Gothic Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp
Topics
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High Gothic Architecture
Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres, France
 Cathedral of St. Etienne at Bourges
 Cathedral at Riems
 Sainte-Chappelle
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Techniques of Medieval Gothic Builders
High Gothic Architecture

The introduction of the flying buttress at NotreDame, Paris integrated the three components of
Gothic architecture
Rib vaults
 Flying buttress
 Pointed arch
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Redundant features of Romanesque architecture
were deleted from future structures
High Gothic Architecture

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The High Gothic saw the erection of churches
with increasingly refined artistic and structural
features
First major monument of the High Gothic was
the Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres,
France
High Gothic Architecture

Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres, France
Flying buttresses were planned from the start so that
galleries over the aisles could be eliminated
 The site had long been sacred to the Virgin Mary
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The cathedral was believed to have housed a tunic worn
by Mary
Became a center of pilgrimage for Christians
High Gothic Architecture

Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres, France

1194
Fire destroyed the wooden roof of the basilica
 Bishop of Pisa declared that it was sign
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Ordered the construction of a larger church at the cathedral
Gothic cathedral at Chartres was built in a span of
about twenty-six years (1194 – 1220)

Completed cathedral glows inside with a wonderful
luminosity
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture

Cathedral of St. Etienne at Bourges
Illustrates a contrasting design approach to that in
Chartres
 Many cathedrals in northern Spain are based upon
this structure
 Builders wanted to dramatize the sense of verticality
and light

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Elevated its vaults 113-ft over a 53-ft nave
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture

Cathedral at Riems
Begun in 1211 after fire had destrued the previous
structure
 Based on Chartres
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Features a greater sensation of height by adjusting the
proportions of the nave
Most glorious view is from it west front
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture

Amiens Cathedral
The tallest completed French Gothic church
 Begun in 1220 and finished by 1269
 Scale is truly gigantic

Portals dwarf the worshiper
 Rose window is dwarfed by the immense façade

The aisle vaults rise some 60-ft from the inside
 The glass creates the sensation of being within a
huge fragile cage

High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture

Sainte-Chappelle, Paris

Built to house relics King Louis IX had acquired
from Constantinople

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Included the Crown of Thorns and a piece of the True
Cross
Two levels
Ground floor chapel for use by household servants
 Upper chapel surrounded by stained glass lancet windows

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For use by the royal family
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture

Techniques of Medieval Gothic builders
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Notebook of Villard de Honnecourt
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Contains a wide range of observations and drawings
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Geometry problems and their solutions
Timber roof trusses
Sculpture and carved ornament
Nature sketches
Church plans
High Gothic Architecture

Techniques of Medieval Gothic builders

Geometry was the theoretical core of medieval
architecture
Masons established basic building dimensions by a
module, and derived all other measurements through the
manipulation of compass and straightedge
 Masons’ secrets were no more than plane geometry and
the use of triangles, squares, pentagons, and other figures
to generate proportional lines

High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
References
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Sullivan, Mary; http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/
http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wdpt1.html
Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From Prehistory to
Postmodernity
Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western Architecture
Gothic Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp