GOTHIC EUROPEGARDNER CHAPTER 18-3PP. 478-486

VIRGIN OF PARIS Virgin and Child (Virgin of Paris),

Notre-Dame, Paris, France, early 14th century

Best example of the court style in Late Gothic sculpture

Exaggerated S-curve posture is typical of Late Gothic sculpture

A worldly queen -> decked out in royal garments and heavy gem-encrusted crown -> Jesus as infant prince

Further humanization of the portrayal of religious figure -> Late Gothic is very different in tone from the solemnity of most High Gothic figures

SAINT-MACLOU, ROUEN West façade of Saint-Maclou, Rouen,

France, ca. 1500-1514

Shift from the High Gothic to the Late French Gothic architecture = shift from Rayonnant to the FLAMBOYANT style -> named for the flamelike appearance of its pointed bar tracery

Best example of Flamboyant style is the church of Saint-Maclou in Normandy

The five portals bend outward in an arc -> wiry, flickering flamboyant tracery form brittle decorative webs mask the buildings structure

Bewildering complexity of overlapping features

CARCASSONNE

Aerial view of the fortified town of Carcassonne, France, 12th and 13th centuries

Age of frequent warfare -> feudal barons built fortified castles/towns

Ramparts = defensive wall circuits

Battlements with crenellations

The keep

Familiar sight in Gothic France -> tight complex of castle, cathedral, and town

GUILD HALL, BRUGES

Hall of the cloth guild, Bruges, Belgium, begun 1230

The Bruges cloth guild’s meeting hall is an early example of a new type of secular architecture in the late Middle Ages

Sits in the city’s major square -> shows the important role of artisans and merchants in Gothic Europe

Designed to for attention and prestige with the towers of city cathedrals

HOUSE OF JACQUES COEUR House of Jacques Couer,

Bourges, France, 1443-1451

The house of the immensely wealthy Bourges financier Jacques Couer -> splendid example of Late Gothic architecture w/elaborate tracery

Symbol of the periods new secular spirit

BOOK ILLUMINATION AND LUXURY ARTS

Paris was the intellectual center of Gothic Europe

University faculty -> birthplace of scholasticism

Center for skilled architects, masons, sculptors, and stained-glass makers

Center for the production of fine books

During the Gothic period book manufacture shifted from monastic scriptoria to urban workshops of professional artists

VILLARD DE HONNECOURT

Villard de Honnecourt, figures based on geometric shapes, folio 18 verso of sketchbook, from Paris, ca. 1220-1235, ink on vellum

On this page from his private sketchbook, the master mason Villard de Honnecourt sought to demonstrate that simple geometric shapes are the basis of natural forms and building

Ars de geometria

GOD AS ARCHITECT

God as architect of the world, folio 1 verso of a moralized Bible, from Paris, France, ca. 1220-1230, ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum

Geometry played a symbolic role in Gothic art and architecture

The triangle for example, symbolized the idea of the Trinity, the circle symbolized the eternity of the one God

God is shaping the world w/the aid of a compass -> the artist portrays God as an industrious architect using the same tools as Gothic builders

LOUIS IX, THE SAINTLY KING

The royal patron behind the Parisian Rayonnant “court style” of Gothic art and architecture was King Louis IX (1214-1270)

His mother Blanche of Castile served as regent to the boy king

French regarded Louis as the ideal king -> in 1297 he was declared a saint

Known for his piety, justice, truthfulness, and charity

Louis launched two Crusades and died in Tunisia during the second one

He was seen as the Christian knight, the benevolent monarch, and the holy man

BLANCHE OF CASTILE Detail of the dedication page of a

moralized Bible, 1226-1234

Saint Louis was an avid collector or both secular and religious books -> amassed a vast library

One of the books commissioned by the royal family is a moralized Bible -> costly gold-leaf dedication page depicts Saint Louis, his mother Blanche of Castile, and two monks -> the younger monk is at work on the paired illustrations of a moralized Bible

PSALTER OF SAINT LOUIS

Abraham and the three angels, folio 7 verso of the Psalter of Saint Louis, from Paris, France, 1253-1270, ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum

It is believed the artists who produced the Psalter of Saint Louis are the same as those who produced the stained glass for his Saint-Chapelle church

Architectural settings reflect screenlike lightness and transparency of royal Rayonnant buildings -> colors emulate those of stained glass

Elegant proportions, facial expression, theatrical gestures, swaying postures are hallmarks of the Parisian Rayonnant court style

BREVIARY OF PHILIPPE LE BEL

Master Honore, David anointed by Samuel, folio 7 verso of the Breviary of Philippe le Bel, From Paris, France, 1296, ink and tempera on vellum

Master Honore was one of the secular artists who produced books for the French monarchy

Two Old Testament scene involving David -> Samuel anoints youthful David, David prepares to aim his slingshot

Figures have sculptural volume and showed the play of light on their bodies

BELLEVILLE BREVIARY

Jean Pucelle, David before Saul, folio 24 verso of the Belleville Breviary, Paris, France, ca. 1325, ink and tempera on vellum

Fully modeled figures in 3D architectural settings rendered in convincing perspective

Believed to have visited and studied in Italy

Close observer of plants and fauna

VIRGIN OF JEANNE D’EVREUX

Virgin of Jeannne d’Evereux, from the abbey church of Saint-Denis, France, 1339, silver gilt and enamel, 2’3” high

Queen Jeanne d’Evereux donated this luxurious reliquary-statuette to the royal abbey church of Saint-Denis

Intimate human characterization of the holy figures recalls that of the Virgin of Paris

Beautiful young Mary, child playfully reaches for his mother -> elegant proportions, swaying posture, heavy drapery folds

Fleur-de-lis scepter contained hairs believed to be from Mary’s head

THE CASTLE OF LOVE

The Castle of Love and knights jousting, lid of a jewelry casket

Woman’s jewelry box adorned w/ivory relief panels

At left the siege of the Castle of Love -> shooting flowers and hurling baskets of roses from catapults

Center is a jousting scene