Gardner’s Art Through the Ages,
12e
Chapter 18
The Age of the Great Cathedrals:
Gothic Art
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Europe About 1200
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Goals
• Understand the origins and spread of the Gothic style.
• Understand the changes in European religious concepts
that make Gothic art and architecture possible.
• Understand the art, architecture and architectural
decoration of the Gothic style in France.
• Name and identify important Gothic cathedrals.
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TOPICS: French Gothic
• Cultural & religious changes in relation to Gothic
cathedral architecture.
• Gothic cathedral architecture – terms
• St. Denis
• Chartres
• Laon/Reims
• Amiens
• Conclusion
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NAMES & TERMS: French Gothic I
Abbot Suger: Rebuilt the monastery of Saint-Denis in a
style that would become known as Early Gothic, with an
emphasis on light and costly furnishings. He regarded a
lavish investment in art as a spiritual aid, not as an
undesirable distraction as did Bernard of Clairvaux. He
became the right-hand man of Louis VI and Louis VII
and served as regent of France during the Second
Crusade.
Crenellations: Alternating solid merlons and open
crenels in the notched tops of walls, as in battlements.
Keep: A fortified tower in a castle that served as a place
of last refuge.
Ramparts: Defensive wall circuits.
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NAMES & TERMS: French Gothic II
Saint Thomas Aquinas:
The greatest exponent of Scholasticism, an Italian monk
who wrote the Summa Theologica, a model of the
Scholastic approach to knowledge. He set forth five ways
to prove the existence of God through rational
argument.
Scholasticism:
The philosophy originating in the Cathedral School of
Paris during the Gothic era. Using Aristotle’s system of
rational inquiry, Schoolmen sought to demonstrate that
reason alone could lead to certain truths.
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Abbott Suger and the Gothic Style
• Basilique Saint-Denis originated as a small chapel at the
graveyard of Saint Denis in the 5th cen..
– After the 7th cen., Basilique Saint-Denis became the
royal abbey church.
– The third Basilique Saint-Denis was rebuilt in 775 of
Carolingian era.
• Abbot Suger (1081-1151) began to reconstruct the church
in 1137, completed the west facade and narthex in the
1140 and completed the choir in 1144. He continued to
reconstruct the nave but he died in 1151 before finished it.
• Viollet-le-Duc (Eugene Emmanuel, 1814-79) repaired
from 1836 to 1846.
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Abbott Suger and the Gothic Style
• Many elements of the Gothic style are found at
Saint-Denis.
• Most important are the structural innovations, such
as cross rib vault and flying buttresses.
– But cross rib vaults were found before SaintDenis and flying buttresses were perfected later.
• Saint-Denis was a beginning of the “luminous
choir” by Suger, a symbol of the grace of God.
• The 3 features of the new choir at St. Denis as
described by Abbot Suger that are characteristic of
the new Gothic style.
– rib vaults
– pointed arches
– stained glass windows
.
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Gothic vs Romanesque
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Choir at
St Denis
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St Denis
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St Denis
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St Denis
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St Denis
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St Denis
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St Denis
François Ier
Unknown princess
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St Denis: Restoration
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Tympanum at Chartres
The new spirit of the Gothic period that replaced the
severity of Romanesque themes of judgment and
damnation could be symbolized by the dedication
of cathedrals to Mary. Her iconography can be seen
in the Royal Portals of Chartres Cathedral, the
earliest and most complete surviving Early Gothic
sculptural complex.
The following scenes are represented on the tympana:
Right: Christ in the lap of the Virgin.
Left: Christ’s Ascension into Heaven.
Central: The Second Coming.
.
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Tympanum at Chartres
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Side jambs at Chartres
The figures carved on the jambs are thought to
represent: Old Testament kings and queens, the
royal ancestors of Christ both figuratively and
literally.
Differences from from Romanesque figures?
a. They show a new naturalism, particularly in the
figures’ heads, where personalized faces replace the
mask-like features of Romanesque heads.
b. They stand out from the plane of the wall
c. They are treated as three-dimensional volumes so
the figures move into the space of the observers.
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