Comparison and Contrast of Two Gothic Cathedrals Essay

In this excerpt, von Simson looks at how the writings of intellectuals influenced the development of Gothic architecture. He begins by looking at the writings of St. Augustine and his love for music and how the importance of measurement found in music also applies to architecture. He then goes on to address two important schools of thought that influenced the formation of the Gothic style: The Platonists with their focus on cosmology, and the monks at Clairvaux, including St. Bernard, who focused on spirituality. In this section, von Simson focuses on the former and the connection between the cosmos and the Gothic cathedral. He argues that these medieval scholars saw God as an architect and the cosmos as his cathedral. In his study of both St. Augustine and the Plantonists, von Simson works to identify the ways in which these intellectual schools of thought influenced Gothic architecture.

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

walls, there are paintings of the Life of the Virgin. On the bottom of the walls there are images of the seven ecumenical councils. The song “The Last Judgement” is painted on the west wall. Numerous figures of martyrs are painted on the pillars, and there are also many icons. There used to be an icon of “Our Lady of Vladimir,” but later on the icon was moved to St. Basil’s Cathedral so it wouldn’t be stolen because it was so expensive. There are icons of the Virgin Hodegetria, Saint George, Trinity. There is a large iconostasis, which is a screen bearing icon that separates the sanctuary from the nave, that occupies the whole wide wall of the cathedral.

The time period between 400 AD and 1400 AD was not a Dark Age for Europe and not a time of cultural decay and decline. It was not a Dark Age for the following reasons: Cathedrale Notre Dame’s construction, the laws of currency that were established, and how Europe prospered during this time period. Cathedrale Notre Dame’s construction showed how far culturally Europe got by the late Middle Ages. “Common features of gothic Cathedrals included architectural innovations. (Document G: Gothic Cathedrals)” This piece of text shows me that Europe developed their architectural design; gothic architecture which originated in France.

Much of the architecture in the Romanesque era evolved into Gothic architecture. The Gothic era ran from the 12th century into the 16th century. There wasn’t necessarily a clean break from Romanesque to Gothic styles of architecture, but rather a gradual shift in design. The main characteristics of Gothic architecture are the pointed ribbed vaults and arches, flying buttresses and, in place of solid walls, a cluster of columns. Due to the vertical emphasis of the design, the archways could be redesigned and stretched or pointed. Four main Figure 5 – The depressed arch supported by fan vaulting at King’s College Chapel, England.

Religion has always been a part of our identity. Today, the population wander around the world seeing these wonderful churches and religious buildings all around us. The architectural style of the Middle Ages was very prominent: high stone vaults, internal elevations of multiple stories, rounded arches, and thick walls. This was characterized as Romanesque architecture. Suger revolutionized everything. He reworked these ideas and introduced, to the world, what is now known as the Gothic architectural style.

These buildings would be the largest buildings that humans would admire for a long period. Gothic Architecture is mainly relating to cathedrals and churches from that time. The majestic building is very powerful when it comes to feelings and emotions.

It is the home of the Cathedral clergy and others associated with its life, and of the

Gothic architecture a new style developing from an old style of architecture with similar characteristics and in a way different. Architects wanted to build bigger buildings with stronger walls something that could not be found elsewhere. The old buildings did not have windows they were dark places that in order to get light they needed many candles. Not even the candles could give the right amount of light the buildings needed. The middle ages architects wanted big windows on the buildings and this new style made their wish come true. Architecture during the Middle Ages became a new style with new problems to solve and a new kind of extraordinary buildings to build.

The Gothic style, dating between the 12th century and 16th century, began in France and eventually spread throughout the rest of Europe. An example of the first true Gothic church was St. Denis of Paris. Now, it is considered one of our finest artistic periods, but at the time, the term “gothic” did not exactly hold the same meaning it does today. The name came from the Goths and was used rather negatively when describing this style of architecture as they considered it to be similar to the works of the barbarians from which the name was derived.

Abbot Suger called his architecture modern; however, critics scoffed at this and named it after barbarians named The Goths. This is where the Gothic name originates. To Suger, he thought of light as a symbol for God and the more light he brought in meant the closer he could bring people to God. Suger incopateres light as a building material. The Gothic Style implemented huge walls of glass to bring in copious amounts of light

Lecture on early Gothic architecture will begin with a look at Topic 3 on the Royal Portals of the Chartres Cathedral. The cathedral is one of the most magnificent pieces of Gothic architecture located in France and built around 1145. The Royal Portals portray the designs of sculptor, Abbot Suger, who was commissioned for the west façade of The Abbey Church. His sculpture depicts the Christian universe with statues of Old Testament kings, queens, and prophets. The column figures stand tall decorating the jambs of doorways. The Chartres Cathedral used this design in the Royal Portals in honor of Our Lady, the Virgin Mary to declare the importance of Christ (Kleiner 189-190). In this course, we will learn about Gothic architecture by examining

The cathedral has a ninety-two-foot-long nave and short transepts to the south and north. The east end is round. Since this building was made very tall in order to been seen from miles away, they use flying buttresses and ribbed vaults to help support the buildings walls. This skeletal system of supported allowed for large spaces of the cathedral to be free to put in stained-glass work. This stained-glass work is also said to be one of the most complete collections of medieval stained glass in the world. The cathedral has three large rose windows and the doors and porches have medieval carvings of statues. The statues were based on figures from the Old Testament, but some also regarded images of current kings and queens. Having their statues

The Gothic style was an over exaggerated, awe-inspiring attempt to become closer to God. The worshipper was not only drawn to the altar, but experienced an ascent to heaven at the same time.1 These artistic gems are a grand testament to historical technology and the imaginative approach and vision of skilled craftsmen. The gothic style is one of the most

Gothic architecture began in the 12th century and continued well into the 16th century as an attempt to reconcile Christian theology with Greek philosophy. Gothic architecture was deeply rooted in the previous architectural genre, the Romanesque, but architects this time around no longer desired to recapture the ‘classical’ and ‘antique’. If we focus on the Gothic cathedral, we’ll find that a Gothic cathedral had a unified and unbroken space that included the apse, rather than separating them like the Romanesque architects did. The main characteristics of Gothic style cathedrals included the groin-vault. Barrel-vaults had become too difficult to make and too heavy to install and so the Gothic architects decided to pull away from them and utilize groin-vaults instead. The ribs in the groin-vaults were conveniently aligned to form a diamond pattern on the ceilings. Atop these vaults was the second main characteristic of