High Gothic Architecture
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Transcript High Gothic Architecture
Gothic Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp
Topics
High Gothic Architecture
Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres, France
Cathedral of St. Etienne at Bourges
Cathedral at Riems
Sainte-Chappelle
Techniques of Medieval Gothic Builders
High Gothic Architecture
The introduction of the flying buttress at NotreDame, Paris integrated the three components of
Gothic architecture
Rib vaults
Flying buttress
Pointed arch
Redundant features of Romanesque architecture
were deleted from future structures
High Gothic Architecture
The High Gothic saw the erection of churches
with increasingly refined artistic and structural
features
First major monument of the High Gothic was
the Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres,
France
High Gothic Architecture
Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres, France
Flying buttresses were planned from the start so that
galleries over the aisles could be eliminated
The site had long been sacred to the Virgin Mary
The cathedral was believed to have housed a tunic worn
by Mary
Became a center of pilgrimage for Christians
High Gothic Architecture
Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres, France
1194
Fire destroyed the wooden roof of the basilica
Bishop of Pisa declared that it was sign
Ordered the construction of a larger church at the cathedral
Gothic cathedral at Chartres was built in a span of
about twenty-six years (1194 – 1220)
Completed cathedral glows inside with a wonderful
luminosity
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Cathedral of St. Etienne at Bourges
Illustrates a contrasting design approach to that in
Chartres
Many cathedrals in northern Spain are based upon
this structure
Builders wanted to dramatize the sense of verticality
and light
Elevated its vaults 113-ft over a 53-ft nave
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Cathedral at Riems
Begun in 1211 after fire had destrued the previous
structure
Based on Chartres
Features a greater sensation of height by adjusting the
proportions of the nave
Most glorious view is from it west front
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Amiens Cathedral
The tallest completed French Gothic church
Begun in 1220 and finished by 1269
Scale is truly gigantic
Portals dwarf the worshiper
Rose window is dwarfed by the immense façade
The aisle vaults rise some 60-ft from the inside
The glass creates the sensation of being within a
huge fragile cage
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Sainte-Chappelle, Paris
Built to house relics King Louis IX had acquired
from Constantinople
Included the Crown of Thorns and a piece of the True
Cross
Two levels
Ground floor chapel for use by household servants
Upper chapel surrounded by stained glass lancet windows
For use by the royal family
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Techniques of Medieval Gothic builders
Notebook of Villard de Honnecourt
Contains a wide range of observations and drawings
Geometry problems and their solutions
Timber roof trusses
Sculpture and carved ornament
Nature sketches
Church plans
High Gothic Architecture
Techniques of Medieval Gothic builders
Geometry was the theoretical core of medieval
architecture
Masons established basic building dimensions by a
module, and derived all other measurements through the
manipulation of compass and straightedge
Masons’ secrets were no more than plane geometry and
the use of triangles, squares, pentagons, and other figures
to generate proportional lines
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
High Gothic Architecture
Photo: Sullivan
References
Sullivan, Mary; http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/
http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/Cities/wld/wdpt1.html
Trachtenburg/Hyman; Architecture: From Prehistory to
Postmodernity
Wodehouse/Moffett; A History of Western Architecture
Gothic Architecture
Architectural History
ACT 322
Doris Kemp