Reliving the past in the present: martyrdom, baptism, coronation, and participation in the Portal of the Saints at Reims

Reliefs depicting the martyrdom of Saint Nicaise and Saint Remi's baptism of King Clovis adorn the lintel in the Portal of the Saints in Reims, dated ca 1220–1230, commemorating formative moments of the fifth-century Church. Although remote from thirteenthcentury beholders, these events were revived and communicated through what can be called a "historical inviting figure" — that is, a sculptured figure that gazes out from the relief toward beholders. This stratagem, introduced in Gothic tympana, opens up the featured events to include the beholders, enabling them to participate in the (sacred) history through points of reference to current, local history. A similar introduction of communicating figures can be traced in the local Ordo of 1250, which renders remote history tangible in both text and sculpture. The notions of ductus and memoria can thus be applied to the portal, since this priming imagery prepared the devotees for the encounter with the actual sites of historical events.