Download
1 / 13
E N D
Abbot Suger and the French Cathedrals
History • Abbot Sugar(circa 1081 - January 13, 1151) was a very influential part of Gothic architecture. He served as an advisor to both King Louis VI and Louis VII. Suger got his education at Saint Denis Basilica, and later became the secretary to the abbot of Saint Denis. • Saint Denis is most likely Suger’s inspiration for Gothic styling because it has many Gothic-esque features.
Gothic Architecture • The cathedrals symbolized new technological advances, such as the ogival, or pointed arch. Many other features created were a consequence of using the pointed arch. • The Gothic style emphasizes verticality and features almost skeletal stone structures with great expanses of glass, ribbed vaults, clustered columns, sharply pointed spires, flying buttressed and inventive sculptural detail such as gargoyles.
Interior • Internally there is a focus on large stained-glass windows that allow more light to enter than was possible with the previous Romanesque style. To achieve this lightness, flying buttresses were used between windows as a means of support to enable higher ceilings and slender columns. • As a defining characteristic of Gothic Architecture, the pointed arch was introduced for both visual and structural reasons. Visually, the verticality suggests an aspiration to Heaven. Structurally, its use gives a greater flexibility to Architectural form. The Gothic vault, unlike the semi-circular vault of Roman and Romanesque buildings, can be used to roof rectangular and irregularly shaped plans such as trapezoids. The other advantage is that the pointed arch channels the weight onto the bearing piers or columns at a steep angle.
Biblical Inspiration? • Gothic cathedrals could be highly decorated with statues on the outside and painting on the inside. Both usually told Biblical stories, emphasizing visual typological allegories between Old Testament prophecy and the New Testament • The Gothic cathedral was supposed to be a microcosm representing the world, and each architectural concept, mainly the loftiness and huge dimensions of the structure, were intended to pass a theological message: the great glory of God versus the smallness and insignificance of the mortal being.
Info on Notre Dame de Paris • The cathedral is dedicated to the Virgin Mary(meaning is “Our Lady of Paris”). The cathedral is home to the seat of the Archbishop of Paris
Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttresses. The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. However, after the construction began and the thinner walls grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. The buttresses were added to prevent further deterioration. For many years, the buttresses were reviled as it was said they looked "like scaffolding" someone had forgotten to remove and gave the cathedral an "unfinished" look.
Chartres is a cathedral that inspires superlatives, and there are few architectural historians who have not waxed lyrical about its soaring aisles and delicate carving. These tributes are richly deserved, for Chartres is truly one of the greatest of all French Gothic cathedrals. From a distance it seems to hover in mid-air above waving fields of wheat, and it is only when the visitor draws closer that the city comes into view, clustering around the hill on which the cathedral stands. Its two contrasting spires, one, a 105 meter plain pyramid dating from the 1140s, and the other a 113 meter tall early 16th century Flamboyant spire on top of an older tower soar upwards over the pale green roof, while all around the outside are complex flying buttresses.
The cathedral is home to the Bishop of Beauvais. Originally planned as the smallest cathedral, the Bishop Guillaume de Grez ordered for the roof to be raised 16 feet, making it the tallest cathedral in Europe. The massive construction resulted in the collapse of the choir, which is regarded as a failure of nerve among French masons.
