“And they had not even the vanity to sign them; they were always anonymous.”

“Ah! they were men of a different mould from us.  Prouder souls, and humbler.”

“And holier,” added the Abbe.  “Shall we now inquire into the iconography of the right-hand portal?  It has suffered less, and may be explained in a few words.

“This sculptured vault is, as you know, dedicated to types of Mary; but we might more accurately say that it is devoted to prototypes of Christ, for in this doorway, as in the other two, indeed, the image-makers of the thirteenth century have made it their task to identity the Son with the Mother.”

“In fact, most of the personages we have already studied relate more especially to Christ.  What, then, are those in the Old Testament, which are more essentially proper to the daughter of Joachim, and transferred in images of stone to be deciphered here?”

“The allegories of the Virgin in the Scriptures are numberless.  Whole books, as the Song of Songs and the Book of Wisdom, allude in every verse to Her beauty and wisdom.  As to the non-human emblems that may be applied to Her, you know them well:  Noah’s Ark, in which the Redeemer dwells; the Dove, the Rainbow, as a sign of alliance between the Lord and the earth; the burning bush whence came out the name of God; the cloud of fire guiding Israel in the desert; the Rod of Aaron which alone blossomed of those of the twelve tribes taken by Moses; the Ark of the Covenant; Gideon’s fleece; and a whole series, if possible, more obviously representative; David’s tower; Solomon’s throne; the garden enclosed and the fountain sealed of the Canticle; the dial of Ahaz; Elijah’s saving cloud; Ezekiel’s doorway—­and I mention none but those of which the interpretation has received the seal and sanction of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church.

“As to the living beings that prefigured Her on earth, instances abound; the greater part of the famous women of the Old Testament are but anticipatory images of Her graces.  Sarah, to whom an angel foretells the birth of a son who is himself a type of the Son; Miriam, the sister of Moses, who, by saving her brother from the river, freed the Jews; Jephthah’s daughter; Deborah, the prophetess; Jael, who, like the Virgin, was called Blessed among women; Hannah, the mother of Samuel, whose song of praise seems like a forecast of the Magnificat; Jehosheba preserving Joash from the fury of Athaliah, as the Virgin afterwards saved Jesus from the wrath of Herod; Ruth personifying both the contemplative and the active life; Rebecca, Rachel, Abigail, Solomon’s mother, the mother of the Maccabees, who witnessed the death of her sons; and again those whose names are inscribed under these arches; Judith and Esther, the first representative of courageous chastity, and the second of mercy and justice.”

“However, to avoid confusion, we will follow the statues in order as they stand in this porch, three on each side.