Appreciating a Gothic Cathedral: Milan Cathedral

Ziggy Marley once said, “God is like the sun. When the sun shines, it shines for everyone. God is for everyone.” In the same way, Abbot Suger built the Basilica of St. Denis so that sunlight would flood throughout the building and symbolize the power of God inviting visitors into the cathedral. The Basilica of St. Denis was an artistic response to the rise of the Catholic Church’s power for it was modeled to be a physical representation of heaven, which the church heavily preached upon. (Thesis) As the basilica represented the shift from Romanesque architecture to Gothic, Abbot Suger introduced new techniques that transformed cathedrals to look more spacious and “heavenly”. (Map Statement #1-Art History) By allowing sunlight to come

The Gothic period, by and large set between the twelfth and fifteenth hundreds of years in Europe, was described by religious workmanship with an attention on design. The Renaissance period, which covers the Gothic period in right on time years, is for the most part considered to have spread over from the late fourteenth century to the seventeenth century, and enormously extended the degree and topic of craftsmanship. In spite of the fact that these two periods have some normal qualities, the Gothic and Renaissance periods have altogether different purposes of core interest.

Florence is home to many wonderful painters and artists during the renaissance. The one who did the ceiling of the cathedral that is shown is Giorgio Vasari. he was a renaissance painter, architect, and author. This artifact shows how extravagant they had gotten with their art, using perspective, shading and the influences of humanism to paint. This shows the true art of this time period.

The Middle Ages, also known as the Medieval era, though scarred with a history of violence and war, has given the world some of the most marvelous and beautiful pieces of art, particularly in architecture. The Middle Ages is the name given to the time period from the late 5th century to the 15th century, particular to European history. The construction of these types of buildings was a constant for various cultures for a thousand years. They can be categorized into three phases; Pre-Romanesque, Romanesque and Gothic. The most important buildings during medieval times were religious, defensive and governmental or power related.

a. St. Peters of Rome built in Vatican City was built in Italian renaissance style.

The 12th century Gothic builders were the first to discover how to construct great buildings were their stability depended upon knowing how to transmit the thrust through specific parts of the structure, the buttresses that formed its skeletal and the ribs not upon the thickness of their walls. The result was a dynamically stable architecture capable of building

The Romanesque and Gothic architecture period both occurred during the Middle Ages with the Gothic period taking place during the later half. Gothic and Romanesque architecture were related in many ways, but they also contrasted in style too. Over time, masons began to test the waters and push the limits. They thought of new ways to add lighting and ways to allow more height to the building without it being to heavy and weak. Many of the reasons for the change in styles had a lot to do with society and the changes it faced. There was a greater intensity occurring in piety and literature. The Gothic style embodied this new urban society. Romanesque and Gothic shared similar characteristics, but Gothic architecture was a greater departure

With such support from the state and the Emperor, the church was given a massive financial support, which was invested in the building of the Basilicas. They were used to perform rituals such as worship, baptism, prayers, scripture reading, preaching and recognition of the dead and the after life. The liturgy of the early churches was very plain. They were build on a rectangular classical floor plan. The Basilica floor plan was simple; consisting of a narthex (the outside building short end), apse, transept, and aisle such formation gives the idea of building resembling to the cross. The early Christians were inspiration to represent such building to the cross. Once more this is part of the spiritual journey of Christianity. The other model was the central plan which would consist of a dome in the middle of the church. Were all the activities would take place. Like the worship and the baptismal ritual. This center plan was more common in the Eastern-Orthodox churches. This shows the heritage of Roman Christian art from the early ancestors such as the Greeks and the Middle East. A great example is the San Vitale in Ravenna which was an important Byzantine outpost in Italy. San Vitale was constructed under the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 547. This church has a domed central core which

Pantheon is a masterpiece of Roman architecture; it was a unique building that combined two different styles. Michelangelo praised it as an angel design. It becomes the object of learning of Italian architects during Renaissance. Besides, many famous artists such as Raphael were buried here, but also the kings like Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I.

Gothic was first used as a term of contempt during the late renaissance. The Goth's were barbarians- which leads to many theories as to why "Goth" was the chosen title for a style that required extreme engineering as well as technical and artistic know how. Since then vast efforts have been made to rename the style with a term that better encompasses the idea of gothic style.

After Charlemagne’s death in 814, a terrible and dark period of cultural decline and terror ensued. It took a long time for the terror to end and the conquerors of various parts of Charlemagne’s empire to come together and create conditions for peace. With that peace came the Romanesque architecture movement. Now it can be hard to distinguish what exactly Romanesque architecture was

With these great gothic style building appearing in Europe, there had to be architects behind the projects. Some of the most famous architects of the early gothic (1140-1194), high gothic (1194-1300), and late gothic (1300-1500) are, Jean D’Orbais, Jean Le Loup, Gaucher De Reims, Bernard De Soissons, and Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis. The patron, and client, for the first Gothic style building - Abbot Suger, wrote his views on the symbolism, at St. Denis, built between (1140-1144), but did not record the architect’s name. Jean D’Orbais' designed the first tracery rose window, and was a major milestone in church construction. Considering we don't

The Notre Dame Cathedral is the most visited tourist site in France, beating the Eiffel tower with 13 million visitors each year. Because it took over 300 years to build, there are many different styles of the architecture shown throughout the building(notredamecathedralparis.com). This structure shows the hardships of war and the enlightened thinking of the Renaissance. Built in 12th century France, the Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the biggest French Catholic cathedrals in France and is still functional as a regular Church(sacred-destinations.com). This gem of architecture is a true wonder and represents the sacred and hopeful times of the middle ages and the renaissance.

There were two main types of architecture during the middle ages, the Romanesque style and the Gothic style. The Romanesque period took place approximately between 1096 and 1270 (the eleventh and twelfth centuries) and the Gothic period took

This majestic cathedral decorated the land of Paris, dominating both the history of architecture as well as religion history. The cathedral still stands proudly after enduring an eventful history over many centuries. Truly a fascinating historic building to behold, ‘Our Lady of Paris’, another term for Notre-Dame of Paris, portrays many diversified characteristics which will help identify a structure as Gothic. One may lay eyes upon this building and refer it to one of Gothic’s grand structure. For many, their first concept of Gothic architecture derives from some reference to this majestic construction. In this research, I shall consider the following questions as an approach to appreciate and comprehend Notre Dame de Paris’s architectural aesthetic and value better: