Gothic Structure in Relation to Aesthetics

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Gothic Structurein Relation toAesthetics

• Mysticism and Logic

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In his book Gothic Architecture and
Scholasticism, Erwin Panofsky makes a detailed
and convincing case for the cultural resonance
between the formal characteristics of Gothic
architecture and the culture of Scholasticism.
Exemplified in the work of medieval scholars at
such institutions as the School of Chartres and
the University of Paris, Scholasticism was a
system of organizing knowledge and building
arguments through logical arrangement. Any
question, problem or issue could be subdivided
into numerous elements, all of which could fit
neatly and logically into a larger superstructure
called a summa.
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This system of arrangement was used to clarify
difficult philosophical and theological
questions, even in debates about the existence or
non-existence of God. For this reason,
scholasticism may at first seem to be
unnecessarily complex and remote. Yet, it is, in
fact, the basis of the way we organize
information in an outline, an encyclopedia or the
way we use binary mathematics in computer
science. The great Summa Theologicae of St.
Thomas Aquinas or the treatise Sic et Non Yes
and No of Peter Abelard may be thought of as
distant ancestors of contemporary digital theory.
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Erwin Panofskys interpretation of Gothic
architecture rests on the proposition that
Scholasticism was not just a rarefied concept
practiced in the medieval academies but without
popular relevance. He argues that direct as well
as indirect exposure to the methods and processes
of scholasticism made it a part of the common
culture. The patronage of architects by the
chapters of metropolitan cathedrals, the
education of those who later became architects in
schools sponsored by the church, public debates,
and the sermons they heard would have helped
bring the culture of scholasticism into the
consciousness of the architects as a mental
habit.
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By analogy, most people in our society, Panofsky
observed, are trained neither in psychoanalysis
nor in space technology, but we all use the
terminology of these disciplines in our daily
language. The increasingly rich life of
professionalism in urban centers brought contact
between various professions and elevated the
competition among members of these
groups. Architects were more urbane at this
time. They were no longer usually monks they
were well read, and quite widely traveled. They
enjoyed much more prestige than had their
predecessors.
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The important point to keep in mind is that
Panofsky does not claim that Gothic architects
were trained in scholasticism, nor that they
understood scholastic method as academicians did.
Rather, he argues that scholasticism imbued high
medieval society with a particular way of
thinking and understanding that architects, as
active participants in that society, could not
escape. Therefore, the arguments he advances
must be examined as claims for the architectural
manifestation of a cultural phenomenon during the
Gothic period.
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The fundamental principles of scholasticism are
manifestatio and concordantia. Manifestatio
means the elucidation or clarification of a
subject in its totality. The result of this is
the Summa, the vehicle for presentation. The
three requirements of manifestatio are (1)
totality (completeness, thoroughness) (2)
arrangement in a logical system of parts and
sub-division of parts in sufficient
articulation (3) distinctness and deductive
cogency, ie. sufficient interrelation Concordan
tia is the acceptance and ultimate reconciliation
of contradictory possibilities
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An easy way to imagine the scholastic method is
to think about the organization of a book into
chapters, sections, and sub-sections or the
organization of an outline into divisions of
Roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals,
and lower case letters.
I. A. B. 1. 2.
3. a. b. II.
Book Chapter I Chapter II Section
A. Section B. Section C. Sub-section 1.
Sub-section 2.
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The tendency in this system is to move toward an
obsession with systematic divisions,
sub-divisions, methodical demonstrations, and the
appearance of artificial symmetries to make sure
that the visual vehicle appropriately expresses
the method that creates it. According to
Panofskys reasoning, the mental habit of
scholasticism naturally finds its way into other
works and it is particularly visible in the
development of the High Gothic cathedrals in the
Ile-de-France. Their structural principles were
revealed not only in the functioning structural
elements but in the way in which the structural
elements were arranged visually, even when they
do not actually serve a structural function.
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The High Gothic equivalent of scholastic
manifestatio is the principle of transparency.
What you see on the outside is directly related
to and is driven by the expression on the inside.
The interior of the High Gothic cathedral is a
delimited volume separated from the exterior
space but projects itself through the surrounding
structure. Next images Cathedral of Notre Dame
at Chartres
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Next images Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Reims
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Next images Cathedral of Notre Dame at Amiens
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The unified whole must consist of identifiable
and separate parts. We must be able to infer the
interior from the exterior and the organization
of the whole system from the cross-section of one
pier. Visual logic is a part of manifestatio.
Not everything that we see in the elevation of
the interior really works but it represents the
larger scheme of parts which do work. Next
images nave elevations of Chartres and Reims
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Next images nave elevations at Reims and Amiens
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Next images nave and choir elevations at Amiens
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Next images Chartres and Reims
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Next images Reims and Amiens
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Erwin Panofskys assessment of the relationship
between faith and reason in the high middle ages
is that within the parameters of mysticism,
reason was drowned in faith. Later, Nominalism
would separate reason and faith altogether. But
during the 12th century, reason was used as a
means of laying out faith within the scholastic
system while mysticism became a source of
faith. This complex and layered relationship is
made visible to an extent within the high Gothic
cathedral, especially as the repository for
stained glass that filled the interiors with a
mystical chromatic light. The illumination of
the environment is one of its most overwhelming
experiences. The colored light can seem to
dissolve the very stone structure itself.
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Cathedral of St. Etienne at Bourges
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