Gothic Art1140-1500

Nations are forming

International banking and trade

More crusades

Growth of cities

More universities (logic required)

Scholastic philosophy (faith and reason);

100 Years War (1337-1453)

Black Death (mid-1300s; 40% population died)

Great Schism between Popes (1378-1417)

Gothic Art and the

Cult of the Virgin (around 1130 on, about the

same time the Byzantine Madonna became affectionate);

most churches dedicated to “Notre Dame”;

more light and mysticism

Abbey Church of St. Denis, Paris. 1140-44.

Designed by Abbot Suger.

Abbot Suger described the effect of

his ambulatory, chapels, and large windows as:

“a circular string of chapels, by virtue of which the

whole (sanctuary) would shine with the

miraculous and uninterrupted light of the most

luminous windows.”

Suger’s design:

No new techniques.

Different emphasis:

-lighter

-higher

-more slender

-more light

-continuous flow vs.

discrete parts

Groin vaults

Suger studied writings of Dionysius, 6th c. mystic theologian), that emphasized:

-mathematical harmony between parts of a building (based on

musical ratios)

-the mystical, miraculous effect of light (light as God’s presence)

Suger was trying to reinforce faith and spirituality through light and color

Chartres Cathedral, begun 1134

Tripartite façade

Pre-1194Begun 1507

Chartres

Christ in Majesty

with the evangelistsMary’s ascension Madonna and Child

Chartres Cathedral,

Old Testament Kings and Queens,

1145-55. Jamb figures.

San Sernin, Toulouse.

Romanesque

Chartres Cathedral,

Gothic

Chartres

San Sernin, Toulouse

1070-1120,

Romanesque

Chartres Cathedral,

begun 1134,

Gothic

Vertical buttressesAt Chartres, each buttress

Was 2 million lbs.

With exterior flying buttresses,vertical buttresses could be moved away

from the wall, meaning more & larger windows,

& thinner walls

Virgin and Child and angels:

Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere.

1170.(side panels 13th c)

Origin of Stained glass:

stained glass was used in the Islamic world;

idea brought back by Crusaders

To create colored glass:

Add metallic oxides to molten glass

(cobalt- blue; manganese – red and

purple; silver oxide-yellow)

Or flash glass - fuse a layer of colored glass

to clear glass

To create stained glass designs:

-Design drawn in chalk on table

-glass cut to fit design

-details (faces, etc.) painted in black enamel

and fired

-Pieces of colored glass joined by lead

strips (cames)

-set in iron armature for support

Chartres rose window

and lancet windows

(north transept).

1220

Rose about 43’ diameter

Tracery – ornamental stonework

used in supporting glass windows

Rose window

Tracery,Notre Dame

Details of north transept windows, Chartres, 1220.

Flying buttresses

Notre Dame, Paris

Amiens Cathedral.

Begun 1220

Amiens Cathedral.

Begun 1220

Gothic Cathedrals:

Pointed arches and windows

Ribbed groin vaults in the nave & aisles

Flying buttresses outside

Very high, narrow nave

Taller, thinner columns

Vertical emphasis

More unified space

-all cluster columns the same

-all the crowns of the rib vaults

and pointed arches of the

ceiling are at the same height

Much more light, much taller clerestories

& smaller triforiums

Stained glass rose & lancet windows

Beau DieuTrumeau statue, Amiens, France, 1220-35

lion basilisk

South porch, Chartres, early 1200s

St. Theodore,

Chartres (south)

1230.

1230

1210-20

Reims. Begun 1220.

Reims. Begun 1220.

Note Gothic:

-tripartite façade

-deep portals

-tracery

-detailed ornamentation

-pointed arches, etc.

-pinnacles

-life-sized statues

The Visitation, Reims, France, 1230

More courtly style: s-curve,

triangular head, slight smile;

More classical approach

Courtly style:

-graceful S-curve

Virgin of Jeanne d’Evreux,

From St. Denis.

1339.

Silver gilt and enamel. 2’3 ½”

God as Architect of the World.

1220-1230.

Moralized Bible

Jean Pucelle, Belleville Breviary

David Before Saul. 1325. 9 ½ “ x 6 ¾”

December.

Belleville Breivary,

Jean Pucelle.

1325.

Also by Jean Pucelle:

1324-1328 Book of Hours for Jeanne d’Evreux, wife of Charles IV of France.

About 3 ½” high

Queen

Jeanne

D’Evreux

Book of Hours for Jeanne d’Evreux

Annunciation

Louis IX, Jeanne d’Evreux’s

great-grandfather, imprisoned in

El Mansura on the Nile,

on the way to Jerusalem

Ste.-Chapelle, Paris

reliquary for the crown of thorns

High Gothic/Rayonnant style

The END!!

Hope you learned

something!