Gardners Art Through the Ages 12 e Chapter

Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 12 e Chapter 18 The Age of the Great Cathedrals: Gothic Art 1

Europe About 1200 2

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. 3

The Gothic Style [1 st video] Structural and design features of a Gothic vault. – Crossed (diagonal) arches under its groins. – Gothic vaults have more thinly vaulted webs between the arches than Romanesque vaults. – The pointed arch allowed builders to make the crowns of all the vault’s arches approximately the same level, regardless of the space to be vaulted. The advantages of the pointed arch over the round arch. – The points of the arches will be at the same level as the vault’s crown. – The pointed arch allows for more flexibility in vaulting compartments of different shapes. They also require less buttressing. . 4

The Chartres Cathedral [2 nd Video] • Rectangular nave bays -- dropped alternate support system & sexpartite vaults • These changes unified the structure visually and made supporting it easier also. 5

Tympanum at Chartres [website-west] 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. . [website-west] 6

Tympanum at Chartres 7

Comparison: Chartres vs St Trophime & Notre Dame de Paris 8

Side jambs at Chartres [website-west] The figures carved on the jambs are thought to represent: Old Testament kings and queens, the royal ancestors of Christ both figuratively and literally. Transitional between Romanesque and full Gothic • They show a new naturalism, particularly in the figures’ heads, where personalized faces replace the mask-like features of Romanesque heads. • They stand out from the plane of the wall • They are treated as three-dimensional volumes so the figures move into the space of the observers. 9

Side jambs comparison St. Trophime/Chartres/St Denis 10

Chartres Windows • Gothic spiritual attitude about the light of God. – Website – early ones were Romanesque [west lancet] – Website: Design of North Rose window. – Video- windows – Windows have moved from concealing walls to replacing them. • Windows “colored light” transmitting the scriptures to those inside. 11

Chartres Windows • Tree of Jesse Window: 12

Compare Facades Reims Amiens Chartres 13

Compare Plans • Amiens: 1220 -36, Western façade - north tower in 1406 Chartres: begun in 1145 –finished 1220 Reims: end of 13 th cen. 14

Discussion Questions v What are the key architectural and decorative elements of the Gothic cathedrals? v How would you compare sculpture in the Gothic era to the earlier Romanesque sculpture? What are the reasons for the differences? v Consider a person’s reaction in 14 th-century upon viewing a Gothic cathedral for the first time. What might the reaction be to viewing an enormous building supported by glass walls? 15

Four Places to Go v v Persepolis Pantheon Ravenna Chartres [labyrinth video] 16