Chapter Seven Gothic Europe

1
Chapter Seven Gothic Europe

• Dates and Places
• 12th to 14th century
• Western Europe (begins in France)
• People
• Growth of urban centers
• Sophisticated courts
• Scholasticism
• Cult of Virgin Mary

Reims Cathedral, ca. 12251290. Fig. 7-1.
2
Gothic

• Themes
• Virgin Mary
• Life of Christ and saints
• Portraits
• Secular life
• Forms
• Immense churches
• Increasingly optical approach to figures and
  space
• Lavish ornament and materials

Saint Theodore, Chartres Cathedral, ca. 1230.
Fig. 7-12.
3
Gothic France

• Example
• Birth of Gothic style
• Abbot Suger
• Royal church
• Rib vaults and pointed arches
• Open space
• Stained glass windows, symbolic light lux nova

Plan, abbey church, Saint-Denis, 11401144. Fig.
7-3.
4
Gothic France
Notre-Dame, begun 1163. Fig. 7-8.
5
Gothic France

• Example
• Flying buttresses
• Quadrant arches
• Rose windows
• Towers on heavily ornamented westwork
• Large clerestory of stained glass windows
• Skeletal support system

Notre-Dame, begun 1163. Fig. 7-8.
6
Gothic France

• Example
• Stained glass window
• Lux nova
• Stories of the faith
• Virgin Mary
• Bar tracery

Rose window and lancets, Chartres Cathedral, ca.
1220. Fig. 7-11.
7
Gothic France
Amiens Cathedral, begun 1220. Fig. 7-13.
8
Gothic France

• Example
• Gothic architects seek height
• Nave bays with arcade, triforium, and clerestory
• Rib vaults, colonettes, compound piers
• Flying buttresses outside

Amiens Cathedral, begun 1220. Fig. 7-13.
9
Gothic France
Annunciation and Visitation, Reims Cathedral,
ca. 12301255. Fig. 7-14.
10
Gothic France

• Example
• Portal jamb sculpture
• Compare to Royal Portal at Chartres
• Increasing naturalism
• Figures released from vertical support
• Influence of classical sculpture
• Cult of Mary Visitation

Annunciation and Visitation, Reims Cathedral,
ca. 12301255. Fig. 7-14.
11
Gothic France
Sainte-Chapelle, 12431248. Fig. 7-15.
12
Gothic France

• Example
• Skeletal support
• Walls replaced by stained glass
• Rib vaults, mullions
• Rayonnant style

Sainte-Chapelle, 12431248. Fig. 7-15.
13
Gothic France
Blanche of Castile, Louis IX, and two monks,
12261234. Fig. 7-18.
14
Gothic France

• Example
• Illuminated manuscript
• Produced in urban workshops
• Luxury books for private patrons
• Contemporary architectural style
• Courtly elegance

Blanche of Castile, Louis IX, and two monks,
12261234. Fig. 7-18.