ART ID 121 | Study of Western Arts
Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD NYIT Center for Teaching and Learning with Technology
With modifications by Arch. Edeliza V. Macalandag, UAP
The Age of the Great Cathedrals: Gothic Art
• The Gothic style originated in France around 1140.
• It spread to other parts of Europe and remained the dominant style in northern Europe for the next 400 years.
• Like the preceding Romanesque style, the Gothic style is defined largely in terms of architecture, with many regional variants.
• In many areas, especially Germany, Late Gothic art continued well into the 16th century, before being subsumed into Renaissance art.
Gothic Art
Giorgio Vasari in the 16th century first used the word "Gothic" as a term of ridicule to describe late medieval art and architecture.
Turmoil and change
•The Gothic age was a time of profound change in Europe.
•The Hundred Years’ War began, shattering the peace between France and England.
•The Black Death swept over western Europe and killed at least a quarter of its people.
•Opposing popes resided in Rome and in Avignon in southern France during the political-religious crisis known as the Great Schism.
Gothic Art
Primary media in the Gothic period included:•Sculpture•panel painting•stained glass•Fresco•illuminated manuscripts
The easily recognizable shifts in architecture from Romanesque to Gothic, and Gothic to Renaissance styles, are typically used to define the periods in art in all media, although in many ways figurative art developed at a different pace.
Gothic Art
Themes & Features•The earliest Gothic art was monumental sculpture, on the walls of Cathedrals and abbeys. •Christian art was often typological in nature (see Medieval allegory), showing the stories of the New Testament and the Old Testament side by side.•Saints' lives were often depicted. •Images of the Virgin Mary changed from the Byzantine iconic form to a more human and affectionate mother, cuddling her infant, swaying from her hip, and showing the refined manners of a well-born aristocratic courtly lady.
Gothic Art
Themes & Features
Secular art came in to its own during this period, influence by:
• the rise of cities
• foundation of universities
• increase in trade
• the establishment of a money-based economy
• the creation of a bourgeois class who could afford to patronize the arts and commission works resulting in a proliferation of paintings and illuminated manuscripts.
• increased literacy
• growing body of secular vernacular literature
Gothic Art
With the growth of cities, trade guilds were formed and artists were often required to be members of a painters' guild—as a result, because of better record keeping, more artists are known to us by name in this period than any previous; some artists were even so bold as to sign their names.
West Facade
Abbey Church of Saint-Denis
Saint Denis, France
1140-1144
The Choir
Abbey Church of Saint-Denis
Saint Denis, France
1140-1144
The birthplace of Gothic architecture is the choir of the
abbey church of Saint-Denis near Paris where an innovative use of
rib vaults resting on pointed arches was first introduced. Because of the architectural
lightness of the rib vault, supporting columns were made
slender and masonry walls reduced in thickness or
eliminated altogether. The outer walls were opened up and filled
with stained-glass windows.
Transept Rose Window
Abbey Church of Saint-Denis
Saint Denis, France
1140-1144
The north transept rose shows the Creation.
Ambulatory and radiating chapels
Abbey Church of Saint-Denis
Saint Denis, France
1140-1144
Innovative rib vaults resting on pointed arches cover the
ambulatory and chapels at Saint-Denis. The lightness of these vaults enabled the builders to
eliminate the walls between the chapels and open up the outer
walls and fill them with stained-glass windows. The colored light
seen through the stained-glass windows was called lux nova or
“new light.”
Ambulatory and radiating chapels
Abbey Church of Saint-Denis
Saint Denis, France
1140-1144
Plan of the choirVaults of the ambulatory and radiating chapels of the choir
Abbey Church of Saint-Denis
Saint Denis, France
1140-1144
West facade of Chartres Cathedral
Chartres, France
begun 1134, rebuilt beginning 1194
The French medieval Cathedral of Our Lady of
Chartres (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame
de Chartres) is a Latin Rite Catholic cathedral
and is considered one of the finest examples of
the French High Gothic style.
West facade of Chartres Cathedral
Chartres, France
begun 1134, rebuilt beginning 1194
The building's exterior is dominated by heavy flying
buttresses which allowed the architects to increase the
window size significantly, while the west end is dominated by
two contrasting spires — one, a 105 metre (349 ft) plain
pyramid dating from the 1140s, and the other a 113 metre (377
ft) tall early 16th century Flamboyant spire on top of an
older tower. Equally notable are the three great façades, each
adorned with hundreds of sculpted figures illustrating key
theological themes and narratives.
Royal Portal, west facade
Chartres Cathedral
Chartres, France | ca. 1145-1155
The sculptures of the west façade proclaim the majesty and power of Christ. To unite the three doorways iconographically
and visually, the sculptors carved episodes from Christ’s life on the capitals, which form a kind of frieze linking one entrance to
the next.
Saints Martin, Jerome, and Gregory, jamb statues from Porch of the Confessors
Chartres Cathedral
Chartres, France
ca. 1145-1155
Rose Window and lancets
north transept of Chartres Cathedral
Chartres, France
ca. 1220stained glass
rose approximately 43 ft. in diameter
The rose window and tall lancets of Chartres
Cathedral’s north transept were the gift of Blanche of
Castile, the Queen of France. The stained-glass is
held in place by an armature of stone bar
tracery.
Virgin and Child and
Angels(Notre Dame
de la Belle Verrière)
choir of Chartres
Cathedral
Chartres, France
ca. 1170stained glass
16 ft. x 7 ft. 8 in.
The tall, single-lancet window
known as Notre Dame de la
Belle Verrière shows the
Virgin Mary crowned with a
halo as the Queen of
Heaven enthroned with the Christ Child
in her lap.
Jesse Tree
West facade of Chartres Cathedral
Chartres, France
ca. 1150-1170stained glass
Nave of Chartres CathedralChartres, France
as rebuilt after 1194
Despite the vastly increased size of the clerestory windows, the Chartres nave is
relatively dark. These stained glass windows were not meant to illuminate the
interior with bright sunlight but to transform natural light into Suger’s mystical lux nova.
Triforium wall of the naveChartres Cathedral
Chartres, France
ca. 1200-1260
West façade of Laon Cathedral
Laon, France
begun ca. 1190
The west front, with three porches, the centre one
surmounted by a fine rose window of 1210, ranks next to that of Notre Dame de Paris in
the purity of its Gothic style. Because of the use of white
stone in the interior, however, the luminosity is remarkably greater than at Notre-Dame.
The cathedral has stained glass of the 13th century and a
chancel screen of the 18th century.
West Façade PortalsLaon Cathedral
Laon, France | begun ca. 1190
Plan and nave of Laon Cathedral
Laon, France
begun ca. 1190
The building is cruciform, and the choir terminates in a straight wall instead of in an apse. Of the seven planned towers flanking
the façades, only five are complete to the height of the base of the spires, two at the
west front, with life-size figures of oxen beneath the arcades of their upper portion, two more, one at each end of the transept,
and a square central crossing tower that forms a lantern illuminating the crossing.
Transept Crossing
Laon Cathedral
Laon, France
begun ca. 1190
nave of Laon Cathedral
Laon, France
begun ca. 1190
Laon Cathedral retains many Romanesque
features, such as six-part rib vaults in the
nave bays, but combined them with the Gothic rib vault,
with its pointed arches. A new feature is the
arcaded triforium below the clerestory
and a less compartmentalized
and more unified interior nave space. The deep porches in
front of the doorways on the west façade,
and the open structure of the towers, reduce
the wall mass and replace it with
intricately framed voids.
Gothic nave elevations
Laon Paris Chartres
Amiens
Arcade
Gallery
Triforium
Clerestory
Gothic Rib Vaults
South façade of Notre Dame
Cathedral
Paris, France
begun 1163, nave & flying buttresses ca.
1180-1200, remodeled after 1225
Robert de Luzarches, Thomas de Cormont,
and Renaud de Cormont
West facade of Amiens Cathedral
Amiens, France
begun 1220
Amiens cathedral is the tallest complete
cathedral in France, its stone-vaulted nave
reaching a height of 42.30 metres (138.8 ft) (surpassed only by the
incomplete Beauvais Cathedral). It also has
the greatest interior volume of any French
cathedral, estimated at 200,000 cubic metres.
Robert de Luzarches, Thomas de Cormont,and Renaud de Cormont
East facade of Amiens Cathedral
Amiens, France | begun 1220
Amiens Cathedral employed a buttressing system that permitted thick weight-bearing walls to be virtually
eliminated and allowed the four-part rib vaults to be built very high. The walls and towers of the west façade
are deeply pierced. Remaining surfaces are decorated with a network of colonnettes, arches, pinnacles,
rosettes, and other decorative stonework.
Robert de Luzarches, Thomas de Cormont,
and Renaud de Cormont
East facade of Amiens Cathedral
Amiens, France | begun 1220
West façade of Reims Cathedral
Reims, France
begun ca. 1225-1290
Like Amiens, the cathedral at
Reims is in the High Gothic
style. Architecturally
and sculpturally the design is
taller, narrower, and more intricately
decorated. Stained-glass
windows replace the stone relief sculpture in the
tympanums over the doorways.
The kings of France were
once crowned here.
Nave of Reims Cathedral
Reims, France
begun ca. 1225-1290
Visitationjamb statues of central
doorway
west facade of Reims Cathedral
Reims, France
ca. 1230
The jamb statues of the west portals of Reims
Cathedral appear more detached from their
architectural background. The full-
bodied figures are given free and unrestricted
movements. The Visitation group reveals
a classicizing, naturalistic taste.
Sainte-Chapelle
Paris, France
1243-1248
Sainte-Chapelle in Paris is an example of the
Rayonnant style of the High Gothic. The walls
have been all but eliminated and replaced
by stained glass.
interior of the upper chapel
Sainte-Chapelle
Paris, France
1243-1248
Virgin and Child (Virgin of Paris)
Notre-Dame
Paris, France
early 14th century
West façade
Church of Saint-Maclou
Rouen, France
ca. 1500-1540
The church of Saint-Maclou in Rouen is built in the Flamboyant style.
The doorways are crowned with ornate
gables pierced through and filled with
decorative webs of wiry, curving, "flickering" Flamboyant tracery.
West façade
Church of Saint-Maclou
Rouen, France
ca. 1500-1540
The church of Saint-Maclou in Rouen is
built in the Flamboyant style. The doorways are
crowned with ornate gables pierced
through and filled with decorative
webs of wiry, curving, "flickering" Flamboyant tracery.
West façade
Church of Saint-Maclou
Rouen, France
ca. 1500-1540
Hall of the Cloth Guild
Bruges, Netherlands
begun. 1230
One of the many signs of the growing
secularization of urban life in the late Middle
Ages was the erection of monumental meeting halls and warehouses
for the increasing number of craft guilds
that were being formed throughout Europe.
House of Jacques Coeur
Bourges, France
1443–1451
begun. 1230
The house of Jacques Coeur is the best-preserved example of
Late Gothic domestic architecture. Built on an
irregular plan with an open courtyard, the tall central
section of the façade has a steep pyramidal roof, a spire-
capped tower with Flamboyant tracery, a large pointed-arch
stained-glass window, and two doorways. The external façade
also includes a pair of false windows with life-size relief sculptures of a male and a
female servant.
Villard de Honnecourt
Figures based on geometric shapesfolio 18 verso of a sketchbook
from Paris, France
ca. 1220-1235ink on vellum
9 1/4 x 6 in.
Book manufacture shifted from monasteries and convents to urban
workshops operated by laymen who employed specialists with various skills.
The painted illustrations (“illuminations”) reflect contemporary
stained-glass window designs and architectural elements.
Geometry played both a symbolic and a practical role in Gothic art and
architecture. Gothic architects based their designs on the art of geometry.
Villard de Honnecourt’s personal sketchbook demonstrates the value of
the art of geometry.
Villard de Honnecourt
Figures based on geometric shapes
folio 18 verso of a sketchbook
from Paris, France
ca. 1220-1235ink on vellum
9 1/4 x 6 in.
Book manufacture shifted from monasteries and convents to urban
workshops operated by laymen who employed specialists with various skills.
The painted illustrations (“illuminations”) reflect contemporary
stained-glass window designs and architectural elements.
Geometry played both a symbolic and a practical role in Gothic art and
architecture. Gothic architects based their designs on the art of geometry.
Villard de Honnecourt’s personal sketchbook demonstrates the value of
the art of geometry.
God as architect of the worldfolio 1 verso of a moralized Bible
from Paris, France
ca. 1220-1230ink, tempera and gold leaf on vellum
13 1/2 x 8 1/4 in.
Blanche of Castille, Louis IX and two monks
dedication page (folio 8 recto)
of a moralized Bible
from Paris, France
1226-1234ink, tempera and gold leaf on vellum
15 x 10 1/2 in.
The dedication page of a moralized Bible shows Blanche of Castile and her
son Louis enthroned beneath triple-lobed arches and miniature cityscapes
that are reminiscent of the architectural canopies above the heads of
contemporaneous French portal statues. Below, a monk dictates a sacred text to a scribe. Such books were produced in the workshops in which worked many
specialized artists, scribes, and assistants.
Abraham and the Three Angels
folio 7 verso of the Psalter of Saint Louis
from Paris, France
1253-1270ink, tempera and gold leaf on vellum
5 x 3 1/2 in.
The radiance of stained glass probably inspired the glowing
color of the Psalter of Saint Louis. The painted architectural
setting reflects the design of royal buildings such as Sainte-
Chapelle. The elegant proportions, facial expressions,
theatrical gestures, and swaying poses of the painted
figures are characteristic of the mannered Parisian court style
Master Honoré
David anointed by Samuel and battle of David and Goliath
folio 7 verso of the Breviary of Phillipe le Bel
from Paris, France
1296ink and tempera on vellum
7 7/8 x 4 7/8 in.
The delicate hands and gestures and the elegant swaying postures of
figures in a breviary illuminated by Master Honoré are typical of
Parisian painting of this time. Master Honoré gives his figures a naturalistic sculptural volume but they are not illusionistically three-
dimensional.
Jean Pucelle
David before Saul folio 24 verso
of the Belleville Breviary
from Paris, France
1325ink and tempera on vellum
9 1/2 x 6 3/4 in.
The decorated text page in the Belleville Breviary by Jean
Pucelle shows fully modeled figures in three-dimensional
architectural settings rendered in convincing
perspective. The plants, animals, and insects are
based upon a close observation of the natural
world.
Virgin of Jeanne d’Evreaux
from the abbey church of Saint-Denis
Saint-Denis, France
1339silver gilt and enamel
27 1/2 in. high
A virgin for Saint-Denis: Elegant proportions, a
swaying posture, heavy drapery folds, and intimate human
characterizations are seen in the silver-gilt
figurine (and reliquary) of the Virgin of Jeanne
d’Evreux.
The Castle of Love and knights
jousting
lid of a jewelry casket
from Paris, France
ca. 1330-1350ivory and iron
4 1/2 x 9 3/4 in.
Among the luxury objects produced at this time is a woman’s jewelry box adorned with ivory relief panels illustrating a
theme related to the Romance of the Rose. On the sides of the casket is depicted the legend of the unicorn, a medieval
allegory of female virtue.
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury, England
1220-1258; west façade completed 1265; spire ca. 1320-1330
In the second half of the 13th century, many architects throughout Western Europe
reconstructed or reconstructed churches opre francigeno (in the French manner) - that is, in
the Gothic style of France. The structures were usually modified, however, according to
local preferences.
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury, England
1220-1258
In contrast to French desire for vertical
height, English Gothic architecture at first is
characterized by an emphasis on
horizontality with a wide and squat façade
and a long rectilinear plan. In Salisbury
Cathedral, the light stone of the walls and vaults contrasts with
the dark Purbeck marble used for the
triforium moldings and corbels, compound pier
responds, and other details.
Nave of Salisbury
Cathedral
Salisbury, England
1220-1258
Nave of Salisbury
Cathedral
Salisbury, England
1220-1258
Cloister
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury, England
1220-1258
Choir of Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester, England
1332-1357
Over time, the surfaces of piers, walls, and vaults are covered with
increasingly complex decorative patterns (the Decorated Style),
which developed into a style with a pronounced emphasis on the vertical
(the Perpendicular Style).
Tomb of Edward II
Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester, England
ca. 1330-1335
Henry VII's chapel also housed the king's tomb in the form of a large
stone coffin with sculpted portraits of Henry and his queen, Elizabeth of
York, lying on their backs. This type of tomb is familiar in the churches of
Late Gothic England.
A freestanding tomb in Gloucester Cathedral shows the recumbent
figure of Edward II. A Perpendicular Gothic canopy encases the coffin
with delicate alabaster and Purbeck marble gables, buttresses, and pinnacles. The ogee arches are characteristic the Late Gothic.
Chapel of Henry VIIWestminster Abbey
London, England | 1503-1519
The Chapel of Henry VII adjoining Westminster Abbey in London shows the uniquely English "fan vault" comprised of large hanging pendants or cones hanging down from the ceiling and decorated with intricate tracery.
Gerhard of Cologne
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne, Germany
begun 1248
Cologne is the largest cathedral in northern
Europe. The 14th-century choir has
double lancets in the triforium, tall single
windows in the clerestory above, and
an arcade below.
Gerhard of Cologne
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne, Germany
begun 1248
Gerhard of Cologne
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne, Germany
begun 1248
Saint Elizabeth
Marburg, Germany
1235-1283
nave of Saint Elizabeth
Marburg, Germany
1235-1283
In a "hall church" (Hallenkirche), the
nave and aisles are the same height. The
design is more unified and allows more light to enter the interior.
Death of the Virgintympanum of left doorway, south transeptStrasbourg Cathedral
Strasbourg, France | ca. 1230
Eckehard and Utastatues in the west choir
Naumburg Cathedral
Naumburg, Germany
ca. 1249-1255painted limestone
6 ft. 2 in. high
Bamberg Riderstatue in the east choir
Bamberg Cathedral
Bamberg, Germany
ca. 1235-1240sandstone
7 ft. 9 in. high
Virgin with the Dead Christ
Röttgen Pietà
from the Rhineland, Germany
ca. 1300-1325painted wood
2 ft. 10 1/2 in. high
Arm Reliquary of Charlemagne
from Aachen, Germany
1481gilt silver and enamel
85 cm high
Nicholas of Verdun
Klosterneuburg Altar
from the abbey church at Klosterneuburg, Austria
1181 | gilded copper and enamel | 3 ft. 6 3/4 in. high
Nicholas of Verdun
Klosterneuburg Altar
from the abbey church at Klosterneuburg, Austria
1181gilded copper and enamel3 ft. 6 3/4 in. high overall
Nicholas of Verdun
Shrine of the Three Kings
from Cologne Cathedral Cologne, Germany
ca. 1190silver, bronze, enamel and gemstones
5 ft. 8 in. x 6 ft. x 3 ft. 8 in.
Milan Cathedral
Milan, Italy
begun 1386
Cimabue
Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets
ca. 1280-1290tempera on wood
12 ft. 7 in. x 7 ft. 4 in.
Giotto di Bondoone
Madonna Enthroned
ca. 1310tempera on wood
10 ft. 8 in. x 6 ft. 8 in.
Duccio di Buoninsegna
Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saintsfrom the Maestà altarpiece
from Siena Cathedral, Siena, Italy
1308-1311 | tempera on wood | 7 ft. x 13 ft.
Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi
Annunciation
1333tempera and gold leaf on
wood10 ft.1 in. x 8 ft. 8 3/4 in.
Claus Sluter
Well of Moses
Chartreuse de Champmol, Dijon, France
1395-1406stone
figures approximately 6 ft. high
Limbourg Brothers
May from Les Très Riches Heures
du Duc de Berry
1413-1416ink, tempera and gold leaf on vellum
8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.
Richard de Bello(?)
Mappamundi of Henry III
ca. 1277-1289tempera on vellum
5 ft. 2 in. x 4 ft. 4 in.
Sources
• http://www.wadsworth.com/art_d/templates/student_resources/0155050907_kleiner/studyguide/ch18/ch18_1.html
• http://websites.swlearning.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0155050907&discipline_number=436
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_art • Art Through the Ages, 12th/11th ed., Gardner