Gothic Architecture and Sculpture
Features of Gothic Churches Pointed arches and Rib vaults Flying buttresses Stained glass windows (light as a symbol
of Jesus) Verticality
The Benedictine Abbey of St. Denis
•Abbot Suger• Remodeled the Church of St. Denis• Invented the new style
Characteristics of Gothic Architecture1. Pointed arches (b) with ribbed vaulting (d) as
opposed to the rounded arches and vaulting (a and c) of the Romanesque style
a b c d
Flying Buttresses and Windows
3. Luminosity in the form of beautiful stained-glass windows (Suger and his theology of light).
“I am the light of the world” (John 8:12)
4. Verticality -- Pointing the way to God
• St. Piere de Beauvais (1247) at 157 feet
Notre Dame Cathedral de Paris:
Notre Dame Cathedral de Paris: View toward Choir or Apse
The Gargoyles of Notre Dame
Cathedral de Paris
Cathedral of Notre Dame de Chartres (1194-1220)
Famous for its stained glass windows
Sainte Chapelle (“Holy Chapel”), Paris (1243-1248)
Sainte Chapelle (1243-1248), Lower Chapel
Sainte Chapelle
(1243-1248), Upper Chapel
Gothic Polyphony: Notre Dame of Paris
Florid Organum
Two Gothic Composers
Leonin Perotin
Nave, Notre Dame
Sederunt principes,Et adversum me loquebantur;Et iniqui persecuti sunt me.
The rulers were seated in council,And they spoke against me;And my enemies persecuted me.
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