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THE GOTHIC CATHEDRALOBJECTIVES

• Understand the key structural components of the Gothic cathedral

• Explain the origins of the Gothic style

• Analyze the cathedral as an interactive environment

• Explain the symbolic properties of light and height in the Gothic cathedral

Ille de France region

Notre Dame, Paris, 1163-1267

THE GOTHIC CATHEDRAL

Romanesque style: Ste. Marie, Souillac, France. c. 1130

Gothic style: Abbey Church of St. Denis, France, 1220s

Gothic CathedralArchitectural Style

• Began in France in the 12c.

• Pointed arches.

• Flying buttresses.

• Stained glass windows.

• Elaborate, ornate interior.

• Taller, more airy lots of light.

• Lavish sculpture larger-than-life.

Development of Gothic Cathedrals

1. Urban revolution: civic pride, rising wealth, intense urban piety

2. Mirrors shift in piety, literature, and the lifestyle of the nobility towards emotional intensity and refinement

3. Structural engineering advances allowed for greater height and took the weight off the walls allowing for the installation of large windows

Gothic Cathedrals: 2 major features

•LIGHT

•HEIGHT

Notre Dame, Paris, ca. 1250, nave & choir

Interactive Elements

•Educational program

•Inspiring mystical, emotional experience using light and height

Abbot Suger: creates the Gothic style at St. Denis

Choir, St. Denis, 1140s

**First church space to focus on making the ceiling higher and the interior more filled with light

**Beginning of new style of church design in France

The Gothic Style Emerges

Tree of Jesse, window at St. Denis

**educational

**symbolic of God’s light in your life

Royal Chapel of St. Chapelle, Paris, begun 1240s

Sainte Chapelle, interior

Rose Window: A circular window composed of patterned tracery arranged in petal-like formation.

The good, of course, is always beautiful, and the beautiful never lacks proportion. --- Plato

Rose Window Chartres Cathedral, Paris

Notre Dame Cathedral

**Exterior of cathedrals are also part of the educational program **Numerous relief and partially free-standing sculptures cover the front and sides of the structure—all carefully planned to be part of an overall religious program

Notre Dame, portal carvings

Spires—rise up pointing to heaven

Cathedral Gargoyles

HEIGHT Structural Elements

•Rib Vaults

•Pointed Arches

• Flying Buttresses

Rib Vault: A relatively thin stone vault set within a framework of ribs.

Nave height: 140 feet

Amiens, nave vaulting, 1220-1247

Flying Buttress: a free-standing support attached to the outer walls to resist the lateral thrust of a vault

Amiens Cathedral

Nave cross section

Flying Buttress

Amiens Cathedral, buttressing

Source: Amiens Cathedral Project

Computer graphic: Amiens

Basilican Floor Plan (Latin Cross)

• Cathedrals were usually oriented along an east-west axis. The main entrance was on the west end while the liturgical stuff (altar, bishop’s throne, etc.) was located in the east end. They had the shape of a Latin cross.

NAVE: the central longitudinal space of a basilican church

Basilican Plan (Latin Cross)

AISLE: the space between the columns of the nave and the side wall

TRANSEPT: an extension across the main axis giving a church the shape of a cross

apse

Crossing: area of a church where the nave, choir, and transept intersect Choir: area of the church where the priest performs the mass Apse: vaulted, circular extension or projection at the eastern end of a church

Which Interior Is Which?

Which Cathedral Style Is Which?