Exterior of the rose atStrasbourg Cathedral, FranceInterior of the rose at Strasbourg CathedralArchitectural drawing of the rose window of Strasbourg Cathedral
Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circularwindow, but is especially used for those found inGothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stonemullions andtracery. The termrose window was not used before the 17th century and comes from the English flower namerose.[1]
The name "wheel window" is often applied to a window divided by simple spokes radiating from a central boss or opening, while the term "rose window" is reserved for those windows, sometimes of a highly complex design, which can be seen to bear similarity to a multi-petalled rose. Rose windows are also called "Catherine windows" afterSaint Catherine of Alexandria, who was sentenced to be executed on a spikedbreaking wheel. A circular window without tracery such as are found in many Italian churches, is referred to as an ocular window oroculus.
Rose windows are particularly characteristic ofGothic architecture and may be seen in all the major Gothic cathedrals of Northern France. Their origins are much earlier than Gothic architecture, however, and rose windows may be seen in various forms throughout the Medieval period. Their popularity was revived, with other medieval features, during theGothic revival of the 19th century, so that they are seen in Christian churches all over the world.[2]
Oculi: These could be open or blind, could be glazed or filled with thinalabaster. During the late Gothic period very large ocular windows were common in Italy, being used in preference to traceried windows and being filled with elaborate pictures instained glass designed by the most accomplished Late Medieval and Early Renaissance designers includingDuccio,Donatello,Uccello andGhiberti.[3][4]
Wheel Windows: These windows had a simpletracery of spokes radiating either from a central boss or from a central roundel. Popular during the Romanesque period and Gothic Italy, they are found across Europe but particularly Germany and Italy.[5] They also occur in Romanesque Revival buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Plate Tracery: Rose windows with pierced openings rather than tracery occur in the transition between Romanesque and Gothic, particularly in France and most notably at Chartres. The most notable example in England is the northtransept window, known as the "Dean's Eye" inLincoln Cathedral. These windows are occasionally found in 19th-century Revival buildings.[6]
Early Gothic: Rose windows with tracery comprising overlapping arcs like flower petals, circular and square shapes. This form occurs in Northern France, notably atLaon Cathedral, Italy and England. This style of window is popular in Gothic Revival architecture for the similarity that it has to a flower and is also utilised with specific reference toOur Lady of the Rosary.
Rayonnant Gothic: The rose windows are divided by mullions radiating from a central roundel, overlapping in a complex design, each light terminating in a pointed arch and often interspersed withquatrefoils and other such shapes. Many of the largest rose windows in France are of this type, notably those at Paris and in the transepts of St Denis. An example in England is that in the north transept ofWestminster Abbey. This style occurs widely in Gothic churches and is also widely imitated in Gothic Revival buildings.[7]
Flamboyant Gothic: The style is marked by S-curves in the tracery causing each light to take on a flamelike or "flamboyant" shape. Many windows are composed of fairly regularly shaped lights the richness of design dependent on the multiplicity of parts. Good examples are atBeauvais Cathedral andSainte-Chapelle, Paris. Some Late Gothic rose windows are of immense complexity of design, often using elements of the Gothic style in unexpected ways. A magnificent example is that of the façade ofAmiens Cathedral. Although the design usually radiates from a central point, it may not be symmetrical about each axis. This may be seen in theFlamboyant Decorated Gothic window called the "Bishop's Eye" atLincoln Cathedral in which the design takes the form of two ears of wheat.
Renaissance: TheRenaissance made a break with the Gothic style, and a return to the Classical. Plain untraceried oculi were sometimes employed, either in Classical pediments[8] or around domes as at thePazzi Chapel, Florence.[9]
Baroque: TheBaroque style saw much greater use of ocular windows, which were not always circular, but frequently oval or of a more complex shape. They were untraceried or crossed by mullions of very simple form but were often surrounded by ornate carving. The purpose of such windows was the subtle illumination of interior spaces, without resorting to large windows offering external visibility. They rarely form a dominant visual element to either the façade or the interior as do the great Gothic windows.[10] However, there are some notable exceptions, in particular the glorious burst of light which pours through the oval alabaster window depicting theHoly Spirit in the Reredos behind the High Altar ofSt. Peter's Basilica, Rome.[11]
Modern: Modern circular windows, which are most frequently of a simple ocular type, have an eclectic range of influences which includesabstract art, ship'sportholes and the unglazed circular openings of Oriental architecture.
The origin of the rose window may be found in theRomanoculus. These large circular openings let in both light and air, the best known being that at the top of the dome of thePantheon. Geometrical patterns similar to those in rose windows occur inRoman mosaics.
The German art historian Otto von Simson considered that the origin of the rose window lay in a window with thesix-lobed rosettes andoctagon which adorned the external wall of theUmayyad palaceKhirbat al-Mafjar built in Jordan between 740 and 750 CE. This theory suggests thatcrusaders brought the design of this attractive window to Europe, introducing it to churches. But the decorative pattern for rose and, independently, the tracery, are very present in vestiges of theearly Christian architecture, Byzantine architecture, and especially inMerovingian art, andVisigothic architecture before the Muslim conquest of Spain. But half roses are also known, as with thechurch of San Juan Bautista in Baños de Cerrato. The scarcity and the brittleness of the vestiges of this time does not make it possible to say that complete rose window in tracery did not exist in early Middle Ages.
A window of the 8th century, now inVenice, and carved from a single slab, has alternating tracery-like components of two tiers of fourlancets separated by three oculi. Many semicircular windows with pierced tracery exist from the 6th to the 8th century, and later inGreece.[13]
Small circular windows such as that at S. Agnese and Torcello as well as unglazed decorative circular recesses continued to be used in churches in Italy, gaining increasing popularity in the laterRomanesque period.
In the vicinity ofOviedo in Spain are several churches of the late 9th and early 10th century which display a remarkable array of windows containing the earliest examples of roses windows outside theByzantine Empire. The designs closely resemble the motifs found on the Byzantine relief carvings of marblesarcophagi,pulpits and well heads and pierced decorations of screens and windows ofRavenna andConstantinople. The church ofSan Pedro de Nora has at its apsidal end a trio of rectangular windows with pierced decoration of two overlapping circles, the upper containing aGreek cross, the window being divided by the circles and the arms of the cross into numerous sections like tracery "lights".
In another of these churches,San Miguel de Lillo, is the earliest known example of an axially placed oculus with tracery. Several such windows of different sizes exist, and decoration of both Greek Cross and scalloped petal-like form occur, prefiguring both wheel and rose windows.
Circular windows and decorative circular recesses are a feature of manyRomanesque churches and cathedrals, particularly in Germany and Italy where the style existed for a prolonged period, overlapping the development of Gothic in France and its arrival with French architects in England.
In Germany,Worms Cathedral, has wheel windows in the pedimental ends of its nave and gables, very similar to the Early ChristianBasilica of S. Agnese in Rome. The apsidal western end has a central wheel window with smaller oculi in each face. The Church of the Apostles,Cologne has an array of both ocular and lobed windows forming decorative features in the gables and beneath theRhenish helmspire. The octagonaldome has a ring of oculi with two in each of the curved faces.[13]
InTřebíč,Czech Republic, is the 12th- and 13th-century Romanesque style Basilica of St Procopius with apsidal windows similar to those at Worms, but in this case the openings are filled with tracery of a Gothic form, clearly marking the transition to a new style.
In Italy, the use of circular motifs in various media was a feature of church facades, occurring onEarly Christian,Romanesque,Gothic,Renaissance andBaroque churches, a well-known example being those great circles inpolychrome marble which complement the central circular window onAlberti's Early Renaissance façade atSanta Maria Novella inFlorence.[14] Oculi were also typically used in the drums supporting domes and as upper lights in octagonal baptisteries such as that atCremona.
On the Romanesque façade ofSpoleto Cathedral there is a profusion of recessed and traceried oculi surrounding the central features of a rose window set within a square beneath a large mosaic of 1207.
In England there exist five Romanesque wheel windows, notably those atBarfreston andCastle Hedingham parish churches.
The transition from the Romanesque style to the Gothic was not clear cut, even at theAbbey of St Denis, to the north of Paris, where theAbbot Suger, between 1130 and 1144, gathered the various newly emerging features of Gothic into a single building, thereby “creating” theGothic style.[15]
Suger's original rose window in the prototype Gothic façade of St Denis probably pre-dates many of the remaining circular windows in Romanesque buildings such as those in England, at Trebic and Spoleto and that in the façade at Speyer.
Suger's window was not distinctively Gothic in its appearance. It no longer has its original form, but a mid-19th-century drawing by the restorerViollet-le-Duc indicates that it had a very large ocular space at the centre, the glass supported by an iron hoop, and surrounded by simple semicircularcusped lobes cut out of flat stone in a technique known as "plate tracery". The window now has Gothic tracery in it, possibly added byViollet-le-Duc who was very concerned about the lack of stability of the whole façade, and having restored the towers, was impelled to demolish the northern one when it suddenly subsided.
Along with the simple wheel windows of the lateNorman period in England, Germany and Italy, a large late 12th-century window still exists atChartres Cathedral. This remarkable window combines a large roundel at the centre with the radiating spokes of a wheel window, surrounded by a ring of smaller “plate tracery” lights with scalloped borders. The window, depicting theLast Judgement, contains its original scheme of glazing and retains much of the original glass of 1215, despite suffering damage duringWorld War II.[16]
Following the west window of Chartres, more daring Gothic windows were created at the Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame inMantes and in the dynamically sculptural facade ofLaon Cathedral (which also, unusually, has a rose window in its eastern end as well as in it transept ends). These windows have large lights contained in tracery of a semicircular form, like overlapping petals.
The window that is central to the well-known Gothic façade ofNotre Dame, Paris, is of more distinctly Gothic appearance, with mullions in two bands radiating from a central roundel, each terminating in pointed arches. It was this window, completed about 1255, that set the pattern for many other rose window including those of the transepts at St Denis and the gigantic and complex window in the south transept at Notre Dame.[17]
AtChartres, the transepts roses follow the style of the original 12th-century rose, elaborating on the theme of contrasting forms. The south rose combines the wheel with circles and semicircles, while the north rose introduces square lights which, rotating around the centre, are all set at different angles, creating akaleidoscopic effect of great energy.[18]
From the building of Chartres the dimensions of the rose window began to increase with the development of more elaborate window styles associated withGothic architecture. By the middle of the 13th century, the rose had attained the greatest possible size – the entire width of thenave or transept, as seen in the transept roses at St Denis and Paris.
In the facades of St Denis, Chartres, Mantes, Laon and Paris, the rose was put under a circular arch. The next important development in its use for the Gothic style was to put it under a pointed arch, as was done in theNotre-Dame de Reims (after 1241), in thetransepts as well as in the later roses of thefacade. This form probably stemmed from the now destroyed St Nicaise, also in Reims.
The rose window was often placed above a row of vertical lights as the apex of the composition, the small corner "spandrels" between the rose and lower tier being filled by smaller lights of rose form, as in the transepts of St Denis and Notre Dame.
The last step in evolution of the Gothic style was to set the rose into a tier of vertical lights, of staggered height and surmount it by a tapering pointed light so that it became the centre of a vast window composition, covering the whole end of the transepts, as inRouen orBeauvais Cathedrals. This sort of elaborate composition can also be seen at the east end ofMilan Cathedral.
Rose windows were also set into square windows, the spandrels being pierced and filled with smaller lights as atParis, 1257, or unpierced with sculpture, the form more common in Italy as atSpoleto and also seen in the north transept ofWestminster Abbey and atStrasbourg Cathedral, (see pictured above).
Two examples of rose windows are found in theNational Basilica, built in 1893 and in the Santa Teresa Church, built in 1934. Thecathedral inCuenca, in the southern Andes, has a notable rose window.
In England, the use of the rose window was commonly confined to the transepts although roses of great span were constructed in the west front ofByland Abbey and in the east front ofOld St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
MedievalBeverley Minster has an example of an Early Gothic wheel window with ten spokes, each light terminating in a cusped trefoils and surrounded by decorative plate tracery.
At Christ ChurchAppleton-le-Moors, Yorkshire, the 19th-century architectJ.L.Pearson appears to have taken as his inspiration the regional floral symbol of thewhite rose. This unusual plate-tracery window dating from the 1860s has been designed with five double sections like the two-part petals of a simple rose.
First United Methodist Church in Lubbock, Texas, houses one of the largest rose windows at26+1⁄2 feet (8.1 m) in diameter.[19]A Baroqueoculus without tracery or stained glass can be seen atSan Jose Mission inSan Antonio, Texas, which was founded by the Franciscan Fathers and dates from 1718 to 1731.
The largest rose window in the United States isThe Great Rose Window above the main doors of theCathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. It is designed in theGothic Revival style and made from more than 10,000 pieces ofstained glass.
Washington National Cathedral has three large rose windows which represent the Creation, Last Judgement, and Glory of God.
Symbolism: the north rose of Notre Dame, Paris, has at its centre the Blessed Virgin Mary and Christ Child in Majesty, surrounded by prophets and saints.Symbolism: the north rose of the Abbey of St Denis, Paris, showing God the Creator, surrounded by the Days ofCreation, the Order of the Heavens represented by theZodiac and the Order of Earth as represented by theLabours of the Months. In the corners are theFall of Mankind.
In Gothic cathedrals and churches, where a rose is often found above the West Door, the most common subject of the stained glass that it contains is theLast Judgement, which by a long tradition is depicted either in mural or glass on the western wall of the building.[20] In such windowsChrist is shown seated in the centre "light" and within the lights around him are the symbols of the fourGospel writers,Apostles,Prophets,Saints andAngels. Some windows show God's dominion over Heaven and Earth by includingZodiacal signs andLabours of the Months.[21]
When rose windows are used in the transept ends, then one of those windows is frequently dedicated to Mary as theMother of Jesus. In modernCatholic thought, the rose window is often associated with theVirgin Mary because one of her titles, referred to bySt Bernard of Clairvaux, is the "Mystical Rose". However, the specific association of Mary with the rose window is unlikely during the Medieval period, because the term "rose window" was not coined until the 17th century, a time when few such windows were being constructed. However, with the revival of theGothic style in the 19th and 20th centuries, much stained glass that was installed in rose windows, both in new churches and as restoration in old churches, was dedicated to theVirgin Mary.[22]
Some were elaborately decorated with carved ornament and symbols of the Evangelist. Also it was common for them to be decorated with images of lions, bulls, eagles, and angels. With that being said, most had little-to-no decoration.
The most important identifying thing about the oculi style was that a technically, in the traditional sense, wasn't a window. This was due to the fact that, there was no glass separating the inside of the building from the outside. Sometimes they would have metal grate bars in them.
The belief of the purpose and use, was to have natural light within the structures.
Small circular windows were common, and very popular of this period.
The reason for this, was the poor architectural advancements at the time. At this point, the heavy stone material that was favored could only support small windows.
Many speculate that the rose window came from the Wheel a Fortune from the northern facade of a,Saint-Étienne, Beauvais in 1072.
Wheel window style
The wheel window style refers to when architects started to putting glass within the oculi structure creating an actual window. This was due to when architects tried increasing the diameter of the oculi to let in more light, the problem of wind and rain became very apparent.
They became the standard for the rose window, becoming the base of which other styles that would be created.
“Tracery” refers to the pattern within the window itself. Over the course of time tracery will evolve and change into three different distinct patterns: geometric, flower, and flame.
“Plate” refers to a technique that came about in the 5th and 6th century in Syria, where when carving designs, an artist would take a single flat slab or piece of stone and carve one complete design with it.
Consider to be the first Gothic church, theAbbey Church of Saint-Denis, was completed in 1144 AD, as the Gothic period was beginning. It also is the first known church to have stained glass rose windows around 1200 AD
The first rose windows that used dividing pieces and adornments first appeared basically at the same time in Italy at San Zeno at Verona, in Tuscany and in France at Saint-Denis and Saint-Etienne at Beauvais. At this time it was just as much of a useful structure tailored for interior drama as it was for exterior decoration.
Rose windows gained major popularity in the middle of the 12th century.
The Gothic period is considered to be the birthplace of the “true” traditional rose window.
Plate tracery style
Example(s):
Notre-Dame de Paris (1163–1345 AD)
Notre-Dame was considered a great architectural accomplishment in many ways including the rose window. The west rose window is nearly 33 ft in diameter with a spider web like frame for great support. It also has one of the highest ratio of glass and stone of any other rose window.
In 1225 Notre-Dame began modifications on its fourth story, instead of a triforium there were rose-shaped oculi which projected light onto the roof.
The Collegiate Church of Mantes which was similar in design but smaller in scale also used oculi windows for lighting.
Lincoln Cathedral (1185–1311 AD)
Around the Gothic period the style of window, took a turn from the “wheel” like shape to a more complex flowering shape.
Although, it cannot be known for sure when the rose window got its name, the naming of the window is thought to have occurred around the early 13th century.
It is believed that the increase in popularity of the Virgin Mary is linked to the rose windows getting their name and gaining favor as well.
A product already have been invented in the Middle Ages, stained glass only had appeared in the rose window at the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis. However, it started to become more popular around the earlier part of the 1200s, often the money for the glass, being donated by the wealthy.
The glass had a tenancy to be dark and rich with color.
The most common color combination was blue and red color patterns.
Bar tracery style
Bar tracery allowed for more glass to be used in the windows, creating a more visually stunning piece of artwork.
In 1211, Reims Cathedral became known for being the first Gothic cathedral to use bar tracery with rose windows.
Besides, showing up later in Rhenish art around 1200, the circular window was almost never used in Romanesque architecture and never considered to be important for lighting.
Early Gothic style
Example(s):
Laon Cathedral (12th–13th centuries AD)
1180–90 marked the date for the two transept large rose windows which were made up of several juxtaposed multi-foils. These stood out in particular for their importance in interior lighting.
Around 1205 the Laon Cathedral's choir was upgraded to also house a large rose window which was subdivided by mullions (slender dividing bars). Along with some other tall windows this was considered one of the greatest examples of Gothic art from the early 13th century.
From the 12th until the early 13th century, The Last Judgement became a popular theme in rose windows.
Rayonnant Gothic style
This began the revolution of rose windows, in the sense that no Gothic church or cathedral, was complete without one. Rose Windows became a standard part of Gothic architecture. With the overwhelming desire to have rose windows everywhere, came the mixed reviews of craftsmanship and design, compared to the ones of previous eras.
The style is probably most known for its emphasis on more glass being shown in the rose windows.
Curvilinear style
Origin are from England.
Compared to previous styles, the Curvilinear style is considered to be one of the more abstract, unconventional, design interpretations of the rose window.
Example(s):
Boyton in Wiltshire (13th century AD)
Flamboyant Gothic style
The name refers to the flame like form and design within the patterned tracery.
Example(s):
Sainte-Chapelle (1242–1248 AD)
Sens Cathedral (1490)
One of the most exquisite examples of flamboyant style mastered by Martin Chambige.
Beauvais Cathedral (1500)
Also created by Chambiege and while it is visually spectacular it is not executed as well.
Henry Adams,Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres, Paul Hamlyn,ISBN0600341828
Sarah Brown,Stained Glass- an Illustrated History, Bracken Books,ISBN1-85891-157-5
Painton Cowen,The Rose Window, London and New York, 2005 (offers the most complete overview of the evolution and meaning of the form, accompanied by hundreds of colour illustrations.)
Giovanni Fanelli,Brunelleschi, 1980, Becocci editore Firenze. ISBN unknown
SirBanister Fletcher,A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method, first published 1896, current edition 2001, Elsevier Science & TechnologyISBN0-7506-2267-9
John Harvey,English Cathedrals, 1963, Batsford, ISBN
Lawrence Lee, George Seddon, Francis Stephens,Stained Glass, Spring Books,ISBN0-600-56281-6
Elizabeth Morris,Stained and Decorative Glass, Doubleday,ISBN0-86824-324-8
Anne Mueller von der Haegen, Ruth Strasser,Art and Architecture of Tuscany, 2000, Konemann,ISBN3-8290-2652-8
Nikolaus Pevsner,An Outline of European Architecture; 7th ed., Penguin Books, 1964, ISBN unknown
Joseph Rykwert, "Leonis Baptiste Alberti",Architectural Design, Vol. 49 No. 5–6, Holland St, London
Otto von Simson (1956),The Gothic Cathedral, Origins of Gothic Architecture and the Medieval Concept of Order, 3rd ed. 1988,Princeton University Press, Princeton.
John Summerson,Architecture in Britain 1530–1830, 1977 ed., Pelican,ISBN0-14-056003-3
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