Outline - Gothic Art of 12th & 13th Centuries
Chapter 16
edited July 28, 2015
(1140-1500 CE)
2015-2016
Enduring Understanding
Art of this period into geographical regions, governing cultures, identifiable
styles with considerable overlap
Numerous religions (Jewish, Christian, Islamic) and languages
Essential Knowledge
 Influence of Roman art
 Architecture is primarily religious in nature
 Figure work was primarily religious, shifted towards naturalism and
incorporated text
Geographic/ Cultural Context
Religious/social change, European Centered
 Religious/Social change
o Religious
 Two popes
 Rapid spreading of Christian message
o Political
 Development of secular state
 100 years war-France and England
o Economic/social
 Growth of towns & cities (Paris)
 Growth of the university
 Growth of money economy, middle class
o Plague
 Black Death c 1350
 European centered
o France, Germany, Italy, England
Art Context
Gothic Architecture, sculpture, stained glass, books & manuscripts
General notes
o Rising economy=guilds, artisans
o Gothic style varied throughout Europe
o Artists’ names documented
 Gothic architecture
o Central question-How to go higher and wider using stone?
o Emphasis on height and light
 Abbot Sugar and “lux nova”
 Pointed arches, flying buttresses, piers
o Two periods-Low and High Gothic
o Advances in building methods/materials
 Achieved more windows, less wall
Keys to Gothic Architectural Style - think height and light
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Rib vaults with pointed arches
o allows for vaulting of various sizes yet equal nave height
o direct weight of roof (vault) more directly down
o allow for less formidable buttressing
o frees up wall space for more windows
o give illusion of greater vertical height
Flying buttresses
o Allow for vertical orientation of cathedral
o Allowed for larger clearstory windows
Huge colored (stained) glass windows
o Allow for more light and brilliant color
Compound Piers
o Round and octagonal alternating
All allows for vertical pull=up to the heavens!
Early Gothic 1140-1194
Abbey Church, St. Denis
Notre Dame
High Gothic 1194-1300
Chartres
Reims
Amiens
 Sculpture
o Evolves from formal to classical
o Evolves from stiff & emotionally distant to overtly emotional
 Stained glass
o Function and effect of light
 Booka and manuscripts
o Religious and devotional texts
Terms
Gothic architectural order
Armature-the crossed or diagonal, arches that form the skeletal framework
of a Gothic rib vault
Pointed arch-a narrow arch of pointed profile, in contrast to a semicircular
arch
Triforium – a band of arcades below the clerestory
Lancets-tall, narrow windows, ending in pointed arches
Clerestory-windows below the vaults that form the nave elevation’s
uppermost level
Springing-the lowest stone of an arch
Oculus-a small round window in a Gothic cathedral
Flying buttress-an exterior wall support that sticks out from the wall, is
arch-shaped and used to withstand the outward thrust of a Gothic cathedral’s
very high walls
Lux Nova-term used to describe the brilliant (heavenly) quality of light
radiating from Gothic stained glass windows