artid121 - gothic art

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


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


Saint Denis, France

1140-1144

The north transept rose shows the Creation.

Ambulatory and radiating chapels


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


Saint Denis, France

1140-1144

Plan of the choirVaults of the ambulatory and radiating chapels of the choir


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.


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


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


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


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


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

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

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


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

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