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

2. Europe About 1200

3. 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.

4. TOPICS: French Gothic
Cultural & religious changes in relation to Gothic cathedral architecture.
Gothic cathedral architecture – terms
St. Denis
Chartres
Laon/Reims
Amiens
Conclusion

5. NAMES & TERMS: French Gothic I
Abbot Suger: Rebuilt the monastery of Saint-Denis in a style that would become known as Early Gothic, with an emphasis on light and costly furnishings. He regarded a lavish investment in art as a spiritual aid, not as an undesirable distraction as did Bernard of Clairvaux. He became the right-hand man of Louis VI and Louis VII and served as regent of France during the Second Crusade.
Crenellations: Alternating solid merlons and open crenels in the notched tops of walls, as in battlements.
Keep: A fortified tower in a castle that served as a place of last refuge.
Ramparts: Defensive wall circuits.

6. NAMES & TERMS: French Gothic II
Saint Thomas Aquinas:
The greatest exponent of Scholasticism, an Italian monk who wrote the Summa Theologica, a model of the Scholastic approach to knowledge. He set forth five ways to prove the existence of God through rational argument.
Scholasticism:
The philosophy originating in the Cathedral School of Paris during the Gothic era. Using Aristotle’s system of rational inquiry, Schoolmen sought to demonstrate that reason alone could lead to certain truths.

7. Abbott Suger and the Gothic Style
Basilique Saint-Denis originated as a small chapel at the graveyard of Saint Denis in the 5th cen..
After the 7th cen., Basilique Saint-Denis became the royal abbey church.
The third Basilique Saint-Denis was rebuilt in 775 of Carolingian era.
Abbot Suger ( ) began to reconstruct the church in 1137, completed the west facade and narthex in the 1140 and completed the choir in He continued to reconstruct the nave but he died in 1151 before finished it.
Viollet-le-Duc (Eugene Emmanuel, ) repaired from 1836 to 1846.

8. Abbott Suger and the Gothic Style
Many elements of the Gothic style are found at Saint-Denis.
Most important are the structural innovations, such as cross rib vault and flying buttresses.
But cross rib vaults were found before Saint-Denis and flying buttresses were perfected later. .
Saint-Denis was a beginning of the “luminous choir” by Suger, a symbol of the grace of God.
The 3 features of the new choir at St. Denis as described by Abbot Suger that are characteristic of the new Gothic style.
rib vaults
pointed arches
stained glass windows

9. Gothic vs Romanesque

10. Choir at St Denis

11. St Denis

12. St Denis

13. St Denis

14. St Denis

15. St Denis

16. St Denis
François Ier
Unknown princess

17. St Denis: Restoration

18. Tympanum at Chartres
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.

19. Tympanum at Chartres

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