Medieval Monasteries and Architectural Invention Culminating in the opus modernum or “Gothic” Architecture in France

“Gothic” – opus modernum (“modern work”) or opus franceginum (“French work”)

Late Antique or Early Christian Italian Renaissance begins Architecture in the Middle Ages (400-1400) EMERGENCE OF EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURE Critiquing the Legacy of Rome Late Antique or Early Christian Carolingian Romanesque Gothic Middle Ages medieval 476 Fall of Rome c. 1400 Italian Renaissance begins

Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Cistercian order Western monasticism toward the end of the Romanesque era Benedictine order 1. 2. “What is the good of displaying all this gold in the church? You display the statue of a saint . . . and you think that the more overloaded with colors it is, the holier it is. And people throng to kiss it – and are urged to leave an offering; they pay homage to the beauty of the object more than to its holiness. . . . Oh vanity! vanity! and folly even greater than the vanity! The church sparkles and gleams on all sides, while its poor huddle in need; its stones are gilded, while its children go unclad; in it the art lovers find enough to satisfy their curiosity, while the poor find nothing there to relieve their misery.”

Fontenay Abbey, France, 12th century (1139-47) I. An alternative Romanesque ➝ the non-magnificence of Cistercian monastic architecture Fontenay Abbey, France, 12th century (1139-47)

Abbey of Cluny 1088-1130 destroyed (mostly) 1789-1823 I. A. What was the typical program of monasteries and how was Cistercian monasticism exceptional? 4. Benedictine abbey at Cluny (Fr.) 1090-1130 Cistercian abbey of Fontenay, 1139-47 The Romanesque Abbey in 12th cen. (Cluny III) Abbey of Cluny photomontage reconstituting the great basilica Cluny III 1088-1130 destroyed (mostly) 1789-1823

Benedictine abbey at Cluny Cistercian abbey of Fontenay cloister(s), refectory, chapter house, dormitory, workroom and forge Benedictine abbey at Cluny Cistercian abbey of Fontenay

Cistercian abbey of Fontenay I. A. 1. Cloister – why was the cloister the heart of a monastic community? Cistercian abbey of Fontenay

Cluniac abbey at Moissac Cistercian abbey of Fontenay I. A. 2. How was the cloister of Cluny III (Benedictine) different from that of Fontenay (Cisterician)? Cluniac abbey at Moissac Cistercian abbey of Fontenay

Benedictine abbey at Cluny Cistercian abbey of Fontenay I. B. The aesthetics of Cistercian architectural design compared with typical Romanesque magnificence? Benedictine abbey at Cluny Cistercian abbey of Fontenay

surviving Cluny transept (south arm) Cluny nave, 95' high I. B. surviving Cluny transept (south arm) Cluny nave, 95' high Cistercian abbey church of Fontenay reconstruction

I. B. transept of Fontenay

I. B. dormitory of Fontenay

Cistercian abbey church of Fontenay I. B. 2. Which of these inventions was acceptable to the Cistercian ideology at Fontenay? Cluny nave, 95' high Cistercian abbey church of Fontenay pointed barrel vault and pointed arches reconstruction

Fontenay – south flank of church I. B. 2. abbey church of Cluny III Abbey church at Cluny Fontenay – south flank of church flying buttress

by Villard de Honnecourt, 1220s/40s I. C. How was the theory of Romanesque architecture (Platonic theory) applied with rigor in Cistercian monasteries? 3. Quadrature: 1 : √2 or other methods based on manipulating the square: Fontenay Abbey Medieval architect’s sketchbook by Villard de Honnecourt, 1220s/40s

Cistercian abbey at Fontenay I. C. 5. Cistercian abbey at Fontenay

Choir of St.-Denis, Paris, France, b. 1144, Gothic II. Gothic theory of divine light: emerging Gothic architecture follows mathematical ratio theory and some faith in human senses to appreciate the splendor of the divine Choir of St.-Denis, Paris, France, b. 1144, Gothic

Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Cistercian order II. Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Cistercian order Abbot Suger of St.-Denis (1081-1151) Benedictine order “We maintain that the sacred vessels should be enhanced by outward adornment, and nowhere more than in serving the Holy Sacrifice, where inwardly all should be pure and outwardly all should be noble . . . . If, according to the word of God and the prophet’s command, the gold ves-sels, the gold phials, and the small gold mortars were used to collect the blood of goats, the calves, “What is the good of displaying all this gold in the church? You display the statue of a saint . . . and you think that the more overloaded with colors it is, the holier it is. And people throng to kiss it – and are urged to leave an offering; they pay homage to the beauty of the object more than to its holiness. . . . Oh vanity! vanity! and folly even greater than the vanity! The church sparkles and gleams on all sides, while its poor huddle in need; its stones are gilded, while its children go unclad; in it the art lovers find enough to satisfy their curiosity, while the poor find nothing there to relieve their misery.” and a red heifer, then how much more zealously shall we hold our gold vases, precious stones, and all that we value most highly in creation, in order to collect the blood of Jesus Christ.”

colored light and air in the choir of St.-Denis II. A. Abbot Suger on light: “de materialibus ad immaterialia” (“from the material to the immaterial”) colored light and air in the choir of St.-Denis

Neoplatonic theory + Theology of light that appeals to the senses II. A. Neoplatonic purity (Romanesque) Neoplatonic theory + Theology of light that appeals to the senses (Gothic) Cistercian abbey church at Fontenay Benedictine abbey church of St.-Denis

III. A. pointed arch or arc brisé (“broken arch”) = modernist characteristic III. Structure: What combination of older structural expedients made it possible for Abbot Suger to realize a new sensory-oriented, light-filled religious space? Choir of St.-Denis

III. B. rib vaults = modernist structure Choir of St.-Denis

rib vaults facilitate vaulting irregular bay shapes III. B. Choir of St.-Denis rib vaults facilitate vaulting irregular bay shapes

pointed arches and rib vaults Gothic pointed arches and rib vaults III. B. Romanesque pointed arches and rib vaults Gothic pointed arches and rib vaults Durham Cathedral, 1093 Cluny III, 1088 Not brand new technologies at St.-Denis St.-Étienne at Caen, 1120 Fontenay Abbey, 1139

III. C. How is Abbot Suger’s choir at St III. C. How is Abbot Suger’s choir at St.-Denis, then, a new style of architecture (Gothic)? Choir of St.-Denis

HISTORICIST tendencies (classicizing, legitimized by precedent) III. C. HISTORICIST tendencies (classicizing, legitimized by precedent) New MODERNIST tendencies (anti-classical, forward-moving) standard basilical profile complex, towered profile complex, towered profile structural ponderance skeletal frame skeletal frame wall as a 3-D entity in planes walls a continuous plane OR elevational system rather than true wall OR elevational system rather than true wall classical column (pilasters, engaged columns) compound piers compound piers round arches pointed arches (“broken” arches) pointed arches (“broken” arches) punched in windows and square-headed doors walls/doors in recessed archivolts walls/doors in recessed archivolts vertical articulation in a bay system vertical articulation in a bay system horizontal continuous space load-bearing vaults rib vaults rib vaults Choir of St.-Denis (Benedictine abbey church)