cover the pecterals, from one or both sides : These mantles are particularly clear on Lancelot's figure 7, where we can see a complex articulation of the folds and the presence of a wide, bordered hem. All these features strongly recall what we can see on the column figures in the "Étampes style" on the portals of both Étampes and Chartres:
Chartres, Royal Portal, LPL3 (N.b. The head is a medieval replacement)	Engraving made for Antoine Lancelot in 1736 of a figure formerly on the north façade of the collegiate abbey of St. Mary Magdelene of Châteaudun.	Étampes. Royal collegiate abbey of St. Mary, South portal, column-figure R1.
Beyond the mantles, there are multiple details which all three figures have in common: the curious, flowing treatment of the "open" sleeve ends; the "broken" wrists (with extended index finger); an overgarment which falls in a scalloped "V" between the legs; splayed feet resting on cloud-forms. Iconographically, all three have an open scroll falling down the left leg and the remains of some sort of staff held vertically down the axis of the figure.
It would seem clear that we are in the presence here of sculptures which are certainly within the same (Kublerian) Stylistic Sequence and, while we cannot say with certainty that they are all the work of the same master, given their chronological proximity, it is most probable that they are at least that of the same (very coherent) workshop, and one which was, furthermore, making use of a single figure-conception in three geographically and temporalily distinct monuments.