Gothic

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture.

Originating in 12th century France and lasting into the 16th century, Gothic architecture was known during the period as "the French Style" (Opus Francigenum), with the term Gothic first appearing during the latter part of the Renaissance. Its characteristic features include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress.

Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the great cathedrals, abbeys and parish churches of Europe. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings.

It is in the great churches and cathedrals and in a number of civic buildings that the Gothic style was expressed most powerfully, its characteristics lending themselves to appeal to the emotions. A great number of ecclesiastical buildings remain from this period, of which even the smallest are often structures of architectural distinction while many of the larger churches are considered priceless works of art and are listed with UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. For this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches.

Decorated Gothic

The Decorated Period in architecture (also known as the Decorated Gothic, or simply "Decorated") is a name given specifically to a division of English Gothic architecture. Traditionally, this period is broken into two periods: the "Geometric" style (1250–90) and the "Curvilinear" style (1290–1350).

The Decorated style was in use between c. 1250 and c. 1350, according to Sir Nikolaus Pevsner. It was a development of the Early English style of the 13th century, and would itself develop into the Perpendicular style, which lasted until the middle of the 16th century. These terms were originally coined by Thomas Rickman in his Attempt to Discriminate the Style of Architecture in England (1812–1815) and are still widely used. Rickman dated the Decorated period to 1307–1377.

Commentary

Differences between Gothic and Romanesque

A good way of visualising the distinction between Romanesque and Gothic is to imagine what would happen to the parent building if you were to remove the support in question. Generally speaking, removing a pillar or column would result in only part of the structure collapsing (an arch, perhaps, or a lintel); whereas, if you remove a support member as massive as a pier, a major part of the building would give way - such as an arcade bay or a crossing tower...

A New Aesthetic, an Aesthetic of Line Rather Than Mass

1.Sutton attributes the change from Romanesque to Gothic to the interpretation by architects of the structural opportunities opened up by the combination of the pointed arch, rib vault and the flying buttress. This, he says, led to a new aesthetic. There are some ways in which the structural advances contributed, almost inevitably, to the predominance of line, rather than mass. (a) The pointed arch, of itself, offered directional line. (b) Channelling thrust differently meant that architects could lighten walls and buttresses. (c) An arcade of slender columns presented, more readily than did heavier columns, a pattern of vertical lines. (d) Rib vaulting introduces transverse and diagonal line which can be linked to piers and pillars to run the entire internal height of the building (such as at Bourges – Sutton p.74). (e) With the previous need for massive supports, the ability to create linked vistas, linear or otherwise, was limited. But as mass reduced, the framework predominated, views of the interior widened and decorative schemes were able further to develop the sense of purposeful line. (f) Not just structure and decoration, but also varied building materials were used to emphasise further the linear style of buildings (black marble columns at Canterbury – Sutton p.89)

Structural advances therefore led to the design of buildings in which their frameworks were, or appeared to be, revealed, and in which the lines created by structure or design led upwards to the lofty interior, and, by doctrinal association, beyond.

2. While it is more limited and less arresting, and could not be said to amount to an aesthetic, the concept of linking architectural elements through vertical lines is evident in some Romanesque architecture. Where compound piers are used in Durham, shafts link arcade, gallery and roof (Sutton. p.60). Also, in a very different way, line is effectively employed decoratively in Pisan Romanesque (Sutton p.67).

3.Not every Gothic structure aimed to stress vertical line. At Wells (Sutton, p. 90) and Lincoln (Sutton p. 91) the designs feature horizontal lines.

4. It could also be said that the Gothic aesthetic was one of light and space. (a) Sutton says of St. Denis (p.79) that “the way the spaces are unified, flowing into each other without partition or division has no precedent in Romanesque architecture”. (b) The internal height of some of the Gothic cathedrals created vast spaces, and in German Gothic design, the hall church plan led to “unprecedented effects of width and spaciousness” (Sutton p.99). ( Vast height and space was not, however, the exclusive preserve of the Gothic , as Hagia Sophia demonstrates.) (c) Structural advances created space inside buildings, and allowed the extensive use of glazing in their outer walls (eg, the choirs at Gloucester and Cologne) which bought light to the interior.

5. While some elements of Gothic style contributed to an aesthetic of line rather than mass (the Perpendicular style in general, rib vaulting such as that at Cologne and the Ely octagon and the use of spires), others did not. Elaborate gables and statuary in the French Gothic style could be said to have created a very involved external appearance without an overall linear dimension, in contrast with the relative simplicity and clarity of the internal schemes. Similarly, vaulting can become ornate and lose the directional impact of the vault by the nature of the pattern created, such as the petal vaulting at Annaberg (Sutton p.102), “cellular” vaults at Danzig (Sutton p.103) or even English fan vaulting, where the intricate half-cones diffuse the directional effect of the ribs.

I had been thinking about whether the Gothic style was a result of a more economic use of scarce materials, or an innovative approach to building taller churches that would not collapse under their own weight or ecclesiatical pride or just wealthy excess. Certainly the churches in France were rich and powerful enough to employ master masons and purchase and transport the materials from limestone and sandstone quarries. Where Gothic architecture did take longer to emerge such as Germany, the Gothic churches tended to be built in brick, and in Italy it was marble, which may have played a role in its later adoption. However, new carving techniques and tools would have help transform the roughly hewn stone into some thing more ornate and slender and therefore something more elegant than mere mass. Ultimately, I think it was less to do with the availability or cost of stone but an emotional appeal that reflected the independence and power of the Churches and a desire to build something that was more indicative of heavan than earth and in sharp relief to the poverty and disease that puctuated the lives of most of the congregations.

We should also bear in mind that there were powerful theological impulses at work as well. Many medieval theologians (not least Abbot Suger of St Denis - the patron who first introduced the mature Gothic style to Europe) wrote eloquently of the transports of spiritual elevation which they experienced as a result of worshipping in these new Gothic interiors which were so flooded with brilliantly coloured light as a result of the inclusion of vast stained-glass windows. To the medieval mindset, physical light was a direct expression of spiritual illumination: hence the more light one could introduce into a church interior, the closer the worshipper could come to divine revelation.