# Busts of Men

Medieval decoration at Notre-Dame is mostly dedicated to illustrating the Bible and the lives of saints. However, we can see two exceptions to this rule here. A console adorned with a high-relief bust of a man in the southern transept depicts a secular figure: the clasp closing the neckline of his robe and his hairstyle lacking a tonsure are incompatible with the image of a saint or cleric.

This individualization, very rare at the time of the bust's creation in the 1260s, suggests a representation of an architect.

Outside the transept, another console inserted into the corner buttress of the north facade, on the choir side, also depicts a layman, but this time in a grotesque manner, with the inappropriate gesture of a finger placed in the mouth to excessively widen the corners of the lips. This is a caricatured portrait, likely targeting one of the supervisors of the Notre-Dame construction site, perhaps even its architect.

These two busts illustrate the ability of images to flatter as well as ridicule the depicted figure.