Exterior View of Reims Cathedral
Bib. Nat. ms. fr. 19093, fol. 61
Much of Villard's sketchbook is devoted to images and plan of cathedrals and church architecture, and a large section of that to Reims cathedral. This image is Villard's attempt to draw the convex exterior walls of one of the chapels. An inscription (on the facing page, which is an elevation of the interior of the same chapel wall) reads
You may see the elevation of the chapels of the Church of Reims from the outside, just as they are from the top to the bottom. If those at Cambrai are done properly they will look like this. The upper entabliture must have crenelations
This description shows that the illustration was made while the church at Cambrai was under construction, although others have reached the unlikely conclusion that the statement identifies Villard as the architect of Cambrai. It is clear that he took a keen interest in ecclesiastical architecture and that he was quite a competent draftsman. His command of perspective is obviously limited, but it is clear that he drew the image from one vantage point, along the central axis of the chapel: note the capitals of the lancet windows and the rims of the outer rosette windows disappear behind the buttresses. He is also interested in the construction of the tracery, not just the appearance, as is evidenced by the joint lines he took the time to insert on the right rosette window (including rabbetted joints of the tracery at about 4 and 5 o'clock of the window). Similarly, the crenellations are done in a stronger line so the viewer notices them, even if they cannot read his reminder alongside.
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