West Door portal c.1150 and tympanum c.1160*3D Model
The original c.1150 portal features dozens of dragons, chimera, beasts, Green Men and other grotesques. Dragons had connotations of viciousness, envy, and pestilence, and are more traditionally associated with rivers. Sirens are representations of worldly desires, and particularly of lust and prostitution. Their inclusion in the doorway may be a reflection of Rochester’s maritime heritage. The typical Green Man is now thought to be an import of the thirteenth century. These disgorging creatures are cats, a very political warning against heresy at this time against the growing Catharism movement in the C12 and C13th. The Roman Catholic Church would eventually condone a brutal and bloody crackdown on Cathars in the Albigensian Crusade. The tympanum featuring Christ in majesty is an insert of some 10 years after the creation of the portal.
*Draft model does not include a photographic scale.
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