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The Triumph of the
City
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Gothic Art
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ARCHITECTURE
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Architecture in France
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From the middle of the 12th century, a totally new style of architecture emerged
in the
great cathedrals of northern France. Incorporating improved building techniques
and a
new perception of symbolic values, this style quickly spread throughout Europe
where,
in many countries, it would endure for three centuries or more. This was Gothic
art,
a prolonged and highly original phase in European culture.
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The revolutionary new architectural styles and building techniques
first used in the mid-12th century on the construction sites of the
cathedrals of northern France quickly spread to England, central Europe,
Italy, and Spain. In some countries this "Gothic" architecture was to
rule until the beginning of the 16th century. The term "Gothic" was
first coined by early Renaissance architects as a means of deriding all
architecture created in a medieval style. The word itself referred to
the idea of a barbaric past of the Dark Ages and, more specifically, to
the "Goths" - a Germanic people who invaded Italy in the fifth century
and sacked Rome. However, the term was to lose its derogatory overtones
and, by the Baroque age, great architects like Borromini and, later,
Guarini were quick to appreciate the technical quality and originality
of form of these Gothic buildings. In the 19th century, new
sensitivities to the picturesque by the English critic John Ruskin, and
structural analysis by the French architect and leader of the Gothic
Revival in France, Viollet-le-Duc (1814-79), led to a reappraisal of the
social and religious qualities of the Middle Ages. Some 20th-century
studies of Gothic art have perhaps laid too much emphasis on trends
linked to the evolution of style or to geographical location. Others,
like those by the art historian Erwin Panofsky and the critic Otto von
Simson, have indicated links with scholastic philosophy, or with
metaphysics of Neo-Platonic origin. Meanwhile, critics such as Georges
Duby have upheld the importance of the role of social and religious
context. In architecture, which more than the any other art category
personifies Gothic culture, innovation grew out of a progressive mastery
of geometry and composition. With new advances in technology,
organization, and planning, building methods changed. Construction sites
became efficient and economic, and the development of specialist areas,
such as carving and layout, enabled work to be allocated and integrated
into orderly sequences. The task of the architect became both more
intellectual and more independent and names like Pierre de Montreuil
(c.1200-66), Peter Parler (1333-99), and Ulrich von Esingen, came to be
known. The new style, known as opus francigenum spread rapidly, as the
competition between bishops to build cathedrals grew more intense, and
it was consolidated by the dominance in the 13th century of the French
monarchy throughout northern France. Impressed by the economical use of
time and materials, the growing monastic orders - Cistercians,
Franciscans, and Dominicans - adopted the Gothic style. Building plans
began to circulate outside the strict confines applied by the masons,
and were used by architects and patrons.
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Durham Cathedral, begun 1093 view of the nave. The
structure is bulky and the components are separate, but the ribs on the
vaulting compartments run down the piers. For the first time a sense of
structural coherence overlaid the solid mass of the supports.
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FROM SAINT-DENIS TO CHARTRES
Abbot Suger, a profound mystic, became abbot of Saint-Denis, Paris,
in 1122. In 1140, he inaugurated the new basilica, intended as a
burial chapel for the Capetian monarchs. This was the first truly
Gothic building. Although he only completed the choir aisles and
west entrance block, his vision of a ring of stained glass windows
expanded the precious shimmer of the altar furniture into an
aesthetic of mystic light. The oldest aesthetic dictate, "all that
which exists is light", "was echoed in the new edifices in the He de
France, with an extraordinary use of stained-glass windows adorned
with figures. The glorification of the portal, which had to be rich
and light as a sign of Christ and a true door to the salvation of
man, was a forerunner of the great sculptures that were to appear at
the entrances of Notre-Dame in Paris and Chartres Cathedral. It is
really in the shadow of these great building sites that theologians
like Theodore of Chartres and William of Conches found an obvious
counterpart in the logicality of the Gothic structure, with its
impression of everything soaring upwards, Their speculations on
creative energy, anima mundi and its other aspect, ornatus mundi, is
reflected in the elaboration of detail in the varied and wonderful
repertory of sculpted decoration.
 Detail of the Portal Royal, Chartres Cathedral,
1145-70.
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View of the mid- 13th-century interior of the
basilica of Saint-Denis
(1140-1281) |
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NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL
Proceeded by a Gallo-Roman temple to Jupiter, a Christian
basilica, and a Romanesque church, construction of Notre-Dame de
Paris
began in 1163 during the reign of Louis VII. Pope
Alexander III laid the foundation stone. The idea to replace the
Romanesque church
occupying the site - the Cathedral of St.
Etienne (founded by Childebert in 528) - was that of Bishop
Maurice de Sully (who died in 1196).
(Some accounts claim that
there were two churches existing on the site, one to the Virgin
Mary, the other to St. Stephen.) Construction
was completed
roughly 200 years later in about 1345. The choir was completed in 1182; the nave in 1208, and the
west front and towers circa 1225-1250. A series of
chapels were added to the nave during the period 1235-50, and
during 1296-1330 to the apse (Pierre de Chelles and Jean Ravy).
The transept crossings were
build in 1250-67 by Jean de Chelles
and Pierre de Montreuil (also the architect of the Sainte-Chapelle).
It was essentially completed
according to the original plans. The reigns of Louis XIV (end of the 17th century)
and Louis XV saw significant alterations including the
destruction of tombs, and stained glass.
At the end of
the 18th century, during the Revolution, many of the
treasures of the cathedral were either destroyed or
plundered. Only the
great bells avoided being melted
down, and the Cathedral was dedicated first to the cult
of Reason, and to the cult of the Supreme being.
The
church interior was used as a warehouse for the storage
of forage and food.
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Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258
General view
The front facade, executed somewhat later than the nave,
depicts the Last Judgment in the central portal-a common
medieval subject, stories in the life of Mary in the north
portal tympanum, and those in the life of her mother Anne in the
south portal tympanum
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Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258, (interior) |
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The Gothic Cathedrals
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Notre-Dame
Cathedral
Paris, France
1163-1258
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Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258. Unlike most cathedrals, Notre-Dame
still represents the heart of its city. After eight centuries, it
remains a point of reference for French art, from its foundations
built in 1163 on the site of an old temple dedicated to the Roman
god Jove, to the 19th-century restoration work by Viollet-le-Duc.
The portals retain some of the original sculpture. The transept was
added in the 13th century The interior is dominated by the soaring
vaults, the feeling of infinite space, and the austerity of the
cylindrical columns in the double aisles.
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Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258
View of portal |
Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258
South tribune, from east looking, west |
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Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258.
Rose window; parapet with Virgin and Child flanked by
angels |
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Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258 |
 Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258 |
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 Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258 |
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 Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258 |
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 Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258 |
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 Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258 |
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 Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163-1258 |
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