The French Gothic Cathedral
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Transcript of The French Gothic Cathedral
The French Gothic Cathedral
Chartres Cathedral (Nôtre-Dame de Chartres), France
Chartres Cathedral (Nôtre-Dame), Chartres, France, 1194-1221
Chartres Cathedral – façade (west) Chartres Cathedral – Royal Portal (façade portal) (late Romanesque 1130s)
Ascension Christ in Majesty Virgin portal (incarnation)
(figures early Gothic 1145-55)
Chartres Cathedral – south transept portal – three portals dedicated Last Judgment theme(High Gothic 1205-40)
Nôtre-Dame, Parisb. 1150-55, nave 1170-80, extensive rebuilding in 1220s, transept 1240s-50s
façade 1200-45
Nôtre-Dame, Paris, 1150-55, 1220s
I. The “modernist” Gothic technological revolution in large congregational basilicas (Gothic cathedrals)
Île-de-France
Nôtre-Dame, Laon, 1150s-1205
After St.-Denis’ Choir: Early Gothic Cathedrals
Nôtre-Dame – flying buttresses against nave elevation
I. A. Flying buttresses 1. Why are flying buttresses needed at ever higher heights to buttress nave vaults?
early flying buttresses at Laon too
Laon Cathedral – nave elevation & section
solid quadrant arch under roof of gallery
I. A. 1.
flying buttress
Chartres CathedralI. A. 1.
Chartres CathedralI. C. 5. a.
I. C. 5. a.
Chartres Cathedral
113'
I. A. 2. Why is the uppermost flyer necessary?
Chartres Cathedral
113'
Unplanned upper flyer added at Chartres Cathedral
I. A. 2.
Nôtre-Dame, Paris Laon Cathedral
II. Aesthetics: Beyond structure – three aesthetic qualities that urban patrons wanted to see combined in the novel (“modernist”) sacred spaces of Gothic cathedrals?
Early Gothic trends
Chartres Cathedral
II.
fuller spatial unity + greater illumination + increased height 12.
Gothic Chartres Cathedral
II. A. Spatial unity 1. How does the exterior massing contribute to a unified appearance?
Romanesque Speyer Cathedral
II. A. 2. From the Romanesque to the Gothic, how does the basilical plan change to create greater spatial unity?
Chartres CathedralRomanesque (1000’s) vs. Gothic (1194-1221)
Shrinking of transept and radiating chapels
Romanes
que
Gothic
II. A. 2.
Chartres CathedralNôtre-Dame
5-aisle basilica
Romanesque pilgrimage church Gothic cathedrals
II. A. 3. How does pointed arch allow for greater spatial unity?
quadripartite rib vaults (Chartres)
transverse ribs
side ribs
diagonal ribs
quadripartite rib vaults (Chartres)
Uniform apex height of the transverse, side, and diagonal ribs
Pointed arches make spatial unity possibleAll round arches do not
II. A. 3.
Gothicquadripartite vault w/ pointed arches
Romanesquegroin vault with round arches
Speyer Cathedral Chartres Cathedral
II. A. 3.
Chartres Cathedral
walls can be thin or simply glazed
B & C. Height and light: How do the three structural expedients – rib vaulting, pointed arch, and flying buttresses combine to make a soaring, diaphanous, luminous Gothic space possible?
II. B. & C.
windows can be wider
Chartres Cathedral
pier-to-pier windows
tribune gallery supports nave vault
no tribune gallery +high clerestorey ↓ flying buttresses essential to support nave vault
Chartres Cathedral
Romanesque Early Gothic High Gothic
II. B. & C. 1. How did the desire for larger clerestory windows eliminate the tribune gallery
1 : 1
windows become longer
Chartres Cathedral, south flank
II. B. & C. 1.
Clerestory windows are longer – Light enters through full length & width of windows.
early Gothic high Gothic
II. B. & C. 1.
triforium
The triforium on interior enlivens the dead zone where the pent roof is
II. B. & C. 1.
Pent roof protects aisle vaults
Chartres Cathedral
Chartres Cathedral
1 : 1
II. B. & C. 2. What are the three parts of the classic High Gothic nave elevation which results from lengthening the clerestory windows?
1.
2.
3.
III. Context: The Gothic cathedral as a turning point in architectural history
Chartres CathedralFrench Royal domain – birthplace of Gothic
Chartres ○
Chartres Cathedral - Royal Portal
center portal Old Testament kings and queens
III. A. Why was this novel kind of sacred architecture created first in cities, not at rural pilgrimage churches or monasteries?
cities and royalty
III. A.
Chartres Cathedral
center portal center portal
West Portal (Royal Portal), 1130s-50 South Portal, 1212-20
St.-Denis, Paris – façade
Chartres Cathedral – façade
Gate in a medieval city wall
III. A.
The Cathedral as Heavenly Jerusalem (Kingdom of Heaven)
a dog gargoyle at Chartresa beastie at Chartresa beastie at Notre-Dame, ParisIII. A.
GothicChartres Cathedral
RomanesqueSte.-Foy (abbey pilgrimage church)
12th-13th-century Urbanization - cities as centers for royal courts - home to elite merchant classes
11th century Creativity in rural abbeys - pilgrimage trade
Intellectually appreciated geometries represent divine truth
Appreciation of - worldly goods - human senses and knowledge
Plato: Neoplatonic philosophy Aristotle’s natural sciences
III. B. How do cathedrals express the mentality and contributions of an urban middle class?
III. B.
Drapers, bankers, wine makers, and bakers represented in the stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral
Chartres Cathedral
Chartres Cathedral radiating spokes between flyers Cult of the Carts – civic involvement
III. B.
III. B.
Chartres: labyrinth design in pavement Amiens Cathedral: symbols of individual architects in the maze
Daedalus – creator of the first labyrinth, first architect in Greek mythology