Chapter 12: Gothic Art

Rib vault

Invented at the end of the Romanesque period, and became the standard vaulting practice of the Gothic period

Bays

The Romanesque use of repeated vertical elements in these also became standard in the Gothic period

Rose window

a circular window, filled with stained glass, placed at the end of a transept or on the façade of a church

Pointed arch

First seen in Islamic Spain, this arch directs thrusts down to the floor more efficiently than rounded arches

Ogee arch

an arch formed by two S-shaped curves that meet at the top

Flying buttress

a stone arch and its pier that support a roof from a pillar outside the building

Chevet

the east end of a Gothic church

Choir

a space in a church between the transept and the apse for a choir or clergymen

Close

an enclosed garden-like area around a cathedral

Compound pier

a pier that appears to be a group or gathering of smaller piers put together

Triforium

a narrow passageway with arches opening onto a nave, usually directly below a clerestory

Pinnacle

a pointed sculpture on piers or flying buttresses

Spire or Steeple

a tall pointed tower on a church

Hammerbeam

a type of roof in English Gothic architecture, in which timber braces curve out from walls and meet high over the middle of the floor

Portal

a doorway

Pietà

a painting or sculpture of a crucified Christ lying on the lap of his grieving mother, Mary

Andachtsbild

an image used for private contemplation and devotion

Lancet

a tall narrow window with a pointed arch usually filled with stained glass

Apocalypse

the last book of the Christian Bible, sometimes called Revelations, which details Gods destruction of evil and consequent raising to heaven of the righteous

Moralized Bible

a Bible in which the Old and New Testament stories are paralleled with one another in illustrations, text, and commentary

Passover

an eight day Jewish festival that commemorates the exodus of Jews from Egypt under the leadership of Moses

Hundred Years’ War

This conflict devastated both countries socially and economically, and left vast regions of France ruined.

Babylonian Captivity

French popes moved the Christian church's headquarters to Avignon, France, causing a spiritual crisis that affected Europe, especially Rome.

Black Death

A misdiagnosed pulmonary plague killed 25–30% of the world in the greatest catastrophe in human history.

choir

Increasingly elaborate ceremonies called for a larger space to be introduced between the transept and the apse, called the \____.

Chartres Cathedral

• The first church to have flying buttresses as part of the original design

• Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary; a Marian shrine.

• Importance of the church reflected in the speed of construction: 27 years.

• Part of a complex that included a school, a bishop’s palace, and a hospital.

west wing

The _____ of Chartres Cathedral is the entrance, facing sunset and symbolizing the end of the world.

north wing

The ____ of Chartres Cathedral has stained-glass windows that symbolize the past.

south wing

The ____ of Chartres Cathedral has stained-glass windows that symbolize the present world depicted in the New Testament.

east wing

The ____ of Chartres Cathedral has the apse and altar, located where the sun rises.

Westminster Hall

• Meant for grand ceremonial occasions: coronations, feasts.

• Later used as a law court to dispense justice..

• Hammerbeam style roof; made of oak; beams curve to meet in the center of the ceiling like a corbelled arch.

Great Portals of the West Façade

• These portals were used by church hierarchy, not commoners, as the entry to the church.

• Called Royal Portals because the jamb sculptures depict kings and queens from the Old Testament

• Three portals linked by lintels and 24 capitals that contain the life of Christ

Left tympanum

Christ before he takes on mortal form.

Central tympanum

Christ as Judge of the World, no menacing Last Judgment as at Conques; Christ surrounded by symbols of the evangelists.

Right tympanum

Mary as Queen of Heaven; scenes from her life; Mary with the Christ Child in her lap symbolizing her as the throne of wisdom.

Röttgen Pietà

• Christ emaciated, drained of all blood, all tissue, all muscle.

• Originally vividly painted, some paint survives.

• This work shows the humanizing of religious themes

• An Andachtsbild

Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere

• Part of a lancet stained-glass window in Chartres Cathedral.

• Color patterns on the cathedral's gray stone represent the divine.

• Bands across the surface are typical of Early Gothic stained glass.

Scenes from the Apocalypse

• From a Bible moralisée (Moralized Bible), Gothic Europe

• Eight medallions; format derives from the stained-glass windows.

• Luminosity of text a reflection of stained-glass windows; strong black outlining of forms.

• Moralized Bible

Dedication Page with Blanche of Castile and Louis IX of France

• Blanche of Castile, mother and regent to the king

• Made of illuminated manuscript, ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum

• teenage king Louis IX

• older monk dictates to younger scribe

Golden Haggadah

• 56 miniatures; gold leaf background

• This Haggadah was used primarily at home

• Two unknown artists, probably Christian

• Painted around the Barcelona area of Spain.

Haggadah

a book that illustrates the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt under Moses and its subsequent celebration.

The Plagues of Egypt from the Golden Haggadah

• This illustrates the plague of the first-born.

• In the upper-right scene, a man is struck by an angel's sword;

• In the left scene, the queen mourns her baby lying lifeless on a nurse's lap;

• The third scene, not recorded in the Bible, probably represents the funeral of the first-born.

Scenes of Liberation from the Golden Haggadah

In this last opening of the sequence of full-page miniatures, the artist concentrates on two themes: the Israelites' liberation and joyful departure from Egypt, and preparations for the Passover Festival.

Preparation for Passover from the Golden Haggadah

ritual narration of the story of Passover, when Moses led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt with a series of miraculous events (recounted in the Jewish Bible in the book of Exodus).