Gothic Art

1. Gothic Art Gothic cathedral symbolized The City of God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, which they were privileged to build on earth. The Gothic style originated in northern France (around Paris) around 1140.

2. Gothic Art FRENCH GOTHIC Abbot Suger • Rebuilt the monastery of Saint-Denis in a style that would become known as Early Gothic, with an emphasis on light and costly furnishings. He regarded a lavish investment in art as a spiritual aid, not as an undesirable distraction as did Bernard of Clairvaux. He became the right-hand man of Louis VI and Louis VII and served as regent of France during the Second Crusade. Crenellations • Alternating solid merlons and open crenels in the notched tops of walls, as in battlements. Keep • A fortified tower in a castle that served as a place of last refuge. Ramparts • Defensive wall circuits. Saint Thomas Aquinas • The greatest exponent of Scholasticism, an Italian monk who wrote the Summa Theologica, a model of the Scholastic approach to knowledge. He set forth five ways to prove the existence of God through rational argument. Scholasticism • The philosophy originating in the Cathedral School of Paris during the Gothic era. Using Aristotle’s system of rational inquiry, Schoolmen sought to demonstrate that reason alone could lead to certain truths.

4. Chapel Apse Aisle Choir Transept Crossing Nave

5. Three of the features of the new choir at St. Denis as described by Abbot Suger that are characteristic of the new Gothic style. rib vaults pointed arches stained glass windows Ambulatory and radiating chapels Abbey Church of Saint-Denis Saint Denis, France 1140-1144

6. Structuraland/or design features that characterize a Gothic vault. Crossed (diagonal) arches under its groins. Gothic vaults have more thinly vaulted webs between the arches than Romanesque vaults. The pointed arch allowed builders to make the crowns of all the vault’s arches approximately the same level, regardless of the space to be vaulted. Advantages of the pointed arch over the round arch The points of the arches will be at the same level as the vault’s crown. The pointed arch allows for more flexibility in vaulting compartments of different shapes. They also require less buttressing. Ambulatory and radiating chapels Abbey Church of Saint-Denis Saint Denis, France 1140-1144

7. Plan of the choirVaults of the ambulatory and radiating chapels of the choir Abbey Church of Saint-Denis Saint Denis, France 1140-1144

9. West facade of Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France begun 1134, rebuilt beginning 1194

10. Royal Portal, west facade Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France ca. 1145-1155

11. Chartres Cathedral of Notre Dame West facade, Right Portal, Tympanum • Christ in the lap of the Virgin. Chartres Cathedral of Notre Dame West Front, Central Portal, Tympanum Second Coming of Christ West Front, Royal Portals: Left portal, tympanum, The Ascension of Christ

12. Figures carved on the jambs are thought to represent: Old Testament kings and queens, the royal ancestors of Christ both figuratively and literally. Jamb figures differ significantly from Romanesque figures They show a new naturalism, particularly in the figures’ heads, where personalized faces replace the masklike features of Romanesque heads. They stand out from the plane of the wall They are treated as three-dimensional volumes so the figures move into the space of the observers. Old Testament queen and two kingsjamb statues, doorway of Royal Portal Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France ca. 1145-1155

14. West façade of Laon Cathedral Laon, France begun ca. 1190

15. Clerestory Triforium Gallery Arcade Laon Paris Chartres Amiens Gothic nave elevations

16. New Gothic features found in the cathedral. The triforium, the band of arcades below the clerestory. The level crowns of the successive nave vaults create a longitudinal continuity that sweeps from west to east. The central rose window on the west façade.

17. Romanesque features retained in Laon Cathedral. Nave bays with sexpartite rib vaults, flanked by two small groin-vaulted squares in each aisle. The vaulted gallery above the aisles. Alternate-support system of compound piers alternating with simple piers.

18. sexpartite rib vault: a rib vault which is divided into six sections. sexpartite rib vault: A rib vault whose surface is divided into six sections by three ribs.

19. Plan and nave of Laon Cathedral Laon, France begun ca. 1190

20. nave of Laon Cathedral Laon, France begun ca. 1190

21. Gothic Rib Vaults

23. The function of the flying buttress was to hold the much thinner and taller walls of the Gothic cathedral, countering the outward thrust of the nave vaults.

24. The flying buttress was an essential element of the Gothic architectural because they were the perfect solution to the problem of constructing towering naves with huge windows filled with glass. They appear slender and delicate and are part of the Gothic “look.” South façade of Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, France begun 1163, nave & flying buttresses ca. 1180-1200, remodeled after 1225

25. South façade of Notre Dame Cathedral Paris, France begun 1163, nave & flying buttresses ca. 1180-1200, remodeled after 1225

27. Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France begun 1134rebuilt beginning 1194

28. In the new system a rectangular unit in the nave, defined by its own vault, was flanked by a single square in each aisle instead of two. Plan of Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France as rebuilt after 1194

29. Rectangular nave bays replaced the square bays with sexpartite vaults and the alternate-support system. The High Gothic vault covered a relatively smaller area and was braced more easily than Early Gothic. Nave of Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France as rebuilt after 1194

30. Gothic Cathedral

31. The theological significance of stained glass windows was “Lux nova,” the “new light”, transformed the material world into the spiritual and enlighten those inside with “True Light” or the “True Sun” (God). Virgin and Child and Angels(Notre Dame de la Belle Verrière) choir of Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France ca. 1170stained glass16 ft. x 7 ft. 8 in.

32. Jesse Tree West facade of Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France ca. 1150-1170stained glass

33. A rose window is circular. A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch. Rose Window and lancets north transept of Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France ca. 1220stained glassrose approximately 43 ft. in diameter

34. In plate tracery, the glass fills only the punched holes in the heavy ornamental stonework. In bar tracery, the glass fills almost the entire opening and the stonework is unobtrusive, more like delicate leading than masonry wall.

35. Gothic Sculpture Although the figures of St. Martin. St. Jerome, and St. Gregory are still attached to their columns as the jamb figures, the architectural setting does not determine their poses as much. They turn slightly in and away from each other, breaking the strict verticality and frontality of the jamb figures. The drapery folds fall softly over the bodies rather than hanging stiffly. Saints Martin, Jerome, and Gregoryjamb statues, Porch of the Confessors South transept of Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France ca. 1220-1230

36. Saint Theodorejamb statue, Porch of the Martyrs South transept of Chartres Cathedral Chartres, France ca. 1230

38. West facade of Amiens Cathedral

39. High Gothic structural elements • Lancet windows, especially in the clerestory and triforium. The rectangular-bay system. The four-part rib vault. Buttressing that permitted almost complete dissolution of heavy masses and thick weight-bearing walls.

40. Robert de Luzarches, Thomas de Cormont,and Renaud de Cormont East facade of Amiens Cathedral Amiens, France begun 1220

41. The four-part rib vault. Robert de Luzarches, Thomas de Cormont,and Renaud de Cormont Choir vaults of Amiens Cathedral Amiens, France begun 1220

42. Robert de Luzarches, Thomas de Cormont,and Renaud de Cormont nave of Amiens Cathedral Amiens, France begun 1220

43. Christ (Beau Dieu)trumeau statue of central doorway west facade of Amiens Cathedral Amiens, France ca. 1220-1235

44. Differences The façade of Chartres is mostly flat whereas Amiens has gable-covered, funnel-like portals. The upper parts of the façade of Amiens are much more punctured than the relatively more solid towers of Chartres. The towers of Chartres appear higher and thinner whereas the towers of Amiens are airier. At Amiens, there is a row of statuary between the rose window and the triforium. Similarities ; There are two towers of unequal height and there is a rose window above the triforium. West facade of Chartres Cathedral West facade of Amiens Cathedral

46. Major change do you see in the façade of Reims The treatment of the tympanums over the doorways. At Reims, stained-glass replaces the stone relief sculpture of Amiens and earlier churches, giving it an even lighter appearance. West façade of Reims Cathedral Reims, France begun ca. 1225-1290

47. Nave of Reims Cathedral Reims, France begun ca. 1225-1290

48. Visitationjamb statues of central doorway west facade of Reims Cathedral Reims, France ca. 1230

50. Purpose of the Sainte Chapelle in Paris; A repository for the crown of thorns and other relics Louis IX had bought from his cousin Baldwin II, emperor of Constantinople. Sainte-Chapelle Paris, France 1243-1248