Gothic Flashcards
Abbey Church of Saint Denis
This monastery had been founded in the fifth century over the tomb of St. Denis, the Early Christian martyr who had been sent from Rome to convert the local pagan population, becoming the first bishop of Paris
“Once the new rear part is joined to the part in front, the church shines with its middle part brightened. For bright is that which is brightly coupled with the bright, and bright is the noble edifice which is pervaded by the new light.”
The revolutionary stained-glass windows of Suger’s Saint-Denis were almost lost in the wake of the French Revolution, when this royal abbey represented everything the new leaders were intent on suppressing
Chartres Cathedral France. West facade begun c. 1134; cathedral rebuilt after a fire in
1194; building continued to 1260; north spire 1507-1513.
Chartres Cathedral is considered one of the best preserved Gothic cathedrals
It’s known for its architectural innovations, sculptures, and stained glass
In the Middle Ages, pilgrims traveled to the cathedral, including many who were seeking a cure for their illnesses
Preserves an early sculptural program created within a decade of the reconstruction of Saint-Denis
The new Gothic conceptions of space and wall and the structural techniques that made them possible were developed further at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres
Chartres was the site of a pre-Christian virgin-goddess cult, and later, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, it became one of the oldest and most important Christian shrines in France
ROSE WINDOW AND
LANCETS, NORTH
TRANSEPT, CHARTRES
CATHEDRAL
c. 1230-1235. Stained and
painted glass.
In the clerestory windows, the Chartres glass painters mainly used large-scale single figures that could be seen at a distance because of their size, bold drawing, and strong colors. Iconic ensembles were easier to “read” in lofty openings more removed from viewers, such as the huge north transept ROSE WINDOW (FIG. 17–11), which is over 42 feet in diameter
Depicts the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies through Mary
The central panel shows Jesus Christ as a child with Mary
The central lancet shows Saint Anne
The other lancets show kings from the Old Testament, including Saul, David, and Solomon
Villard de Honnecourt DRAWINGS OF THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR ELEVATION OF THE NAVE OF REIMS CATHEDRAL
Villard seems simply to have drawn those things that interested him—animals, insects, human beings, church furnishings, buildings, and construction devices (FIG. 17–17). Although the majority of his drawings have nothing to do with architecture, his renderings of aspects of Gothic buildings have received the most attention since the book was rediscovered in the mid nineteenth century and have led to a widespread belief that he was an architect or master mason
St. Maurice
The Egyptian Maurice, a commander in the Roman army, was martyred together with his Christian battalion while they were stationed in Germany
He remained a favorite saint of military aristocrats. This is the first surviving representation of Maurice as a black African, an acknowledgment of his Egyptian origins and an aspect of the growing German interest in realism, which extends here to the detailed rendering of his costume of chain mail and riveted leather
