Gothic

Architecture

HISTORY 213
D o n H o n o r i o Ven tu r a S ta te U n iver si ty
D e p a r tm en t o f A r c h i tectur e
B a sed o n S i r B a n i ster Fletc h er ’s
“A H i sto r y o f A r c h i tec tu r e” 2 0 th Ed i ti o n ,
ed i ted by D a n Cr ui c kshank
INTRODUCTION OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
The Beginning
The techniques and skills of Gothic masons evolved
without interruption over a period of 400 years.

The building in which the style achieved its first

magisterial expression was the Abbey Church of St.
Denis outside Paris which was partly rebuilt by its
abbot, Suger, in the decade before 1144. Suger’s
personal contribution is difficult to isolate, but he
certainly represents the decisive intervention of
ecclesiastical patronage.

INTRODUCTION OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

The Beginning
The new choir at S. Denis was visually quite unlike the heavy,
monumental Romanesque of the adjacent regions of France thru:

Extremely light and open in

structure making use of fine
materials akin to antique marble,
with 2 rows of prominent, virtually
contiguous stained-glass windows
in ambulatory chapels and
clerestory, forming a luminous
backdrop to the sumptuous altar
that was its liturgical centerpiece.

INTRODUCTION OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

The Beginning
The new choir at S. Denis was visually quite unlike the heavy,
monumental Romanesque of the adjacent regions of France thru:

Masonry was reduced to a skeletal

minimum. It provided a frame for
the windows and defined the spatial
components without disrupting
their essential unity.

INTRODUCTION OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

The Beginning
St. Denis was not a very big church, but
most of the ingredients of the High
Gothic cathedrals were already
anticipated. The problem was how to
apply the St. Denis style to the grander
scale and somewhat different
ecclesiastical purposes of cathedral
churches.

Here height mattered as much as if not

more than light and color, and this
raised in acute form the problem of
buttressing the high vaults.

INTRODUCTION OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

The Beginning
The first solution was essentially an
adaptation of the Romanesque idea of
using galleries above the side aisles
as the basis for the necessary supports.
The result was the 4-storey elevation
which enjoyed a considerable vogue in
northern France during the second
half of the 12th Century.

Galleries, however, created their own

problems. If they were left unglazed
there was a broad dark band between
the 2 rows of windows; if they were
glazed, the windows could not be seen.

INTRODUCTION OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

The Beginning
The great creative moment in the
evolution of Gothic came at the end of
12th century when it was decided to
dispense with galleries, and at the same
time vastly to increase the overall size
of cathedrals.

This was made possible by the

imaginative use of flying buttresses,
which provided the same structural
support as galleries but without walls
or roofs. This device opened the way
to 2-far reaching developments.

INTRODUCTION OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

The Beginning
The disappearance of the
gallery as such allowed
the organization of
interior spaces to be
greatly simplified and the
possibility of further
spatial unification to be
explored. On the other
hand, flying buttresses
made it feasible to greatly
enlarge the clerestory
windows.
INTRODUCTION OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
Geography
Although Gothic spread across the rest of Europe from its
birthplace in northern France, it did so start, and often without due
deference to French prototypes. This is nowhere truer than in
England.

Note: Areas in the Circle is the

Paris metropolitan area or the
ile-de-France region

INTRODUCTION OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

Geography
Gothic reached Canterbury while still in its formative stages. And until
the second half of the 13th century it pursued an distinctive, insular
development which suggests that few Frenchmen came to England and
fewer Englishmen went abroad; yet those who stayed at home were not
short of ideas of their own as to what great churches should look like.

Note: Areas in the Circle is the

Paris metropolitan area or the
ile-de-France region

INTRODUCTION OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

Gothic
Architecture
IN FRANCE
Sequence of French Gothic Style
EARLY GOTHIC TRANSITION or
PRIMITIVE GOTHIC

HIGH GOTHIC or CLASSIC GOTHIC

RAYONNANT GOTHIC

FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC

LATE GOTHIC
FRENCH GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
 Gothic
Architecture
IN FRANCE
EARLY GOTHIC TRANSITION OR
PRIMITIVE GOTHIC
France: Political & Geographical
The France in which the first experiments of Gothic architecture
were made, around 1140, was a geographical rather that political
entity.
The Capetian ruling family, with their domain centered on Paris,
had only recently established a precarious control of the local
baronage and it was to take them nearly a century to establish the
power and prestige which culminated in the canonization of Louis
IX in 1297, the event had real political significance, welded France
into a single state.
France’s central position within western Europe became an asset,
Paris was now more than ever the administrative and cultural
center of France. In effect, Paris became the cultural cynosure for
the whole of western Europe. Thus, the great age of Gothic
architectural experiment coincided with this century of France’s
political & economic expansion.

FRENCH GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

France: Architectural Character
The earliest development occurred in the Ile de France Region in
the 1130s, as the architects tried to vault the thin walls that were
traditional in the area, and culminated in Suger’s choir at S. Denis,
which achieved a new luminosity and spaciousness.
Certainly, it drew heavily on the fertile Romanesque experiments
of the French Provinces, such as the technical advances of
Normandy & Burgundy, and the decorative eagerness of the south-
west.

SAINTE-MÈRE-ÉGLISE CHURCH IN NORMANDY, FRANCE

EXAMPLE OF LATE ROMANESQUE CHURCH IN BURGUNDY, FRANCE
(BUILT DURING ROMANESQUE ERA)

FRENCH GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

Sequence of French Gothic Style
EARLY GOTHIC TRANSITION or
PRIMITIVE GOTHIC

HIGH GOTHIC or CLASSIC GOTHIC

RAYONNANT GOTHIC

FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC

LATE GOTHIC
FRENCH GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
 Gothic
Architecture
IN FRANCE
HIGH GOTHIC OR
CLASSIC GOTHIC
B. HIGH GOTHIC or CLASSIC GOTHIC
(Circa 1200 ~1270)
The Gothic style spread from the
Île-de-France region to appear in
other cities of northern France.
New structures in the style
include:
Chartres Cathedral Bourges Cathedral

❑Chartres Cathedral (begun 1200)

❑Bourges Cathedral (1195 to 1230)
❑Reims Cathedral (1211–1275)
❑and Amiens Cathedral
(begun 1250)

Reims Cathedral Amiens Cathedral

Sequence of French Gothic Style

B. HIGH GOTHIC or CLASSIC GOTHIC
(Circa 1200 ~1270)
This era century brought an increase pinnacles

in the scale of buildings as shift in

patronage become distinguishable as
they were flourishing as never before,
characteristic Gothic elements were
refined to make the new cathedrals
taller, wider, and fuller of lights.

Buttresses were given greater weight

and strength by the addition of heavy
stone pinnacles on top. These were
often decorated with statues of angels
and became an important decorative
element of the High Gothic style.

Sequence of French Gothic Style

B. HIGH GOTHIC or CLASSIC GOTHIC
(Circa 1200 ~1270)
Another practical and decorative gargoyle
element, the gargoyle, appeared; it
was an ornamental rain spout which
channeled the water from the roof
away from the building.
Bourges is perhaps the grandest
of all medieval churches, but
Chartres Cathedral proved the
more popular design, providing
the model for big cathedrals and
followed almost slavishly on
ever-increasing scale at Reims
and Amiens.
Chartres Cathedral Bourges Cathedral

Sequence of French Gothic Style

B. HIGH GOTHIC or CLASSIC GOTHIC
(Circa 1200 ~1270)
The Bourges tradition,
however, gave rise to its own
group of ambitious
buildings, notably Le Mans
& Coutances Cathedral, Le Mans Cathedral

whereas the cathedral of

Beauvais was a conflation of Coutances Cathedral

both traditions.

Beauvais Cathedral was also the last

of the monumental High Gothic
churches
Beauvais Cathedral

Sequence of French Gothic Style

Sequence of French Gothic Style
EARLY GOTHIC TRANSITION or
PRIMITIVE GOTHIC

HIGH GOTHIC or CLASSIC GOTHIC

RAYONNANT GOTHIC

FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC

LATE GOTHIC
FRENCH GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
 Gothic
Architecture
IN FRANCE
RAYONNANT GOTHIC
C. RAYONNANT GOTHIC
(1270s ~ Mid-14th Century)
Taste is generally known as the
Rayonnant style means “Radiant”,
describing the tendency toward the
use of more and more stained glass
and less masonry in the design of
the structure, until the walls
seemed entirely made of glass.
In the beginning of 14th Century,
the massive High Gothic
Cathedrals became too expensive.
At the same time, a new shift in
patronage became apparent. Partly
on account of economic stagnation,
and as most wealthy towns now
possessed splendid new cathedrals. SAINTE CHAPELLE ON CHÂTEAU DE SAINT-GERMAIN-
EN-LAYE

Sequence of French Gothic Style

C. RAYONNANT GOTHIC
(1270s ~ Mid-14th Century)
The typical patron of the
Rayonnant era was private, and
the archetypal Rayonnant
buildings was palace chapel, like
Sainte Chapelle on Château de
Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Yvelines,
about 19 km west of Paris, France.
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
is now the National Museum of
Archaeology in France
Note: Château means Castle SAINTE CHAPELLE ON CHÂTEAU DE SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE
in French
When the Capetian line failed in 1328, ushered to the Hundred Years
War in 1337, followed by disastrous harvest, an ailing economy, and the
Back Death in 1348, a vast amount of building was necessary to replace
damaged or destroyed churches.

Sequence of French Gothic Style

Sequence of French Gothic Style
EARLY GOTHIC TRANSITION or
PRIMITIVE GOTHIC

HIGH GOTHIC or CLASSIC GOTHIC

RAYONNANT GOTHIC

FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC

LATE GOTHIC
FRENCH GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
 Gothic
Architecture
IN FRANCE
FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC
D. FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC
(Mid-14th Century ~ 15th Century)
Appeared in the second
half of the 14th century.
Its characteristic features
were more exuberant
decoration, as the nobles
and wealthy citizens of
mostly northern French
cities competed to build
more and more elaborate THE ROSE WINDOW OF
SAINTE-CHAPELLE DE VINCENNES.
churches and cathedrals.

Sequence of French Gothic Style

D. FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC
(Mid-14th Century ~ 15th Century)
Flamboyant took its name from the sinuous, flame-like
designs which ornamented windows.

Sequence of French Gothic Style

D. FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC
(Mid-14th Century ~ 15th Century)
Other new features included the arc en
accolade, a window decorated with an
arch, stone pinnacles and floral
sculpture.
The new style emerged owed its richly
decorative repertory of Tracery
patterns.
In many ways, Flamboyant had a
regional quality reminiscent of
Romanesque or early Gothic.

FLAMBOYANT TRACERY of
ROUEN CATHEDRAL, France

Sequence of French Gothic Style

D. FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC
(Mid-14th Century ~ 15th Century)
It also featured an increase in the
number of nervures, or ribs, that
supported and decorated each
vault of the ceiling, both for
greater support and decorative
effect.
Notable examples of
Flamboyant Gothic western facade of Rouen Cathedral

include the western

facade of Rouen Cathedral
and Sainte-Chapelle de
Vincennes in Paris, both
built in the 1370s; and
the Choir of Mont
Saint Michel Abbey Choir of Mont
(about 1448). Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes
Saint Michel Abbey

Sequence of French Gothic Style

D. FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC
(Mid-14th Century ~ 15th Century)
During this period, Paris did not play the major role in
the generation of Flamboyant that it had played in the
Rayonnant.

It seems to have reflected the political situation France

had, after the Paris-centered government of 13th century,
once more disintegrated into great principalities.

western facade of Rouen Cathedral

Sequence of French Gothic Style

Sequence of French Gothic Style
EARLY GOTHIC TRANSITION or
PRIMITIVE GOTHIC

HIGH GOTHIC or CLASSIC GOTHIC

RAYONNANT GOTHIC

FLAMBOYANT GOTHIC

LATE GOTHIC
FRENCH GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE
 Gothic
Architecture
IN FRANCE
LATE GOTHIC
E. LATE GOTHIC
(Mid-15th Century ~ 16th Century)
Beginning in the 1530s, the style
of French religious and civil
architecture also began to show
the influence of the Italian
Renaissance. Charles VIII of
France and Louis XII of France
had both participated in military
campaigns in Italy and had seen
the new architecture there.
Pont Notre-Dame (C. 1406) BEFORE IT WAS DESTROYED BY
Large numbers of Italian FLOOD.

stonemasons had also come to

Paris to work on the new Pont
Notre-Dame (1507–1512) and
other construction sites. This
conclude to shift of Trend on
architectural styles from Gothic
to Renaissance.

NEW Pont Notre-Dame (C. 16TH CENTURY)

Sequence of French Gothic Style

E. LATE GOTHIC
(Mid-15th Century ~ 16th Century)
In spite of all the unrest and
depredations, France
remained fundamentally the
best enriched of all
European countries, and by
the end of 15th Century, it
was possible to build once
again on a scale reminiscent
of High Gothic, with an
emphasis on such grand
architectural effects as
spacious plans and giant
orders, culminating at
St. Eustache in Paris.

Sequence of French Gothic Style