The French Gothic Cathedral

Chartres Cathedral (Nôtre-Dame de Chartres), France

Chartres Cathedral (Nôtre-Dame), Chartres, France, 1194-1221

Chartres Cathedral – façade (west) Chartres Cathedral – Royal Portal (façade portal) (late Romanesque 1130s)

Ascension Christ in Majesty Virgin portal (incarnation)

(figures early Gothic 1145-55)

Chartres Cathedral – south transept portal – three portals dedicated Last Judgment theme(High Gothic 1205-40)

Nôtre-Dame, Parisb. 1150-55, nave 1170-80, extensive rebuilding in 1220s, transept 1240s-50s

façade 1200-45

Nôtre-Dame, Paris, 1150-55, 1220s

I. The “modernist” Gothic technological revolution in large congregational basilicas (Gothic cathedrals)

Île-de-France

Nôtre-Dame, Laon, 1150s-1205

After St.-Denis’ Choir: Early Gothic Cathedrals

Nôtre-Dame – flying buttresses against nave elevation

I. A. Flying buttresses 1. Why are flying buttresses needed at ever higher heights to buttress nave vaults?

early flying buttresses at Laon too

Laon Cathedral – nave elevation & section

solid quadrant arch under roof of gallery

I. A. 1.

flying buttress

Chartres CathedralI. A. 1.

Chartres CathedralI. C. 5. a.

I. C. 5. a.

Chartres Cathedral

113'

I. A. 2. Why is the uppermost flyer necessary?

Chartres Cathedral

113'

Unplanned upper flyer added at Chartres Cathedral

I. A. 2.

Nôtre-Dame, Paris Laon Cathedral

II. Aesthetics: Beyond structure – three aesthetic qualities that urban patrons wanted to see combined in the novel (“modernist”) sacred spaces of Gothic cathedrals?

Early Gothic trends

Chartres Cathedral

II.

fuller spatial unity + greater illumination + increased height 12.

Gothic Chartres Cathedral

II. A. Spatial unity 1. How does the exterior massing contribute to a unified appearance?

Romanesque Speyer Cathedral

II. A. 2. From the Romanesque to the Gothic, how does the basilical plan change to create greater spatial unity?

Chartres CathedralRomanesque (1000’s) vs. Gothic (1194-1221)

Shrinking of transept and radiating chapels

Romanes

que

Gothic

II. A. 2.

Chartres CathedralNôtre-Dame

5-aisle basilica

Romanesque pilgrimage church Gothic cathedrals

II. A. 3. How does pointed arch allow for greater spatial unity?

quadripartite rib vaults (Chartres)

transverse ribs

side ribs

diagonal ribs

quadripartite rib vaults (Chartres)

Uniform apex height of the transverse, side, and diagonal ribs

Pointed arches make spatial unity possibleAll round arches do not

II. A. 3.

Gothicquadripartite vault w/ pointed arches

Romanesquegroin vault with round arches

Speyer Cathedral Chartres Cathedral

II. A. 3.

Chartres Cathedral

walls can be thin or simply glazed

B & C. Height and light: How do the three structural expedients – rib vaulting, pointed arch, and flying buttresses combine to make a soaring, diaphanous, luminous Gothic space possible?

II. B. & C.

windows can be wider

Chartres Cathedral

pier-to-pier windows

tribune gallery supports nave vault

no tribune gallery +high clerestorey ↓ flying buttresses essential to support nave vault

Chartres Cathedral

Romanesque Early Gothic High Gothic

II. B. & C. 1. How did the desire for larger clerestory windows eliminate the tribune gallery

1 : 1

windows become longer

Chartres Cathedral, south flank

II. B. & C. 1.

Clerestory windows are longer – Light enters through full length & width of windows.

early Gothic high Gothic

II. B. & C. 1.

triforium

The triforium on interior enlivens the dead zone where the pent roof is

II. B. & C. 1.

Pent roof protects aisle vaults

Chartres Cathedral

Chartres Cathedral

1 : 1

II. B. & C. 2. What are the three parts of the classic High Gothic nave elevation which results from lengthening the clerestory windows?

1.

2.

3.

III. Context: The Gothic cathedral as a turning point in architectural history

Chartres CathedralFrench Royal domain – birthplace of Gothic

Chartres ○

Chartres Cathedral - Royal Portal

center portal Old Testament kings and queens

III. A. Why was this novel kind of sacred architecture created first in cities, not at rural pilgrimage churches or monasteries?

cities and royalty

III. A.

Chartres Cathedral

center portal center portal

West Portal (Royal Portal), 1130s-50 South Portal, 1212-20

St.-Denis, Paris – façade

Chartres Cathedral – façade

Gate in a medieval city wall

III. A.

The Cathedral as Heavenly Jerusalem (Kingdom of Heaven)

a dog gargoyle at Chartresa beastie at Chartresa beastie at Notre-Dame, ParisIII. A.

GothicChartres Cathedral

RomanesqueSte.-Foy (abbey pilgrimage church)

12th-13th-century Urbanization - cities as centers for royal courts - home to elite merchant classes

11th century Creativity in rural abbeys - pilgrimage trade

Intellectually appreciated geometries represent divine truth

Appreciation of - worldly goods - human senses and knowledge

Plato: Neoplatonic philosophy Aristotle’s natural sciences

III. B. How do cathedrals express the mentality and contributions of an urban middle class?

III. B.

Drapers, bankers, wine makers, and bakers represented in the stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral

Chartres Cathedral

Chartres Cathedral radiating spokes between flyers Cult of the Carts – civic involvement

III. B.

III. B.

Chartres: labyrinth design in pavement Amiens Cathedral: symbols of individual architects in the maze

Daedalus – creator of the first labyrinth, first architect in Greek mythology