Gothic architecture in Francein the 12th and 13th centuries

Issues:12th-13th centuries:Society: growth of cities; prosperity of merchants; founding of universities14th-15th centuries:Plague: “black death”, 14th centuryWar: 1337 beginning of Hundred Years’ WarPolitics: Great Schism 1378-1417

Term “Gothic” coined by Giorgio Vasari (16th century)

Origins of Gothic architecture are found in the area around Paris, the Île-de-France, ca. 1140

Abbey church of Saint-Denis, outside Paris, France. Gothic rebuilding 1140s under Abbot Suger

Romanesque church of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France 1070-1120

Romanesque church of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse, France 1070-1120Detail of exterior and interior of ambulatory and chapels

Saint-Sernin, Toulouse1070s

Saint-Denis, Paris1140s

Saint-Sernin

Saint-Denis

with ogival arches

Choir of abbey church of Saint-Denis, 1140s Dedicating the church in 1144, Abbot Suger describes the manner

in which the choir shone 'with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most sacred windows, pervading the interior beauty'

Abbey church of Saint-Denis, outside Paris, France. Gothic reconstruction 1140s

Romanesque PortalAbbey Church at Moissac, France, 1100

Chartres Cathedral, France, ca. 1145-1155

Gothic portal: Royal Portal on the west façade of Chartres Cathedral, France, ca. 1145-1155

Royal Portal on the west façade of Chartres Cathedral, France, ca. 1145-1155. Detail shows Old Testament kings and queen jamb statues

Increasing naturalism in Gothic sculpture:Left: Old Testament kings and queen jamb statues from Royal Portal at Chartres, ca. 1145Right: Saints Martin, Jerome, and Gregory, jamb statues from Porch of the Confessors, Chartres, ca. 1220

Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, France, 1163 – ca. 1220.Note rose window and tracery

Notre-Dame, Paris, France, 1163 – ca. 1220:Stained glass windows and sexpartite ribbed vaulting

Notre-Dame, Paris, France, 1163 – ca. 1220:South rose window Hugh of Saint-Victor (Parisian theologian, d. 1142): “Stained-

glass windows are the Holy Scriptures … and since their brilliance lets the splendor of the True Light pass into the church, they enlighten those inside.”

Notre-Dame, Paris, France, 1163 – ca. 1220South façade: flying buttresses

Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, 1243-1248

Sainte-Chapelle,Interior of upper chapel, Paris, 1243-1248