The Sainte Ann’s portal holds a particular place in the history of Notre Dame. Built in the middle of 12th century for the old cathedral, it was removed to be re-integrated in the new façade at the beginning of the following century. Its pier was not dedicated to a biblical individual, but to Saint Marcel, bishop of Paris in the 5th century. It is similar to another Parisian bishop, Saint German, placed at the tympanum, in an iconography which glorifies the local episcopacy. Its privileged position can probably be attributed to the fact that the cathedral kept his relics, and not those of Saint German.

The saint is shown in vertical position under a canopy formed by a rectangular base whose three sides are decorated with vertical grooves topped with a half drum also decorated with grooves , and preceded by a cap decorated with gadroons and topped with a flat button. In his left hand, he was holding an Episcopal staff whose point entered the dragon’s mouth. The feet are set on a slanted base decorated with two blind arcatures, and topped with two little columns; between them a partly open tomb is shown in which the possessed woman can be seen. From her mouth emerges the dragon mastered by the saint.

Despite the relatively imperfect state of conservation of this fragment, we cannot fail to be struck by the exceptional quality of the sculpture. This work, whose sharp folds follow the upward curve of the left arm and tumble down the body, are a mark of the virtuosity of the first gothic sculptors.