West Facade, Central Portal, Right Side, Reims Cathedral

I find these sculptures very interesting, the cathedral itself had many sculptors with a diversity of skills and creative merit. I believe the book said there were three different sculptors for this piece. I enjoy the simplicity of the first two women from the left clothing I like the way it flows, and I feel like it is very realistic, and simple. I love the Bible stories these four figures tell us. The left two figures tell of Mary when she was pregnant with Jesus, and of her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant with St. John the Baptist. Their faces tell the story, Mary on the right is youthful and vibrant, and Elizabeth on the far left has aging feature that we can clearly see, the detail is phenomenal. The two figures on the left tell of the night the archangel Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would bear Jesus. Their clothing is much different than the previous two, this is probably because they were done by different artists, but I also wonder if this clothing and style is done in a more sophisticated style and not so simplistic because of the situation it would have been a very important night, where as the left side is showing us an ordinary more casual day, just a thought. In all I appreciate that they tell these wonderful stories and how beautifully they are portrayed, they give me a feeling of flawlessness, which is interesting because they do tell stories of Jesus.

Two Equestrian Figures

These two equestrian figures are from the Tang dynasty. They are molded reddish earthenware, and interestingly they are cold-painted, I find this amazing that the paint is still visible and survived this long. On the left is a man and the right a women I believe the book said they are sport riding. I wonder what their story is, if they were friends, components, enemies? I appreciate the expression in their faces, she looks like she might be mad or agitated, while the male has a smirk like he just made her mad somehow. The detail in the horses, the riders clothing, and the good proportions shows us the naturalism used during the Tang period. I find the woman's hair interesting, I wonder why they chose to wear in on top of their head as apposed to a ponytail maybe? I thinks it's kind of funny how the riders' hands are positioned to hold the horses reins, but the reins are not there, I wonder if they could have broken off or if we are just supposed to make that connection, because I do understand what they are doing without them actually being there. Though their purpose was for tomb furnishings, I like them, I would put them in my house.