At the Abbey ofSaint-Denis, near Paris, the choir was reconstructed between 1140 and 1144, drawing together for the first time the developing Gothic architectural features. In doing so, a new architectural style emerged that emphasized verticality and the effect created by the transmission of light throughstained glass windows.[5]
With the development of Renaissance architecture in Italy during the mid-15th century, the Gothic style was supplanted by the new style, but in some regions, notably England and what is now Belgium, Gothic continued to flourish and develop into the 16th century. A series ofGothic revivals began in mid-18th centuryEngland, spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for churches and university buildings, into the 20th century.
Medieval contemporaries characterised the style inLatin asopus Francigenum ("French work" or "Frankish work"), asopus modernum ("modern work"), or asnovum opus ("new work").Italian-speakers could call itmaniera tedesca ("German style").[6][7]
The term "Gothic architecture" originated as apejorative description.Giorgio Vasari used the term "barbarous German style" in hisLives of the Artists (1550) to describe what is now considered the Gothic style,[8] and in the introduction to theLives he attributes various architectural features to theGoths, whom he held responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conquered Rome, and for erecting new ones in this style.[9] When Vasari wrote, Italy had experienced a century of building in theVitruvian architectural vocabulary ofclassical orders revived in theRenaissance and seen as evidence of a newGolden Age of learning and refinement. Thus the Gothic style, being in opposition to classical architecture, from that point of view was associated with the destruction of progress and of sophistication.[10] The assumption that classical architecture was better than Gothic architecture was widespread and proved difficult to counter.[11] Vasari was echoed in the 16th century byFrançois Rabelais, who referred to "Gotz" and "Ostrogotz".[12][13]
The polymath architectChristopher Wren (1632–1723) disapproved of the label "Gothic" for pointed architecture. He compared it toIslamic architecture, which he called the "Saracen style", pointing out that the pointed arch's sophistication was not owed to the Goths but to theIslamic Golden Age. He wrote:[14]
This we now call the Gothic manner of architecture (so the Italians called what was not after the Roman style) though the Goths were rather destroyers than builders; I think it should with more reason be called the Saracen style, for these people wanted neither arts nor learning: and after we in the west lost both, we borrowed again from them, out of their Arabic books, what they with great diligence had translated from the Greeks.
— Christopher Wren,Report on St Paul's
Wren was the first to popularize the belief that it was not the Europeans, but the "Saracens" who had originated the Gothic style. (The term "Saracen", still in use in the 18th century, typically referred to all Muslims, including Arabs and Berbers.) Wren mentions Europe's architectural debt to the Saracens no fewer than twelve times in his writings.[15] He also decidedly broke with tradition in his assumption that Gothic architecture did not merely represent a violent and bothersome mistake (as Vasari had suggested). Rather, Wren saw that the Gothic style had developed over time along the lines of a changing society, and that it was thus a legitimate architectural style in its own right.[16]
It was no secret that Wren strongly disliked the building practices of the Gothic style. When he was appointed Surveyor of the Fabric at Westminster Abbey in the year 1698, he expressed his distaste for the Gothic style in a letter to the Bishop of Rochester:[17]
Nothing was thought magnificent that was not high beyond Measure, with the Flutter of Arch-buttresses, so we call the sloping Arches that poise the higher Vaultings of the Nave. The Romans always concealed their Butments, whereas the Normans thought them ornamental. These I have observed are the first Things that occasion the Ruin of Cathedrals, being so much exposed to the Air and Weather; the Coping, which cannot defend them, first failing, and if they give Way, the Vault must spread. Pinnacles are no Use, and as little Ornament.
— Christopher Wren,Parentalia
The chaos of the Gothic left much to be desired in Wren's eyes. His aversion to the style was so strong that he refused to put a Gothic roof on the newSt Paul's Cathedral, despite pressure to do so.[18] Wren much preferred symmetry and straight lines in architecture, which is why he constantly praised the classic architecture of 'the Ancients' in his writings.[citation needed]
Even though he openly expressed his distaste for the Gothic style, Wren did not blame the Saracens for any apparent lack of ingenuity. Quite the opposite: he praised the Saracens for their "superior" vaulting techniques and their widespread use of the pointed arch.[19] Wren claimed the inventors of the Gothic had seen the Saracen architecture during theCrusades, also called thereligious war or "Holy War", originated in the Kingdom of France in the year 1095:
The Holy War gave the Christians, who had been there, an Idea of the Saracen Works, which were afterwards by them imitated in the West; and they refined upon it every day, as they proceeded in building Churches.
— Christopher Wren,Parentalia
Several chronological issues arise from this statement, which is one of the reasons why Wren's theory is rejected by many. The earliest examples of the pointed arch inEurope date from before theFirst Crusade of 1096–1099; this is widely regarded as proof that the Gothic style could not have possibly been derived from Saracen architecture.[20] Several authors have nevertheless claimed that the Gothic style had most likely filtered into Europe in other ways, for example through Spain or Sicily. Spanish architecture influenced by the Moors could have favoured the emergence of the Gothic style long before the Crusades took place. This could have happened gradually through merchants, travelers and pilgrims.[21]
According to a 19th-century correspondent in the London journalNotes and Queries, "Gothic" was a derisive misnomer; the pointed arcs and architecture of thelater Middle Ages differed radically from the rounded arches prevalent inlate antiquity and in the period of theOstrogothic Kingdom (493–553) in Italy:
There can be no doubt that the term 'Gothic' as applied to pointed styles of ecclesiastical architecture was used at first contemptuously, and in derision, by those who were ambitious to imitate and revive the Grecian orders of architecture, after the revival of classical literature. But, without citing many authorities, such asChristopher Wren, and others, who lent their aid in depreciating the old mediaeval style, which they termed Gothic, as synonymous with every thing that was barbarous and rude, it may be sufficient to refer to the celebrated Treatise of SirHenry Wotton, entitledThe Elements of Architecture, ... printed in London so early as 1624. ... But it was a strange misapplication of the term to use it for the pointed style, in contradistinction to the circular, formerly called Saxon, now Norman, Romanesque, &c. These latter styles, likeLombardic, Italian, and theByzantine, of course belong more to the Gothic period than the light and elegant structures of the pointed order which succeeded them.[22]
The Gothic style of architecture was strongly influenced by theRomanesque architecture which preceded it; by the growing population and wealth of European cities, and by the desire to express local grandeur.[23] It was influenced by theological doctrines which called for more light[24] and by technical improvements in vaults and buttresses that allowed much greater height and larger windows. It was also influenced by the necessity of many churches, such asChartres Cathedral andCanterbury Cathedral, to accommodate growing numbers of pilgrims.[25] It adapted features from earlier styles. According to Charles Texier and Josef Strzygowski, after lengthy research and study of churches in the medieval city ofAni, the capital of the medieval kingdom of Armenia, they believed that they had discovered the oldest Gothic arch. According to these historians, the architecture of theSaint Hripsime Church near the Armenian religious seatEtchmiadzin was built in the fourth century A.D. and was repaired in 618. The cathedral of Ani was built in 980–1012. However many of the elements of Islamic and Armenian architecture that have been cited as influences on Gothic architecture also appeared in Late Roman and Byzantine architecture, the most noticeable example being the pointed arch and flying buttress.[26] The most notable example is thecapitals, which are forerunners of the Gothic style and deviated with serpentine lines and naturalistic forms from theClassical standards of ancient Greece and Rome.
Architecture "became a leading form of artistic expression during the late Middle Ages".[27] Gothic architecture began in the earlier 12th century in northwest France and England and spread throughout Latin Europe in the 13th century. By 1300, a first "International Style" of Gothic had developed, with common design features and formal language. A second "international style" emerged by 1400, alongside innovations in England and central Europe that produced both the perpendicular and flamboyant varieties. Typically, these typologies are identified as:[27]
Norman architecture on either side of theEnglish Channel developed in parallel towardsEarly Gothic.[27] Gothic features, such as therib vault, had appeared in England, Sicily and Normandy in the 11th century.[27] Rib-vaults were employed in some parts of the cathedral atDurham (1093–)[27] and inLessay Abbey in Normandy (1098).[28] However, the first buildings to be considered fully Gothic are the royal funerary abbey of the French kings, theAbbey of Saint-Denis (1135–1144), and the archiepiscopalcathedral atSens (1135–1164). They were the first buildings to systematically combine rib vaulting, buttresses, and pointed arches.[27] Most of the characteristics of laterEarly English were already present in the lowerchevet of Saint-Denis.[1]
TheDuchy of Normandy, part of theAngevin Empire until the 13th century, developed its own version of Gothic. One of these was the Normanchevet, a small apse or chapel attached to the choir at the east end of the church, which typically had a half-dome. Thelantern tower was another common feature in Norman Gothic.[28] One example of early Norman Gothic isBayeux Cathedral (1060–1070) where the Romanesque cathedral nave and choir were rebuilt into the Gothic style.Lisieux Cathedral was begun in 1170.[29]Rouen Cathedral (begun 1185) was rebuilt from Romanesque to Gothic with distinct Norman features, including a lantern tower, deeply moulded decoration, and high pointed arcades.[30]Coutances Cathedral was remade into Gothic beginning about 1220. Its most distinctive feature is the octagonal lantern on the crossing of the transept, decorated with ornamental ribs, and surrounded by sixteen bays and sixteenlancet windows.[29]
Saint-Denis was the work of the AbbotSuger, a close adviser of KingsLouis VI andLouis VII. Suger reconstructed portions of the old Romanesque church with therib vault in order to remove walls and to make more space for windows. He described the new ambulatory as "a circular ring of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty."[31] To support the vaults he also introduced columns with capitals of carved vegetal designs, modelled upon the classical columns he had seen in Rome. In addition, he installed a circular rose window over the portal on the façade.[31] These also became a common feature of Gothic cathedrals.[31][32]
Some elements of Gothic style appeared very early in England.Durham Cathedral was the first cathedral to employ a rib vault, built between 1093 and 1104.[33] The first cathedral built entirely in the new style wasSens Cathedral, begun between 1135 and 1140 and consecrated in 1160.[34][35] Sens Cathedral features a Gothic choir, and six-part rib vaults over the nave and collateral aisles, alternating pillars and doubled columns to support the vaults, and buttresses to offset the outward thrust from the vaults. One of the builders who is believed to have worked on Sens Cathedral,William of Sens, later travelled to England and became the architect who, between 1175 and 1180, reconstructed the choir ofCanterbury Cathedral in the new Gothic style.[34]
Sens Cathedral was influential in its strongly vertical appearance and in its three-part elevation, typical of subsequent Gothic buildings, with a clerestory at the top supported by atriforium, all carried on high arcades of pointed arches.[27] In the following decades flying buttresses began to be used, allowing the construction of lighter, higher walls.[27]French Gothic churches were heavily influenced both by the ambulatory and side-chapels around the choir at Saint-Denis, and by the paired towers and triple doors on the western façade.[27]
Sens was quickly followed bySenlis Cathedral (begun 1160), andNotre-Dame de Paris (begun 1160). Their builders abandoned the traditional plans and introduced the new Gothic elements from Saint-Denis. The builders ofNotre-Dame went further by introducing the flying buttress, heavy columns of support outside the walls connected by arches to the upper walls. The buttresses counterbalanced the outward thrust from the rib vaults. This allowed the builders to construct higher, thinner walls and larger windows.[36]
Following the destruction by fire of the choir ofCanterbury Cathedral in 1174, a group of master builders was invited to propose plans for the reconstruction. The master-builderWilliam of Sens, who had worked on Sens Cathedral, won the competition.[27] Work began that same year, but in 1178 William was badly injured by falling from the scaffolding, and returned to France, where he died.[37][38] His work was continued byWilliam the Englishman who replaced his French namesake in 1178. The resulting structure of the choir ofCanterbury Cathedral is considered the first work ofEarly English Gothic.[27] The cathedral churches ofWorcester (1175–),Wells (c.1180–),Lincoln (1192–), andSalisbury (1220–) are all, with Canterbury, major examples.[27]Tiercerons – decorative vaulting ribs – seem first to have been used in vaulting at Lincoln Cathedral, installedc.1200.[27] Instead of a triforium,Early English churches usually retained a gallery.[27]
In central Europe, the High Gothic style appeared in theHoly Roman Empire, first atToul (1220–), whose Romanesque cathedral was rebuilt in the style of Reims Cathedral; thenTrier'sLiebfrauenkirche parish church (1228–), and then throughout theReich, beginning with theElisabethkirche atMarburg (1235–) and the cathedral atMetz (c.1235–).[27]
In High Gothic, the whole surface of the clerestory was given over to windows. At Chartres Cathedral,plate tracery was used for the rose window, but at Reims the bar-tracery was free-standing.[27] Lancet windows were supplanted by multiple lights separated bygeometrical bar-tracery.[1] Tracery of this kind distinguishesMiddle Pointed style from the simplerFirst Pointed.[1] Inside, the nave was divided into by regular bays, each covered by a quadripartite rib vaults.[27]
Other characteristics of the High Gothic were the development of rose windows of greater size, using bar-tracery, higher and longer flying buttresses, which could reach up to the highest windows, and walls of sculpture illustrating biblical stories filling the façade and the fronts of the transept. Reims Cathedral had two thousand three hundred statues on the front and back side of the façade.[39]
The new High Gothic churches competed to be the tallest, with increasingly ambitious structures lifting the vault yet higher. Chartres Cathedral's height of 38 m (125 ft) was exceeded by Beauvais Cathedral's 48 m (157 ft), but on account of the latter's collapse in 1248, no further attempt was made to build higher.[27] Attention turned from achieving greater height to creating more awe-inspiring decoration.[39]
Rayonnant Gothic west front Strasbourg Cathedral (1276–)
Rayonnant Gothic maximized the coverage of stained glass windows such that the walls are effectively entirely glazed; examples are the nave of Saint-Denis (1231–) and the royal chapel ofLouis IX of France on theÎle de la Cité in theSeine – theSainte-Chapelle (c.1241–1248).[27] The high and thin walls of FrenchRayonnant Gothic allowed by the flying buttresses enabled increasingly ambitious expanses of glass and decorated tracery, reinforced with ironwork.[27] Shortly after Saint-Denis, in the 1250s, Louis IX commissioned the rebuilt transepts and enormous rose windows ofNotre-Dame de Paris (1250s for the north transept, 1258 for the beginning of south transept).[40] This first 'international style' was also used in the clerestory ofMetz Cathedral (c. 1245–), then in the choir ofCologne's cathedral (c. 1250–), and again in the nave of the cathedral atStrasbourg (c. 1250–).[27] Masons elaborated a series of tracery patterns for windows – from the basicgeometrical to thereticulated and thecurvilinear – which had superseded the lancet window.[1] Bar-tracery of thecurvilinear, flowing, andreticulated types distinguishSecond Pointed style.[1]
Decorated Gothic similarly sought to emphasize the windows, but excelled in the ornamentation of their tracery. Churches with features of this style include Westminster Abbey (1245–), the cathedrals atLichfield (after 1257–) andExeter (1275–),Bath Abbey (1298–), and the retro choir atWells Cathedral (c.1320–).[27]
TheRayonnant developed its second 'international style' with increasingly autonomous and sharp-edged tracery mouldings apparent in the cathedral atClermont-Ferrand (1248–), the papal collegiate church atTroyes,Saint-Urbain (1262–), and the west façade ofStrasbourg Cathedral (1276–1439)).[27] By 1300, there were examples influenced by Strasbourg in the cathedrals ofLimoges (1273–),Regensburg (c. 1275–), and in the cathedral nave atYork (1292–).[27]
Flamboyant Gothic east end, Prague Cathedral (1344–)Perpendicular Gothic east end, Henry VII Chapel (c. 1503–1512)
Central Europe began to lead the emergence of a new, internationalflamboyant style with the construction of a new cathedral atPrague (1344–) under the direction ofPeter Parler.[27] This model of rich and variegated tracery and intricate reticulated rib-vaulting was definitive in theLate Gothic of continental Europe, emulated not only by the collegiate churches and cathedrals, but by urban parish churches which rivalled them in size and magnificence.[27] The minster atUlm and other parish churches like the Heilig-Kreuz-Münster atSchwäbisch Gmünd (c.1320–),St Barbara's Church atKutná Hora (1389–), and the Heilig-Geist-Kirche (1407–) andSt Martin's Church (c.1385–) inLandshut are typical.[27] Use ofogees was especially common.[1]
Theflamboyant style was characterised by the multiplication of the ribs of the vaults, with new purely decorative ribs, called tiercons and liernes, and additional diagonal ribs. One common ornament offlamboyant in France is thearc-en-accolade, an arch over a window topped by a pinnacle, which was itself topped withfleuron, and flanked by other pinnacles. Examples of Frenchflamboyant building include the west façade ofRouen Cathedral, and especially the façades ofSainte-Chapelle de Vincennes (1370s) and choirMont-Saint-Michel's abbey church (1448).[36]
Lacey patterns of tracery continued to characterize continental Gothic building, with very elaborate and articulated vaulting, as at Saint Barbara's, Kutná Hora (1512).[1] In certain areas, Gothic architecture continued to be employed until the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in provincial and ecclesiastical contexts, notably atOxford.[1]
Beginning in the mid-15th century, the Gothic style gradually lost its dominance in Europe. It had never been popular in Italy, and in the mid-15th century the Italians, drawing upon ancient Roman ruins, returned to classical models. The dome ofFlorence Cathedral (1420–1436) byFilippo Brunelleschi, inspired by thePantheon, Rome, was one of the first Renaissance landmarks, but it also employed Gothic technology; the outer skin of the dome was supported by a framework of twenty-four ribs.[44] In the 16th century, asRenaissance architecture from Italy began to appear in France and other countries in Europe. The Gothic style began to be described as outdated, ugly and even barbaric. The term "Gothic" was first used as apejorative description.Giorgio Vasari used the term "barbarous German style" in his 1550Lives of the Artists to describe what is now considered the Gothic style.[45] In the introduction to theLives he attributed various architectural features to theGoths whom he held responsible for destroying the ancient buildings after they conqueredRome, and erecting new ones in this style.[46] In the 17th century,Molière also mocked the Gothic style in the 1669 poemLa Gloire: "...the insipid taste of Gothic ornamentation, these odious monstrosities of an ignorant age, produced by the torrents of barbarism..."[47] The dominant styles in Europe became in turnItalian Renaissance architecture,Baroque architecture, and the grand classicism of thestyle Louis XIV.
The Kings of France had first-hand knowledge of the new Italian style, because of the military campaign ofCharles VIII to Naples and Milan (1494), and especially the campaigns ofLouis XII andFrançois I (1500–1505) to restore French control over Milan and Genoa.[48] They brought back Italian paintings, sculpture and building plans, and, more importantly, Italian craftsmen and artists. The CardinalGeorges d'Amboise, chief minister of Louis XII, built theChateau of Gaillon near Rouen (1502–1510) with the assistance of Italian craftsmen. TheChâteau de Blois (1515–1524) introduced the Renaissanceloggia and open stairway. François I installedLeonardo da Vinci at hisChateau of Chambord in 1516, and introduced a Renaissancelong gallery at thePalace of Fontainebleau in 1528–1540. In 1546 François I began building the first example of French classicism, the square courtyard of theLouvre Palace designed byPierre Lescot.[49]
Nonetheless, new Gothic buildings, particularly churches, continued to be built. New Gothic churches built in Paris in this period includedSaint-Merri (1520–1552) andSaint-Germain l'Auxerrois. The first signs of classicism in Paris churches did not appear until 1540, atSaint-Gervais-Saint-Protais. The largest new church,Saint-Eustache (1532–1560), rivalled Notre-Dame in size, 105 m (344 ft) long, 44 m (144 ft) wide, and 35 m (115 ft) high. As construction of this church continued, elements of Renaissance decoration, including the system ofclassical orders of columns, were added to the design, making it a Gothic-Renaissance hybrid.[50]
In Germany, some Italian elements were introduced at theFugger Chapel ofSt. Anne's Church, Augsburg (1510–1512), combined with Gothic vaults; and others appeared in theChurch of St. Michael in Munich, but in Germany Renaissance elements were used primarily for decoration.[49] Some Renaissance elements also appeared in Spain, in the new palace begun by EmperorCharles V in Granada, within theAlhambra (1485–1550), inspired byBramante andRaphael, but it was never completed.[51] The first major Renaissance work in Spain wasEl Escorial, the monastery-palace built byPhilip II of Spain.[52]
UnderHenry VIII andElizabeth I, England was largely isolated from architectural developments on the continent. The first classical building in England was theOld Somerset House in London (1547–1552) (since demolished), built byEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, who was regent asLord Protector forEdward VI until the young king came of age in 1547. Somerset's successor,John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, sent the architectural scholarJohn Shute to Italy to study the style. Shute published the first book in English on classical architecture in 1570. The first English houses in the new style wereBurghley House (1550s–1580s) andLongleat, built by associates of Somerset.[53] With those buildings, a new age of architecture began in England.[54]
Gothic architecture survived theearly modern period and flourished again in a revival from the late 18th century and throughout the 19th.[1]Perpendicular was the first Gothic style revived in the 18th century.[41]
In England, partly in response to a philosophy propounded by theOxford Movement and others associated with the emerging revival of 'high church' orAnglo-Catholic ideas during the second quarter of the 19th century, neo-Gothic began to become promoted by influential establishment figures as the preferred style for ecclesiastical, civic and institutional architecture. The appeal of thisGothic Revival (which after 1837, in Britain, is sometimes termedVictorian Gothic), gradually widened to encompass "low church" as well as "high church" clients. This period of more universal appeal, spanning 1855–1885, is known in Britain asHigh Victorian Gothic.[56]
ThePalace of Westminster in London by SirCharles Barry with interiors by a major exponent of the early Gothic Revival,Augustus Welby Pugin, is an example of the Gothic revival style from its earlier period in the second quarter of the 19th century. Examples from theHigh Victorian Gothic period includeGeorge Gilbert Scott's design for theAlbert Memorial in London, andWilliam Butterfield's chapel atKeble College, Oxford. From the second half of the 19th century onwards, it became more common in Britain for neo-Gothic to be used in the design of non-ecclesiastical and non-governmental buildings types. Gothic details even began to appear in working-class housing schemes subsidised by philanthropy, though given the expense, less frequently than in the design of upper and middle-class housing.[citation needed]
The defining characteristic of the Gothic style is thepointed arch, which was widely used in both structure and decoration. The pointed arch did not originate in Gothic architecture; they had been employed for centuries in theNear East in pre-Islamic as well asIslamic architecture for arches, arcades, and ribbed vaults.[58] In Gothic architecture, particularly in the later Gothic styles, they became the most visible and characteristic element, giving a sensation of verticality and pointing upward, like the spires. Gothicrib vaults covered the nave, and pointed arches were commonly used for the arcades, windows, doorways, in thetracery, and especially in the later Gothic styles decorating the façades.[59] They were also sometimes used for more practical purposes, such as to bring transverse vaults to the same height as diagonal vaults, as in the nave and aisles ofDurham Cathedral, built in 1093.[60]
The earliest Gothic pointed arches were lancet lights orlancet windows, which are narrow windows terminating in a lancet arch. A lancet arch has a radius longer than their breadth (width) and resembles the blade of alancet.[61][62] In the 12th-centuryFirst Pointed phase of Gothic architecture (also called theLancet style) and before the introduction of tracery in the windows in later styles, lancet windows predominated Gothic building.[63]
TheFlamboyant style of Gothic architecture is particularly known for lavish pointed details such as thearc-en-accolade, where a pointed arch over a doorway was topped by a pointed sculptural ornament called afleuron and by pointed pinnacles on either side. The arches of the doorway were further decorated with small cabbage-shaped sculptures calledchou-frisés.[64]
Eastern end of Wells Cathedral (begun 1175)
West front ofReims Cathedral, pointed arches within arches (1211–1275)
The Gothicrib vault was one of the essential elements that made the great height and large windows of Gothic architecture possible.[65] Unlike the semi-circularbarrel vault ofRoman andRomanesque buildings, where the weight pressed directly downward, and required thick walls and small windows, the Gothic rib vault was made of diagonal crossing arched ribs. These ribs directed thethrust outwards to the corners of the vault, and downwards via slendercolonnettes and bundled columns, to the pillars and columns below. The space between the ribs was filled with thin panels of small pieces of stone, which were much lighter than earliergroin vaults. The outward thrust against the walls was countered by the weight ofbuttresses and laterflying buttresses. As a result, the massive, thick walls of Romanesque buildings were no longer needed, as since the vaults were supported by columns andpiers, the walls could be made thinner and higher, and filled with windows.[66][34][67]
The earlier Gothic rib vaults, used atSens Cathedral (begun between 1135 and 1140) andNotre-Dame de Paris (begun 1163), were divided by the ribs into six compartments. They were very difficult to build and could only cross a limited space. Since each vault covered two bays, they needed support on the ground floor fromalternating columns and piers. In later construction, the design was simplified, and the rib vaults were divided into only four compartments. The alternating rows of alternating columns and piers receiving the vaults' weight were replaced by simple pillars, each receiving the same weight. A single vault could cross the nave. This method was used atChartres Cathedral (1194–1220),Amiens Cathedral (begun 1220), andReims Cathedral.[68] The four-part vaults made it possible for taller buildings to be constructed. Notre-Dame, which had begun with six-part vaults, reached a height of 35 m (115 ft). Amiens Cathedral, which had begun with the newer four-part ribs, reached a height of 42.3 m (139 ft) at the transept.[66][69]
In France, the four-part rib vault, with two diagonals crossing at the center of the traverse, was the type used almost exclusively until the end of the Gothic period. However, in England, several imaginative new vaults were invented which had more elaborate decorative features. They became a signature of the later English Gothic styles.[70]
The first of these new vaults had an additional rib, called atierceron, which ran down the median of the vault.[71] It first appeared in the vaults of the choir ofLincoln Cathedral at the end of the 12th century, then at Worcester Cathedral in 1224, and then the south transept ofLichfield Cathedral.[70]
The 14th century brought the invention of several new types of vaults which were more and more decorative.[72] These vaults often copied the forms form of the elaborate tracery of the Late Gothic styles.[71] These included thestellar vault, where a group of additional ribs between the principal ribs forms a star design. The oldest vaults of this kind were found in the crypt of Saint Stephen atWestminster Palace, built about 1320. A second type was called a reticulated vault, which had a network of additional decorative ribs, in triangles and other geometric forms, placed between or over the traverse ribs. These were first used in the choir ofBristol Cathedral in about 1311. Another late Gothic form, thefan vault, with ribs spreading upwards and outwards, appeared later in the 14th century. An example is the cloister ofGloucester Cathedral (c. 1370).[70]
Another new form was the skeleton vault, which appeared in the EnglishDecorated style. It has an additional network of ribs, like the ribs of an umbrella, which criss-cross the vault but are only directly attached to it at certain points. It appeared in a chapel ofLincoln Cathedral in 1300.[70] and then several other English churches. This style of vault was adopted in the 14th century in particular by German architects, particularlyPeter Parler, and in other parts of central Europe. Another exists in the south porch of thePrague Cathedral[70]
Elaborate vaults also appeared in civic architecture. An example is the ceiling of theVladislav Hall inPrague Castle inBohemia designed byBenedikt Ried in 1493. The ribs twist and intertwine in fantasy patterns, which later critics called "Rococo Gothic".[73]
In early French Gothic architecture, the capitals of the columns were modeled after Roman columns of theCorinthian order, with finely-sculpted leaves. They were used in the ambulatory of the Abbey church of Saint-Denis. According to its builder, the Abbot Suger, they were inspired by the columns he had seen in the ancient baths in Rome.[31] They were used later at Sens, at Notre-Dame de Paris and at Canterbury in England.
In early Gothic churches with six-part rib vaults, the columns in the nave alternated with more massive piers to provide support for the vaults. With the introduction of the four-part rib vault, all of the piers or columns in the nave could have the same design. In the High Gothic period, a new form was introduced, composed of a central core surrounded several attached slender columns, or colonettes, going up to the vaults.[74] These clustered columns were used at Chartres, Amiens, Reims and Bourges, Westminster Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral.[75] Another variation was a quadrilobe column, shaped like a clover, formed of four attached columns.[75] In England, the clustered columns were often ornamented with stone rings, as well as columns with carved leaves.[74]
Later styles added further variations. Sometimes the piers were rectangular and fluted, as at Seville Cathedral, In England, parts of columns sometimes had contrasting colours, using combining white stone with darkPurbeck marble. In place of the Corinthian capital, some columns used a stiff-leaf design. In later Gothic, the piers became much taller, reaching up more than half of the nave. Another variation, particularly popular in eastern France, was a column without a capital, which continued upward without capitals or other interruption, all the way to the vaults, giving a dramatic display of verticality.[75]
Early Gothic – Alternating columns and piers,Sens Cathedral (12th century)
High Gothic – Clustered columns ofReims Cathedral (13th century)
Early English Gothic – Clustered columns inSalisbury Cathedral (13th century)
Perpendicular Gothic – Columns without interruption from floor to the vaults.Canterbury Cathedral nave (late 14th century).
Late Gothic - Clustered columns inCertosa di Pavia (15th century).
Post-Gothic - Columns with Renaissance capitals in the city church inBückeburg (17th century)
An important feature of Gothic architecture was theflying buttress, a half-arch outside the building which carried the thrust of weight of the roof or vaults inside over a roof or an aisle to a heavy stone column. The buttresses were placed in rows on either side of the building, and were often topped by heavy stone pinnacles, both to give extra weight and for additional decoration.[76]
Buttresses had existed since Roman times, usually set directly against the building, but the Gothic vaults were more sophisticated. In later structures, the buttresses often had several arches, each reaching in to a different level of the structure. The buttresses permitted the buildings to be both taller, and to have thinner walls, with greater space for windows.[76]
Over time, the buttresses and pinnacles became more elaborate supporting statues and other decoration, as atBeauvais Cathedral andReims Cathedral. The arches had an additional practical purpose; they contained lead channels which carried rainwater off the roof; it was expelled from the mouths of stonegargoyles placed in rows on the buttresses.[77]
Flying buttresses were used less frequently in England, where the emphasis was more on length than height. One example of English buttresses wasCanterbury Cathedral, whose choir and buttresses were rebuilt in Gothic style by William of Sens and William the Englishman.[38] However, they were very popular in Germany: inCologne Cathedral the buttresses were lavishly decorated with statuary and other ornament, and were a prominent feature of the exterior.
Canterbury Cathedral with simple wall buttresses and flying buttresses (rebuilt into Gothic 1174–1177)
East end ofLincoln Cathedral, with wall buttress, and chapter house with flying buttresses. (1185–1311)
Towers,spires andflèches were an important feature of Gothic churches. They presented a dramatic spectacle of great height, helped make their churches the tallest and most visible buildings in their city, and symbolised the aspirations of their builders toward heaven.[78] They also had a practical purpose; they often served asbell towers supportingbelfries, whose bells told the time by announcing religious services, warned of fire or enemy attack, and celebrated special occasions like military victories and coronations. Sometimes the bell tower is built separate from a church; the best-known example of this is theLeaning Tower of Pisa.[78]
The towers of cathedrals were usually the last part of the structure to be built. Since cathedral construction usually took many years, and was extremely expensive, by the time the tower were to be built public enthusiasm waned, and tastes changed. Many projected towers were never built, or were built in different styles than other parts of the cathedral, or with different styles on each level of the tower.[79] At Chartres Cathedral, the south tower was built in the 12th century, in the simpler Early Gothic, while the north tower is the more highly decoratedFlamboyant style. Chartres would have been even more exuberant if the second plan had been followed; it called for seven towers around the transept and sanctuary.[80]
In the Île-de-France, cathedral towers followed the Romanesque tradition of two identical towers, one on either side of the portals. The west front of theSaint-Denis, became the model for the early Gothic cathedrals and High Gothic cathedrals in northern France, including Notre-Dame de Paris, Reims Cathedral, and Amiens Cathedral.[81]
The early and High GothicLaon Cathedral has a squarelantern tower over the crossing of the transept; two towers on the western front; and two towers on the ends of the transepts. Laon's towers, with the exception of the central tower, are built with two stacked vaulted chambers pierced by lancet openings. The two western towers contain life-size stone statues of sixteenoxen in their upper arcades, said to honour the animals who hauled the stone during the cathedral's construction.[82]
In Normandy, cathedrals and major churches often had multiple towers, built over the centuries; theAbbaye aux Hommes (begun 1066), Caen has nine towers and spires, placed on the façade, the transepts, and the centre. Alantern tower was often placed the centre of the nave, at the meeting point with the transept, to give light to the church below.
In later periods of Gothic, pointed needle-likespires were often added to the towers, giving them much greater height. A variation of the spire was the flèche, a slender, spear-like spire, which was usually placed on the transept where it crossed the nave. They were often made of wood covered with lead or other metal. They sometimes had open frames, and were decorated with sculpture. Amiens Cathedral has a flèche. The most famous example was that of Notre-Dame de Paris. The original flèche of Notre-Dame was built on the crossing of the transept in the middle of the 13th century, and housed five bells. It was removed in 1786 during a program to modernize the cathedral, but was put back in a new form designed by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. The new flèche, of wood covered with lead, was decorated with statues of the Apostles; the figure of St Thomas resembled Viollet-le-Duc.[83] The flèche was destroyed in the2019 fire, but is now restored in the same design.
Abbaye aux Hommes, Caen (tall west towers added in the 13th century)
Towers of Chartres Cathedral;Flamboyant Gothic on left, Early Gothic on the right
The 13th century flèche of Notre Dame, recreated in the 19th century, destroyed by fire in 2019, now restored
In English Gothic, the major tower was often placed at the crossing of the transept and nave, and was much higher than the other. The most famous example is the tower ofSalisbury Cathedral, completed in 1320 by William of Farleigh. It was a remarkable feat of construction, since it was built upon the pillars of the much earlier church.[84] A crossing tower was constructed atCanterbury Cathedral in 1493–1501 byJohn Wastell, who had previously worked on King's College at Cambridge. It was finished byHenry Yevele, who also built the present nave of Canterbury.[85] The new central tower atWells Cathedral caused a problem; it was too heavy for the original structure. An unusual double arch had to be constructed in the centre of the crossing to give the tower the extra support it needed.[84]
Westminster Abbey's crossing tower has for centuries remained unbuilt, and numerous architects have proposed various ways of completing it since the 1250s, when work began on the tower underHenry III.[87] A century and half later, an octagonalroof lantern resembling that of Ely Cathedral was installed instead, which was then demolished in the 16th century.[87] Construction began again in 1724 to the design ofNicholas Hawksmoor, after first Christopher Wren had proposed a design in 1710, but stopped again in 1727. The crossing remains covered by the stub of the lantern and a 'temporary' roof.[87]
Later Gothic towers in Central Europe often followed the French model, but added even denser decorative tracery.Cologne Cathedral had been started in the 13th century, following the plan ofAmiens Cathedral, but only the apse and the base of one tower were finished in the Gothic period. The original plans were conserved and rediscovered in 1817, and the building was completed in the 19th century following the origin design. It has two spectacularly ornamented towers, covered with arches, gables, pinnacles and openwork spires pointing upwards. The tower ofUlm Minster has a similar history, begun in 1377, stopped in 1543, and not completed until the 19th century.[88]
Cologne Cathedral towers (begun 13th century, completed 20th century
Regional variants of Gothic towers appeared in Spain and Italy.Burgos Cathedral was inspired by Northern Europe. It has an exceptional cluster of openwork spires, towers, and pinnacles, drenched with ornament. It was begun in 1444 by a German architect, Juan de Colonia (John of Cologne) and eventually completed by a central tower (1540) built by his grandson.[89]
In Italy the towers were sometimes separate from the cathedral; and the architects usually kept their distance from the Northern European style. the leaning tower ofPisa Cathedral, built between 1173 and 1372, is the best-known example.The Campanile of Florence Cathedral was built byGiotto in the Florentine Gothic style, decorated with encrustations of polychrome marble. It was originally designed to have a spire.[85]
Tracery is an architectural solution by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stonebars orribs of moulding.[90] Pointed arch windows of Gothic buildings were initially (late 12th–late 13th centuries)lancet windows, a solution typical of theEarly Gothic orFirst Pointed style and of theEarly English Gothic.[90][1] Plate tracery was the first type of tracery to be developed, emerging in the later phase ofEarly Gothic orFirst Pointed.[90]Second Pointed is distinguished fromFirst by the appearance ofbar–tracery, allowing the construction of much larger window openings, and the development ofCurvilinear,Flowing, andReticulated tracery, ultimately contributing to theFlamboyant style.[1]Late Gothic in most of Europe saw tracery patterns resemblinglace develop, while in EnglandPerpendicular Gothic orThird Pointed preferred plainer vertical mullions and transoms.[1] Tracery is practical as well as decorative, because the increasingly large windows of Gothic buildings needed maximum support against the wind.[91]
Plate tracery, in which lights were pierced in a thin wall of ashlar, allowed a window arch to have more than one light – typically two side by side and separated by flat stonespandrels.[90] The spandrels were then sculpted into figures like aroundel or aquatrefoil.[90] Plate tracery reached the height of its sophistication with the 12th century windows of Chartres Cathedral and in the "Dean's Eye" rose window at Lincoln Cathedral.[91]
At the beginning of the 13th century, plate tracery was superseded by bar-tracery.[90] Bar-tracery divides the large lights from one another with mouldedmullions.[90] Stone bar-tracery, an important decorative element of Gothic styles, first was used atReims Cathedral shortly after 1211, in the chevet built by Jean D'Orbais.[92] It was employed in England around 1240.[90] After 1220, master builders in England had begun to treat the window openings as a series of openings divided by thin stone bars, while before 1230 the apse chapels of Reims Cathedral were decorated with bar-tracery with cusped circles (with bars radiating from the centre).[91] Bar-tracery became common afterc. 1240, with increasing complexity and decreasing weight.[91] The lines of the mullions continued beyond the tops of the window lights and subdivided the open spandrels above the lights into a variety of decorative shapes.[90]Rayonnant style (c. 1230 – c. 1350) was enabled by the development of bar-tracery inContinental Europe and is named for the radiation of lights around a central point in circular rose windows.[90]Rayonnant also deployed mouldings of two different types in tracery, where earlier styles had used moulding of a single size, with different sizes of mullions.[91] The rose windows of Notre-Dame de Paris (c.1270) are typical.[91]
The early phase ofMiddle Pointed style (late 13th century) is characterized byGeometrical tracery – simple bar-tracery forming patterns offoiled arches and circles interspersed with triangular lights.[90] The mullions ofGeometrical style typically hadcapitals with curved bars emerging from them.Intersecting bar-tracery (c.1300) deployed mullions without capitals which branched off equidistant to the window-head.[90] The window-heads themselves were formed of equal curves forming a pointed arch and the tracery-bars were curved by drawing curves with differingradii from the samecentres as the window-heads.[90] The mullions were in consequence branched into Y-shaped designs further ornamented with cusps. The intersecting branches produced an array oflozenge-shaped lights in between numerous lancet arched lights.Y-tracery was often employed in two-light windows c.1300.[90]
Second Pointed (14th century) sawIntersecting tracery elaborated withogees, creating a complex reticular (net-like) design known asReticulated tracery.[90]Second Pointed architecture deployed tracery in highly decorated fashion known asCurvilinear andFlowing (Undulating).[90] These types of bar-tracery were developed further throughout Europe in the 15th century into theFlamboyant style, named for the characteristic flame-shaped spaces between the tracery-bars.[90] These shapes are known asdaggers,fish-bladders, ormouchettes.[90]
Third Pointed orPerpendicular Gothic developed in England from the later 14th century and is typified byRectilinear tracery (panel-tracery).[90] The mullions are often joined bytransoms and continue up their straight vertical lines to the top of the window's main arch, some branching off into lesser arches, and creating a series of panel-like lights.[90]Perpendicular strove for verticality and dispensed with theCurvilinear style's sinuous lines in favour of unbroken straight mullions from top to bottom, transected by horizontal transoms and bars.[91]Four-centred arches were used in the 15th and 16th centuries to create windows of increasing size with flatter window-heads, often filling the entire wall of the bay between each buttress.[90] The windows were themselves divided into panels of lights topped by pointed arches struck from four centres.[90] The transoms were often topped by miniaturecrenellations.[90] The windows at Cambridge of King's College Chapel (1446–1515) represent the heights ofPerpendicular tracery.[91]
Tracery was used on both the interior and exterior of buildings. It frequently covered the façades, and the interior walls of the nave and choir were covered with blind arcades. It also often picked up and repeated the designs in the stained glass windows.Strasbourg Cathedral has a west front lavishly ornamented with bar tracery matching the windows.[91]
The plan of Gothic cathedrals and churches was usually based on theLatin cross (or "cruciform") plan, taken from the ancient RomanBasilica,[93] and from the laterRomanesque churches. They have a long nave making the body of the church, where the parishioners worshipped; a transverse arm called thetransept and, beyond it to the east, thechoir, also known as a chancel or presbytery, that was usually reserved for the clergy. The eastern end of the church was rounded in French churches, and was occupied by several radiating chapels, which allowed multiple ceremonies to go on simultaneously. In English churches the eastern end also had chapels, but was usually rectangular. A passage called theambulatory circled the choir. This allowed parishioners, and especially pilgrims, to walk past the chapels to see the relics displayed there without disturbing other services going on.[94]
Each vault of the nave formed a separate cell, with its own supporting piers or columns. The early cathedrals, like Notre-Dame, had six-part rib vaults, with alternating columns and piers, while later cathedrals had the simpler and stronger four-part vaults, with identical columns.
Following the model of Romanesque architecture and theBasilica of Saint Denis, cathedrals usually had two towers flanking the west façade. Towers over the crossing were common in England (Salisbury Cathedral),York Minister) but rarer in France.[94]
Transepts were usually short in early French Gothic architecture, but became longer and were given large rose windows in theRayonnant period.[95] The choirs became more important. The choir was often flanked by a double disambulatory, which was crowned by a ring of small chapels.[95] In England, transepts were more important, and the floor plans were usually much more complex than in French cathedrals, with the addition of attachedLady Chapels, an octagonalChapter House, and other structures (See plans of Salisbury Cathedral and York Minster below). This reflected a tendency in France to carry out multiple functions in the same space, while English cathedrals compartmentalized them. This contrast is visible in the difference betweenAmiens Cathedral, with its minimal transepts and semicircular apse, filled with chapels, on the east end, compared with the double transepts, projecting north porch, and rectangular east end of Salisbury and York.[96]
Gothic architecture was a continual search for greater height, thinner walls, and more light. This was clearly illustrated in the evolving elevations of the cathedrals.[95]
InEarly Gothic architecture, following the model of the Romanesque churches, the buildings had thick, solid walls with a minimum of windows in order to give enough support for the vaulted roofs. An elevation typically had four levels. On the ground floor was an arcade with massive piers alternating with thinner columns, which supported the six-part rib vaults. Above that was a gallery, called the tribune, which provided stability to the walls, and was sometimes used to provide seating for the nuns. Above that was a narrower gallery, called thetriforium, which also helped provide additional thickness and support. At the top, just beneath the vaults, was theclerestory, where the high windows were placed. The upper level was supported from the outside by the flying buttresses. This system was used atNoyon Cathedral,Sens Cathedral, and other early structures.[95]
In theHigh Gothic period, thanks to the introduction of the four part rib vault, a simplified elevation appeared at Chartres Cathedral and others. The alternating piers and columns on the ground floor were replaced by rows of identical circular piers wrapped in four engaged columns. The tribune disappeared, which meant that the arcades could be higher. This created more space at the top for the upper windows, which were expanded to include a smaller circular window above a group of lancet windows. The new walls gave a stronger sense of verticality and brought in more light. A similar arrangement was adapted in England, atSalisbury Cathedral,Lincoln Cathedral, andEly Cathedral.[95]
An important characteristic of Gothic church architecture is its height, both absolute and in proportion to its width, the verticality suggesting an aspiration to Heaven. The increasing height of cathedrals over the Gothic period was accompanied by an increasing proportion of the wall devoted to windows, until, by the late Gothic, the interiors became like cages of glass. This was made possible by the development of the flying buttress, which transferred the thrust of the weight of the roof to the supports outside the walls. As a result, the walls gradually became thinner and higher, and masonry was replaced with glass. The four-part elevation of the naves of early Cathedrals such as Notre-Dame (arcade, tribune, triforium, clerestory) was transformed in the choir ofBeauvais Cathedral to very tall arcades, a thin triforium, and soaring windows up to the roof.[97]
Beauvais Cathedral reached the limit of what was possible with Gothic technology. A portion of the choir collapsed in 1284, causing alarm in all of the cities with very tall cathedrals. Panels of experts were created in Sienna and Chartres to study the stability of those structures.[98] Only the transept and choir of Beauvais were completed, and in the 21st century, the transept walls were reinforced with cross-beams. No cathedral built since exceeded the height of the choir of Beauvais.[97]
Noyon Cathedral nave showing the four early Gothic levels (late 12h century)
Notre-Dame de Paris – deep portals, a rose window, balance of horizontal and vertical elements. Early Gothic
Churches traditionally face east, with the altar at the east, and the west front, or façade, was considered the most important entrance. Gothic façades were adapted from the model of the Romanesque façades.[68] The façades usually had three portals, or doorways, leading into the nave. Over each doorway was atympanum, a work of sculpture crowded with figures. The sculpture of the central tympanum was devoted to the Last Judgement, that to the left to the Virgin Mary, and that to the right to the Saints honoured at that particular cathedral.[68] In the early Gothic, the columns of the doorways took the form of statues of saints, making them literally "pillars of the church".[68]
In the early Gothic, the façades were characterized by height, elegance, harmony, unity, and a balance of proportions.[99] They followed the doctrine expressed by SaintThomas Aquinas that beauty was a "harmony of contrasts".[99] Following the model of Saint-Denis and later Notre-Dame de Paris, the façade was flanked by two towers proportional to the rest of the façade, which balanced the horizontal and vertical elements. Early Gothic façades often had a small rose window placed above the central portal. In England the rose window was often replaced by several lancet windows.[68]
While French cathedrals emphasized the height of the façade, English cathedrals, particularly in earlier Gothic, often emphasized the width. The west front of Wells Cathedral is 146 feet across, compared with 116 feet wide at the nearly contemporary Amiens Cathedral, though Amiens is twice as high. The west front of Wells was almost entirely covered with statuary, like Amiens, and was given even further emphasis by its colors; traces of blue, scarlet, and gold are found on the sculpture, as well as painted stars against the dark background on other sections.[101]
Italian Gothic façades have the three traditional portals and rose windows, or sometimes simply a large circular window without tracery plus an abundance of flamboyant elements, including sculpture, pinnacles and spires. However, they added distinctive Italian elements. as seen in the façades ofSiena Cathedral ) and ofOrvieto Cathedral, The Orvieto façade was largely the work of a master mason,Lorenzo Maitani, who worked on the façade from 1308 until his death in 1330. He broke away from the French emphasis on height, and eliminated the column statutes and statuary in the arched entries, and covered the façade with colourful mosaics of biblical scenes (The current mosaics are of a later date). He also added sculpture in relief on the supporting contreforts.[102]
Another important feature of the Italian Gothic portal was the sculpted bronze door. The sculptorAndrea Pisano made the celebrated bronze doors forFlorence Baptistry (1330–1336). They were not the first; Abbot Suger had commissioned bronze doors for Saint-Denis in 1140, but they were replaced with wooden doors when the Abbey was enlarged. Pisano's work, with its realism and emotion, pointed toward the coming Renaissance.[103]
Wells Cathedral (1176–1450). Early English Gothic. The façade was a Great Wall of sculpture
Amiens Cathedral, (13th century). Vertical emphasis. High Gothic
Cathedrals and churches were traditionally constructed with the altar at the east end, so that the priest and congregation faced the rising sun during the morningliturgy. The sun was considered the symbol of Christ and theSecond Coming, a major theme in Cathedral sculpture.[104] The portion of the church east of altar is the choir, reserved for members of the clergy. There is usually a single or double ambulatory, or aisle, around the choir and east end, so parishioners and pilgrims could walk freely easily around east end.[105]
In Romanesque churches, the east end was very dark, due to the thick walls and small windows. In the ambulatory of theBasilica of Saint Denis, Abbot Suger first used the novel combination rib vaults and buttresses to replace the thick walls and replace them with stained glass, opening up that portion of the church to what he considered "divine light".[31]
In French Gothic churches, the east end, orchevet, often had an apse, a semi-circular projection with a vaulted or domed roof.[106] The chevet of large cathedrals frequently had a ring of radiating chapels, placed between the buttresses to get maximum light. There are three such chapels at Chartres Cathedral, seven at Notre Dame de Paris, Amiens Cathedral, Prague Cathedral and Cologne Cathedral, and nine atBasilica of Saint Anthony of Padua in Italy. In England, the east end is more often rectangular, and gives access to a separate and largeLady Chapel, dedicated to theVirgin Mary. Lady Chapels were also common in Italy.[105]
High Gothic Chevet ofAmiens Cathedral, with chapels between the buttresses (13th century)
Sculpture was an important element of Gothic architecture. Its intent was present the stories of the Bible in vivid and understandable fashion to the great majority of the faithful who could not read.[107] The iconography of the sculptural decoration on the façade was not left to the sculptors. An edict of theSecond Council of Nicaea in 787 had declared: "The composition of religious images is not to be left to the inspiration of artists; it is derived from the principles put in place by the Catholic Church and religious tradition. Only the art belongs to the artist; the composition belongs to the Fathers."[107]
Monsters and devils tempting Christians – South portal ofChartres Cathedral (13th century)
Gallery of Kings and Saints on the façade ofWells Cathedral (13th century)
West portal Annunciation group atReims Cathedral with smiling angel at left (13th century)
Amiens Cathedral illuminated as it may have appeared when painted
In Early Gothic churches, following the Romanesque tradition, sculpture appeared on the façade or west front in the triangular tympanum over the central portal. Gradually, as the style evolved, the sculpture became more and more prominent, taking over the columns of the portal, and gradually climbing above the portals, until statues in niches covered the entire façade, as inWells Cathedral, to the transepts, and, as at Amiens Cathedral, even on the interior of the façade.[107]
Some of the earliest examples are found atChartres Cathedral, where the three portals of the west front illustrate the three epiphanies in theLife of Christ.[108] At Amiens, the tympanum over the central portal depicted theLast Judgement, the right portal showed theCoronation of the Virgin, and the left portal showed the lives of saints who were important in the diocese. This set a pattern of complex iconography which was followed at other churches.[68]
The columns below the tympanum are in the form of statues of saints, literally representing them as "the pillars of the church".[109] Each saint had his own symbol at his feet so viewers could recognize them; a winged lion meantSaint Mark, an eagle with four wings meantSaint John the Apostle, and a winged bull symbolizedSaint Luke. Floral and vegetal decoration was also very common, representing theGarden of Eden; grapes represented the wines ofEucharist.[109]
The tympanum over the central portal on the west façade of Notre-Dame de Paris vividly illustrates the Last Judgement, with figures of sinners being led off to hell, and good Christians taken to heaven. The sculpture of the right portal shows the coronation of theVirgin Mary, and the left portal shows the lives of saints who were important to Parisians, particularlySaint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.[68]
To make the message even more prominent, the sculpture of the tympanum was painted in bright colors. following a system of colours codified in the 12th century; yellow, calledgold, symbolized intelligence, grandeur and virtue; white, calledargent, symbolized purity, wisdom, and correctness; black, orsable, meant sadness, but also will; green, orsinople, represented hope, liberty and joy; red orgueules (seegules) meant charity or victory; blue orazure symbolised the sky, faithfulness and perseverance; and violet, orpourpre, was the colour of royalty and sovereignty.[110]
More naturalistic later Gothic:Temptation of the Foolish Virgins, Strasbourg Cathedral
Sculpture from façade of Siena Cathedral byNino Pisano (14th century)
In the later Gothic, the sculpture became more naturalistic; the figures were separated from the walls, and had much more expressive faces, showing emotion and personality. The drapery was very skilfully carved. The torments of hell were even more vividly depicted.[111] The late Gothic sculpture atSiena Cathedral, byNino Pisano, pointing toward the Renaissance, is particularly notable. Much of it is now kept in a museum to protect it from deterioration.
Besides saints and apostles, the exteriors of Gothic churches were also decorated with sculptures of a variety of fabulous and frighteninggrotesques or monsters. These included thechimera, a mythical hybrid creature which usually had the body of a lion and the head of a goat, and thestrix or stryge, a creature resembling anowl orbat, which was said to eat human flesh. The strix appeared in classical Roman literature; it was described by the Roman poetOvid, who was widely read in the Middle Ages, as a large-headed bird with transfixed eyes, rapacious beak, and greyish white wings.[112] They were part of the visual message for the illiterate worshippers, symbols of the evil and danger that threatened those who did not follow the teachings of the church.[113]
Thegargoyles, which were added to Notre-Dame in about 1240, had a more practical purpose. They were the rain spouts of the church, designed to divide the torrent of water which poured from the roof after rain, and to project it outwards as far as possible from the buttresses and the walls and windows so that it would not erode the mortar binding the stone. To produce many thin streams rather than a torrent of water, a large number of gargoyles were used, so they were also designed to be a decorative element of the architecture. The rainwater ran from the roof into lead gutters, then down channels on the flying buttresses, then along a channel cut in the back of the gargoyle and out of the mouth away from the church.[114]
Many of the statues at Notre-Dame, particularly the grotesques, were removed from the façade in the 17th and 18th century, or were destroyed during theFrench Revolution. They were replaced with figures in the Gothic style, designed byEugène Viollet-le-Duc during the 19th-century restoration.[114] Similar figures appear on the other major Gothic churches of France and England.
Another common feature of Gothic cathedrals in France was alabyrinth or maze on the floor of the nave near the choir, which symbolised the difficult and often complicated journey of a Christian life before attaining paradise. Most labyrinths were removed by the 18th century, but a few, like the one at Amiens Cathedral, have been reconstructed, and the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral still exists essentially in its original form.[115]
Increasing the amount of light in the interior was a primary objective of the founders of the Gothic movement. Abbot Suger described the new kind of architecture he had created in the east end of theSaint-Denis: "a circular ring of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty."[116]
Religious teachings in the Middle Ages, particularly the writings ofPseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a 6th-century mystic whose book,De Coelesti Hierarchia, was popular among monks in France, taught that all light was divine.[117] When the Abbot Suger ordered the reconstruction of choir of the abbey church at Saint-Denis, he had the builders create seventy windows, admitting as much light as possible, as the means by which the faithful could be elevated from the material world to the immaterial world.[117]
The placement of the windows was also determined by religious doctrine. The windows on the north side, frequently in the shade, had windows depicting the Old Testament. The windows of the east, corresponding to the direction of the sunrise, had images of Christ and scenes from the New Testament.[118]
In theEarly Gothic period, the glass was particularly thick and was deeply coloured with metal oxides; cobalt for blue, copper for a ruby red, iron for green, and antimony for yellow. The process of making the windows was described in detail by the 12th-century monk known asTheophilus Presbyter. The glass of each colour was melted with the oxide,blown, shaped into small sheets, cracked with a hot iron into small pieces, and assembled on a large table. The details were painted onto the glass invitreous enamel, then baked in akiln to fuse the enamel on the glass. The pieces were fit into a framework of thin lead strips, and then put into a more solid frame or iron armatures between the panels.[119] The finished window was set into the stone opening. Thin vertical and horizontal bars of iron, calledvergettes orbarlotierres, were placed inside the window to reinforce the glass against the wind.[120]
The use of iron rods between the panels of glass and a framework of stone mullions, or ribs, made it possible to create much larger windows. The three rose windows at Chartres (1203–1240) each were more than 12 m (40 ft) in diameter.[119] Larger windows also appeared atYork Minster (1140–1160) and Canterbury Cathedral (1178–1200)
The stained glass windows were extremely complex and expensive to create.King Louis IX paid for the rose windows in the transept of Notre-Dame de Paris, but other windows were financed by the contributions of the professions orguilds of the city.[121] These windows usually had a panel which illustrated the work of the guild which funded it, such as thedrapers,stonemasons, orcoopers.[122]
The 13th century saw the introduction of a new kind of window, withgrisaille, or white glass, with a geometric pattern, usually joined with medallions of stained glass. These windows allowed much more light into the cathedral, but diminished the vividness of the stained glass, since there was less contrast between the dark interior and bright exterior. The most remarkable and influential work of stained glass in the 13th century was the royal chapel, Sainte-Chapelle (1243–1248), where the windows of the upper chapel, 15 m (49 ft) high, occupied all of the walls on the three sides, with 1,134 individual scenes. Sainte-Chapelle became the model for other chapels across Europe.[119]
The 14th century brought a variety of new colours, and the use of more realistic shading and half-toning. This was done by the development offlashed glass. Clear glass was dipped into coloured glass, then portions of the coloured glass were ground away to give exactly the right shade.[119] In the 15th century, artists began painting directly onto the glass with enamel colours. Gradually the art of glass came closer and closer to traditional painting.[119]
One of the most celebrated Flamboyant buildings was theSainte-Chapelle de Vincennes (1370s), with walls of glass from floor to ceiling. The original glass was destroyed, and is replaced by grisaille glass.[64]King's College Chapel (15th century), also followed the model of walls entirely filled with glass.
The stained glass windows were extremely complex and expensive to create.King Louis IX paid for the rose windows in the transept of Notre-Dame de Paris, while other windows were often financed by the contributions of the professions orguilds of the city.[121] These windows usually incorporated a panel which illustrates the work of the guild which funded it, such as the drapers, stonemasons, or barrel-makers.[122]
In England, the stained glass windows also grew in size and importance; major examples were the Becket Windows atCanterbury Cathedral (1200–1230) and the windows ofLincoln Cathedral (1200–1220). Enormous windows were also an important element ofYork Minster andGloucester Cathedral.
Much of the stained glass in Gothic churches today dates from later restorations, but a few, notably Chartres Cathedral andBourges Cathedral, still have many of their original windows[122]
Rose windows were a prominent feature of many Gothic churches and cathedrals. The rose was a symbol of the Virgin Mary, and they were particularly used in churches dedicated to her. The French Gothic cathedrals of Chartres,[123] Notre Dame de Paris, Reims, and Laon have them in the west façade, and in the transepts as well.[124] Amiens Cathedral,[125] Strasbourg Cathedral[126] and Westminster Abbey also have them in transepts.[127] The designs of their tracery became increasingly complex, and gave their names to two periods; theRayonnant and theFlamboyant. Two of the most famous Rayonnant rose windows were constructed in the transepts of Notre-Dame in the 13th century.
The Gothic style was used in royal and papal residences as well as in churches. Prominent examples include thePalais de la Cité theMedieval Louvre, theChateau de Vincennes in Paris, residences of the French kings, theDoge's Palace in Venice, and thePalace of the Kings of Navarre inOlite (1269–1512). Another is thePalais des Papes (Palace of the Popes), the former Papal residence in Avignon. It was constructed between 1252 and 1364, during theAvignon Papacy. Given the complicated political situation, it combined the functions of a church, a seat of government and a fortress.[128]
ThePalais de la Cité in Paris, close to Notre-Dame de Paris, begun in 1119, which was the principal residence of the French kings until 1417. Most of the Palais de la Cité is gone, but two of the original towers along the Seine, of the towers, the vaulted ceilings of the Hall of the Men-at-Arms (1302), (now in theConciergerie); and the original chapel, Sainte-Chapelle, can still be seen.[129]
TheLouvre Palace was originally built byPhilippe II of France beginning in 1190 to house the King's archives and treasures, and givenmachicoulis and features of a Gothic fortress. However, it was soon made obsolete by the development of artillery, and in the 15th century it was remodelled into a comfortable residential palace.[130] While the outer walls retained their original military appearance, the castle itself, with a profusion of spires, towers, pinnacles, arches and gables, became a visible symbol of royalty and aristocracy. The style was copied in chateaux and other aristocratic residences across France and other parts of Europe.[131]
In the 15th century, following the late Gothic period or flamboyant style, elements of Gothic decoration began to appear in the town halls of northern France, Flanders and the Netherlands. The Rouen Courthouse in Normandy is representative of Flamboyant Gothic in France. The Hôtel de Ville ofCompiègne has an imposing Gothic bell tower, featuring a spire surrounded by smaller towers, and its windows are decorated with ornateaccolades or ornamental arches. Similarly flamboyant town halls were found inArras,Douai, andSaint-Quentin, Aisne, and in modern Belgium, inBrussels,Ghent,Bruges,Audenarde,Mons andLeuven.[132]
Gothic civil architecture in Spain includes theSilk Exchange inValencia, Spain (1482–1548), a major marketplace, which has a main hall with twisting columns beneath its vaulted ceiling.[133]
The Gothic style was adopted in the late 13th to 15th centuries in early English university buildings, with inspiration coming from monasteries and manor houses.[134][135][page needed] The oldest existing example in England is probably theMob Quad ofMerton College atOxford University, constructed between 1288 and 1378.[136]
The style was further refined byWilliam of Wykeham, Chancellor of England and founder ofNew College, Oxford, in 1379. His architect,William Wynford, designed the New College quadrangle in the 1380s, which combined a hall, chapel, library, and residences for Fellows and undergraduates.[134] A similar kind of academic cloister was created atQueen's College, Oxford, in the 1140s, likely designed byReginald Ely.[134]
The design of the colleges was influenced not only by abbeys, but also the design of English manor houses of the 14th and 15th century, such asHaddon Hall inDerbyshire. They were composed of rectangular courtyards with covered walkways which separated the wings. Some colleges, likeBalliol College, Oxford, borrowed a military style from Gothic castles, withbattlements and crenelated walls.[134]
King's College Chapel, Cambridge is one of the finest examples of the late Gothic style. It was built by KingHenry VI, who was displeased by the excessive decoration of earlier styles. He wrote in 1447 that he wanted his chapel "to proceed in large form, clean and substantial, setting apart superfluity of too great curious works of entail and busy moulding."[137] The chapel, built between 1508 and 1515, has glass walls from floor to ceiling, rising to spreading fan vaults designed byJohn Wastell. The glass walls are supported by large external buttresses concealed at the base by side chapels.[137]
In the 13th century, the design of the castle (French:château fort) evolved in response to contact with the more sophisticated fortifications of theByzantine Empire and theIslamic world during theCrusades. These new fortifications were more geometric, with a central high tower called akeep (French:donjon) which could be defended even if thecurtain walls of the castle were breached. The donjon of theChâteau de Vincennes, begun byPhilip VI of France was a good example. It was 52 m (171 ft) high, and, even though within the moat and walls of the fortress, had its own separate drawbridge to going to higher floor.
Towers, usually round, were placed at the corners and along the walls in the Phillipienne castle, close enough together to support each other. The walls had two levels of walkways on the inside, acrenellatedparapet withmerlons, and projectingmachicolations from which missiles could be dropped on besiegers. The upper walls also had protected protruding balconies,échauguettes andbretèches, from which soldiers could see what was happening at the corners or on the ground below. In addition, the towers and walls were pierced witharrowslits, which sometimes took the form of crosses to enable a wider field of fire for archers and crossbowmen.[138]
Castles were surrounded by a deep moat, spanned by a single drawbridge. The entrance was also protected by a grill of iron which could be opened and closed. The walls at the bottom were often sloping, and protected with earthen barriers. One good surviving example is theChâteau de Dourdan, nearNemours.[139]
After the end of theHundred Years War (1337–1453), with improvements in artillery, the castles lost most of their military importance. They remained as symbols of the rank of their noble occupants; the narrowing openings in the walls were often widened into the windows of bedchambers and ceremonial halls. The tower of the Château de Vincennes became a part-time royal residence until thePalace of Versailles was completed.[139]
Restored outer walls of the medieval city ofCarcassonne (13th–14th century)
Post-Gothic interior of theOld Synagogue inKraków using Gothic vaults (1570)
Although Christianity played a dominant role in the Gothic sacred architecture, Jewish communities were present in many European cities during the Middle Ages and they also built theirhouses of prayer in the Gothic style. Unfortunately, most of the Gothic synagogues did not survive, because they were often destroyed in connection withpersecution of the Jews (e. g. in Bamberg, Nürnberg, Regensburg,Vienna). One of the best preserved examples of a Gothic synagogue is theOld New Synagogue in Prague which was completed around 1270 and never rebuilt.[clarification needed][citation needed]
The transition fromRomanesque to Gothic styles is visible at theDurham Cathedral inEngland, (1093–1104). Early Gothic rib vaults are combined with round arches and other Romanesque features.
Romanesque architecture andNorman architecture had a major influence upon Gothic architecture. The plan of the Gothic cathedral was based upon the plan of the ancient Romanbasilica, which was adopted by Romanesque architecture. TheLatin cross form, with anave and transept, choir, disambulatory, and radiating chapels, came from the Romanesque model. The grand arcades of columns separating the central vessel of thenave from the collateral aisles, thetriforium over the grand arcades, and the windows high on the walls allowing light into the nave were all also adapted from the Romanesque model. The portal with atympanum filled with sculpture was another characteristic Romanesque feature, as was the use of the buttress to support the walls from the outside. Gothic architects improved them by adding theflying buttress with high arches connecting the buttresses to the upper walls. In the interior, Romanesque architecture used thebarrel vault with a round arch to cover the nave, and agroin vault when two barrel vaults met at right angles. These vaults were the immediate ancestors of the Gothic rib vault. One of the first use of the Gothic rib vaults to cover a nave was in the RomanesqueDurham Cathedral, (1093–1104).[140]
Norman Architecture, similar to the Romanesque style, also influenced the Gothic style. Early examples are found inLessay Abbey in Normandy, which also featured early rib vaults in the nave similar to the Gothic vaults.Cefalu Cathedral (1131–1267) in Sicily, built when Sicily was under Norman rule, is another interesting example. It featured pointed arches and large Gothic rib vaults combined with ornamental mosaic decoration.[140]
Romanesque architecture had become a pan-European style and manner of construction, affecting buildings in countries as far apart asIreland andCroatia, andSweden andSicily. The same wide geographic area was then affected by the development of Gothic architecture, but the acceptance of the Gothic style and methods of construction differed from place to place, as did the expressions of Gothic taste. The proximity of some regions meant that modern country borders did not define divisions of style. Many different factors like geographical/geological, economic, social, or political situations caused the regional differences in the great abbey churches and cathedrals of the Romanesque period that would often become even more apparent in the Gothic. For example, studies of the population statistics reveals disparities such as the multitude of churches, abbeys, and cathedrals in northernFrance while in more urbanised regions construction activity of a similar scale was reserved to a few important cities. Such an example comes from Roberto López, wherein the French city ofAmiens was able to fund its architectural projects whereasCologne could not because of the economic inequality of the two.[141] This wealth, concentrated in rich monasteries and noble families, would eventually spread certain Italian, Catalan, and Hanseatic bankers.[142] This would be amended when the economic hardships of the 13th century were no longer felt, allowingNormandy,Tuscany,Flanders, and the southernRhineland to enter into competition with France.[143]
The pointed arch, one of the defining attributes of Gothic, was earlier featured inIslamic architecture,[144] Though it did not have the same functions. Precursor of pointed arch appeared inByzantine andSassanian architectures, This was evidenced in early church building inSyria and occasional secular structures, like theKaramagara Bridge; in Sassanian architecture, employed in palace and sacred construction. These pre-Islamic arches were decorative rather than structural in their function.[145][146][147] The pointed arch as an architectonic principle was first clearly established in Islamic architecture; as an architectonic principle, the pointed arch was entirely alien to the pre-Islamic world.[148] Use of the pointed arch seems to have taken off dramatically in Islamic architecture. It begins to appear throughout the Islamic world in close succession after its adoption in the late Umayyad or early Abbasid period. Some examples are theAl-Ukhaidir Palace (775 AD), the Abbasid reconstruction of theAl-Aqsa mosque in 780 AD, theRamlah Cisterns (789 AD), theGreat Mosque of Samarra (851 AD), and theMosque of Ibn Tulun (879 AD) in Cairo. It also appears in one of the early reconstructions of theGreat Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia, and the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba in 987 AD. The pointed arch had already been used in Syria, but in the mosque of Ibn Tulun we have one of the earliest examples of its use on an extensive scale, some centuries before it was exploited in the West by the Gothic architects.[149]
A kind ofrib vault was also used in Islamic architecture, for example in the ceiling of theMosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. In Cordoba, the dome was supported bypendentives, which connected the dome to the arches below. The pendentives were decorated with ribs. Unlike the Gothic rib vault, the Islamic ribs were purely decorative; they did not extend outside of the vault, and they were not part of the structure supporting the roof.
The military andcultural contacts with themedieval Islamic world, including theNorman conquest ofIslamic Sicily in 1090, theCrusades (beginning 1096), and theIslamic presence in Spain, may have influencedMedieval Europe's adoption of the pointed arch.[150][151] Another feature of Gothic architecture, a kind of rib vault, had also earlier appeared in Islamic architecture, and spread to Western Europe viaIslamic Spain andSicily.[148][152] The early rib vaults in Spain were used to support cupolas, and were decorative. The dome of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba was supported by pendentives, rather than the vault. These were frequently used inRomanesque andByzantine architecture, as in the dome ofHagia Sophia in Istanbul, which also was supported by pendentives. The Gothic rib vault, among other features, such as the flying buttress, have their antecedents inRomanesque architecture, such asDurham Cathedral, constructed between 1093 and 1096.[150][33]
The Armeniancathedral of Ani, completed in the early 11th century.
A number of scholars have cited theArmenianCathedral of Ani, completed 1001 or 1010, as a possible influence on the Gothic, especially due to its use of pointed arches and clusterpiers.[154][155][156][157] However, other scholars such asSirarpie Der Nersessian, who rejected this notion as she argued that the pointed arches did not serve the same function of supporting the vault.[158] Lucy Der Manuelian contends that someArmenians (historically documented as being in Western Europe in theMiddle Ages)[159] could have brought the knowledge and technique employed at Ani to the west.[160]
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^Gombrich, Ernst H. "The Renaissance Conception of Artistic Progress and Its Consequences", inGombrich on the Renaissance, Volume 1: Norm and Form. London: Phaidon, 1985, p. 1.
^"Gotz" is rendered as "Huns" inThomas Urquhart's English translation.
^"Gothic Architecture".Loyola's Historic Architecture. Loyola University Maryland.Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved24 May 2020.
^Bolton, A. T., ed. (1925). "St Paul's Cathedral".The Wren Society.II. Oxford University Press:15–20.
^Darke, Diana.Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe. London: C. Hurst & Co, 2020. p. 7.
^Lepine, Ayla & Laura Cleaver.Gothic Legacies: Four Centuries of Tradition and Innovation in Art and Architecture. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, p. 164.
^<non stated>."Sir Christopher Wren".Westminsterabbey.org. Dean and Chapter of Westminster. Retrieved30 July 2023.
^Darke, Diana.Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe. London: C. Hurst & Co, 2020, p. 36.
^Darke, Diana.Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe.London: C. Hurst & Co, 2020, p. 4.
^Raquejo, Tonia. "The 'Arab Cathedrals': Moorish Architecture as Seen by British Travellers".The Burlington Magazine, 128, no. 1001 (August 1986), p. 556.
^Darke, Diana.Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe. London: C. Hurst & Co Publishers, 2020. p. 207.
^Hunter, Bob (18 September 2014)."Londonderry Cathedral".Wars & Conflict: The Plantation of Ulster. BBC.Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved24 August 2015.
^Warren, John (1991). "Creswell's Use of the Theory of Dating by the Acuteness of the Pointed Arches in Early Muslim Architecture".Muqarnas.8. BRILL:59–65.doi:10.2307/1523154.JSTOR1523154.
^Encylopédie Larousse,L'Architecture Gothique (retrieved May 24, 2020)
^Curl, James Stevens; Wilson, Susan, eds. (2015),"Lancet style",A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press,doi:10.1093/acref/9780198606789.001.0001,ISBN978-0-19-967498-5,archived from the original on 26 January 2021, retrieved9 April 2020,First Pointed Gothic of the late C12 before the introduction of tracery.
^Dearmer, Percy,Bell's Cathedrals - the Cathedral Church of Wells: A Description (1898). Section "The West Front", loc. 55, from full text onProject Gutenberg
^However, due to awkward sites in city centres, the traditional "east end" often faces in a different direction."Facing East". Catholic Culture. October 1999.Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved28 July 2020.
^Warren, John (1991). "Creswell's Use of the Theory of Dating by the Acuteness of the Pointed Arches in Early Muslim Architecture".Muqarnas.8. BRILL: 59–65 (61–63).doi:10.2307/1523154.JSTOR1523154.
^Petersen, Andrew (2002-03-11). Dictionary of Islamic Architecture, pp. 295-296. Routledge.ISBN978-0-203-20387-3.
^Harvey, L. P. (1992). "Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500." Chicago : University of Chicago Press.ISBN0-226-31960-1; Boswell, John (1978). Royal Treasure: Muslim Communities Under the Crown of Aragon in the Fourteenth Century. Yale University Press.ISBN0-300-02090-2.
^Lang 1980, p. 223: "With this experience behind him, it is not surprising thatTrdat's creation of the Cathedral atAni turned out to be a masterpiece. Even without its dome, the cathedral amazes the onlooker. Technically, it is far ahead of the contemporaryAnglo-Saxon andNorman architecture of Europe. Already, pointed arches and clustered piers, whose appearance together is considered one of the hallmarks of mature Gothic architecture, are found in this remote corner of the Christian East."
^Kite, Stephen (September 2003). "'South Opposed to East and North': Adrian Stokes and Josef Strzygowski. A study in the aesthetics and historiography of Orientalism".Art History.26 (4):505–533.doi:10.1111/j.0141-6790.2003.02604002.x.To Near Eastern scholars theArmeniancathedral atAni (989–1001), designed byTrdat (972–1036), seemed to anticipate Gothic.
^Stewart 1959, p. 80: "The most important examples ofArmenian architecture are to be found atAni, the capital, and the most important of these isthe cathedral. [...] The most interesting features of this building are its pointed arches and vaults and the clustering or coupling of the columns in the Gothic manner."
^Rice 1972, p. 179: "The interior ofAni cathedral, a longitudinal stone building with pointed vaults and a central dome, built about 1001, is astonishingly Gothic in every detail, and numerous other equally close parallels could be cited."
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