As you can see from the previous posts, astrology was an essential part of early Medieval life. So much so, that it played a major role in the foundations of Christianity. Often called appropriation, this practice still goes on today. However back then, it was used to easily convert a pagan populace into christians. The Church openly used this until the reformation of the church. Here such connections with pagan beliefs were deemed sinful and promptly discontinued. As a result, this connections were left out of many churches built at this time.
Chartes Cathedral in France is unique in this right. It is a church that seemed to be plagued with bad luck. Throughout its history, it has been sacked and burned down a couple of times to name a few. This has led to a couple of reconstructions. You could say that the church is a hodge podge of time periods, in that, many of its parts were built from different time periods and in different styles. However, the part that concerns us the most is the Royal Portal.
Located on the west side of the church, this doorway combined symbols of both Christianity and the Astrology. Depending on who looked at the door, it could be read as Christ being surrounded by the four gospels or being surrounded by the four fixed zodialogical signs that represented the four basic types of people. It has been suggested that besides the use of standard appropriation, this hidden symbolism was used to show how knswledgable the art’s creator was.
With this in mind, one can see that one piece of art can have many different interpretations. If a person just takes the time to look, a piece can tell them something different with each viewing.
Ars Est Celare Artem 