Vézelay Abbey (now known as Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine) was a Benedictine and Cluniac monastery in Vézelay in the Yonne département in Burgundy, France. The Benedictine abbey church of Ste-Marie-Madeleine (or Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene), with its complicated program of imagery in sculpted capitals and portals, is one of the outstanding masterpieces of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture

The Benedictine abbey of Vézelay was founded,[1] as many abbeys were, on land that had been a late Roman villa, of Vercellus (Vercelle becoming Vézelay). The villa had passed into the hands of the Carolingians and devolved to a Carolingian count, Girart, of Roussillon.

In the 9th century, the abbey was refounded under the guidance of Badilo, who became an affiliate of the reformed Benedictine order of Cluny. Vézelay also stood at the beginning of one of the four major routes through France for pilgrims going to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, in the north-western corner of Spain.

About 1050 the monks of Vézelay began to claim to hold the relics of Mary Magdalene, brought, they related, from the Holy Land either by their 9th-century founder-saint, Badilo, or by envoys despatched by him. A little later a monk of Vézelay declared that he had detected in a crypt at St-Maximin in Provence, carved on an empty sarcophagus, a representation of the Unction at Bethany, when Jesus' head was anointed by Mary of Bethany, assumed in the Middle Ages to be Mary

Floor plan of Vézelay shows the adjustment in vaulting between the choir and the new nave.To accommodate the influx of pilgrims a new abbey church was begun, dedicated on April 21, 1104,

Tympanum of the central portal of the façade of the basilica St. Madeleine in Vézelay (the Last Judgment)

After the Revolution, Vézelay stood in danger of collapse. In 1834 the newly-appointed French inspector of historical monuments, Prosper Mérimée (more familiar as the author of Carmen), warned that it was about to collapse, and on his recommendation the young architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was appointed to supervise a massive and successful restoration, undertaken in several stages between 1840 and 1861, during which his team replaced a great deal of the weathered and vandalized sculpture. The flying buttresses that support the nave are his.[3]

Since 1920 it has carried the title basilica.

Vézelay and the lightIn 1976, after more than eight centuries, Hugues Delautre, one of the Franciscan fathers in charge of servicing the Vézelay sanctuary since 1966, discovers that not only the orientation axis of La Madeleine, but also its internal structure, have been determined taking into account the position of the earth relatively to the sun. Every year, the John the Baptist's feast day reveals the cosmic dimensions of this church: at the full midday of the summer solstice, when the sun is at its upper culmination over the earth, the light coming through the southern clerestorey windows create luminous spots that exactly locate in the full midst of the nave with a rigorous precision.[4][5][6][7]

To understand the meaning of this objective sign, Father Hugues Delautre refers to the 12th-century texts (Suger, Peter the Venerable, Honorius of Autun) that inhabit the monument with the symbolic mentality of that time, for which sense reveals itself from sensitive signs through the anagogical method (literally ascent towards the uncreated), and where one's gaze is invited to go beyond the

reality of the sign to reach the invisible, i.e. God and his mystery. Letting himself be progressively informed by the Vézelay light, he so concludes:

Has not the builder, fascinated by the beauty of the universe which he recognizes as the work of God, erected this vestibule to Heaven in imitation of God who created with order, measure and beauty? He could say as Solomon did when he constructed the Temple in Jerusalem exactly according to God's instructions: Thou hast given command to build a temple on Thy holy mountain.. a copy of the holy tent which Thou didst prepare from the beginning (Wisdom 9:8). The nave is the expression of the romanesque man's admiring submission to the divine plan testified to by all creation. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth His handywork (Psalms 19:1).

Interpretation of the TympanumThe tympanum of La Madeleine de Vézelay is different from its counterparts across Europe. From the beginning, its tympanum was specifically designed to function as a spiritual defense of the Crusades and to portray a Christian allegory to the Crusaders' mission. When compared to contemporary churches such as St. Lazare d'Autun and St. Pierre de Moissac, the distinctiveness of Vézelay becomes apparent.

The historian George Zarnecki wrote, "To most people the term Romanesque sculpture brings to mind a large church portal, dominated by a tympanum carved with an apocalyptic vision, usually the Last Judgment."[8] This is true in most cases, but Vézelay is definitely an exception. Unlike its contemporaries, which tend to depict the Second Coming of Christ, the subject of Vézelay's tympanum is the Pentecostal Mission of the Apostles. Its tympanum reflects its unique importance in the development of the Crusades.

Thirty years before the Vézelay tympanum was carved, Pope Urban II planned on announcing his call for a crusade at La Madeleine[citation needed]. In 1095, Urban altered his plans and preached for the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont, but Vézelay remained a central figure in the history of the crusades. The tympanum was completed in 1130. Fifteen years after its completion, Bernard of Clairvaux chose Vézelay as the place from which he would call for a Second Crusade. Vézelay was even the staging point for the Third Crusade. It is there that King Richard the Lionheart of England and King Philip Augustus of France met and joined their armies for a combined western invasion of the holy land. It is appropriate, therefore, that Vézelay's portal reflect its place in the history of the crusades.

The Lintel

The lintel of the Vézelay portal portrays the "ungodly" people of the world. It is a depiction of the first Pentecostal Mission to spread the word of God to all the people of the world. The figures in the tympanum who have not received the Word of God are depicted as not fully human. Some are shown with pig snouts, others are misshapen, and several are depicted as dwarves. One pygmy in particular is depicted as mounting a horse with the assistance of a ladder. On the far right, there is a man with elephantine ears, while in the center we see a man covered in feathers. The architects and artisans depicted the unbelievers as physically grotesque in order to provide a visual image of what they saw as the non-believers' moral terpitude. This is a direct reflection of Western perceptions of foreigners such as the Moors, who were being specifically targeted by the Crusaders. Even Pope Urban II, in his call for a crusade, helped promote this ethnocentric perception of the Turks by calling on westerners to, "exterminate this vile race."[9] Most Westerners had absolutely no idea what the Turks and Muslims looked like, and they assumed that an absence of Christianity must coincide with repulsive physical attributes. It has also been argued that the disbelievers were carved

as deformed monsters in an effort to dehumanize them. By dehumanizing their enemies in art, the Crusaders' mission to capture the holy land and convert or kill the Muslims was glorified and sanctified. The Vézelay lintel is, therefore, a political statement as well as a religious one.

Comparison With Other Contemporary Portals

Vézelay's political motivation becomes all the more apparent when compared with contemporary portal designs from other churches around France. The Vézelay lintel is distinct, but some comparisons can be made between it and other Romanesque portal sculptures of the time. Vézelay's lintel is comparable to the St. Lazare lintel in Autun in that both show humans who have sinned. While the Vézelay lintel is devoted to the depiction of "heathens," the Autun lintel shows the damned souls on Judgment Day. The similarity between both lintels is due in large part to the fact that the same master artisan, Master Gislebertus, was the primary architect on both sites. "Gislebertus..began his career at Cluny, then worked on the original west facade at Vézelay, and c. 1120 moved to Autun."[10] In addition, the two tympana are similar in that they follow the tradition of placing the exaggerated Christ in the center of the image. Here is where the similarity stops, however. Autun is more traditional and typical of the Romanesque portal carvings. It depicts the Second Coming, which is a popular and typical depiction in Romanesque art. Frightful images of demons abound. The goals of the two different tympana are reflected in their design; Autun is designed to frighten people back to church while Vézelay is designed as a political statement to support the crusades.

Cluny Abbey (or Cluni, or Clugny, French pronunciation: [klyˈni]) is a Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was built in the Romanesque style, with three churches built in succession from the 10th to the early 12th centuries.

Cluny was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910. He nominated Berno as the first Abbot of Cluny, subject only to Pope Sergius III. The Abbey was notable for its stricter adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict and the place where the Benedictine Order was formed, whereby Cluny became acknowledged as the leader of western monasticism. The establishment of the Benedictine order was a keystone to the stability of European society that was achieved in the 11th century. In 1790 during the French Revolution, the abbey was sacked and mostly destroyed. Only a small part of the original remains.

FoundationIn 910, William I, Duke of Aquitaine "the Pious", and Count of Auvergne, founded the Benedictine abbey of Cluny on a modest scale, as the mother house of the Congregation of Cluny. In donating his hunting preserve in the forests of Burgundy, William released the Cluny abbey from all future obligation to him and his family other than prayer. Contemporary patrons normally retained a proprietary interest and expected to install their kinsmen as abbots. William appears to have made this arrangement with Berno, the first abbot, to free the new monastery from such secular entanglements and initiate the Cluniac Reforms. The abbots of Cluny were statesmen on the international stage and the monastery of Cluny was considered the grandest, most prestigious and best-endowed monastic institution in Europe. The height of Cluniac influence was from the second half of the 10th century through the early 12th. The first female members were admitted to the order during the eleventh century.

OrganizationThe monastery of Cluny differed in three ways from other Benedictine houses and confederations:

• organizational structure;• prohibition on holding land by feudal service; and• execution of the liturgy as its main form of work.

While most Benedictine monasteries remained autonomous and associated with each other only informally, Cluny created a large, federated order in which the administrators of subsidiary houses served as deputies of the abbot of Cluny and answered to him. The Cluniac houses, being directly under the supervision of the abbot of Cluny, the autocrat of the Order, were styled priories, not abbeys. The priors, or chiefs of priories, met at Cluny once a year to deal with administrative issues and to make reports. Many other Benedictine houses, even those of earlier formation, came to regard Cluny as their guide. When in 1016 Pope Benedict VIII decreed that the privileges of Cluny be extended to subordinate houses, there was further incentive for Benedictine communities to insinuate themselves in the Cluniac order.

Partly due to the order's opulence, the Cluniac nunneries were not seen as being particularly cost-effective. The order did not have an interest in founding many new houses for women.

The customs of Cluny represented a shift from the earlier ideal of a Benedictine monastery as an agriculturally self-sufficient unit. This was similar to the contemporary villa of the more Romanized parts of Europe and the manor of the more feudal parts, in which each member did physical labor as well as offering prayer. In 817 St Benedict of Aniane, the "second Benedict", developed monastic constitutions at the urging of Louis the Pious to govern all the Carolingian monasteries. He

acknowledged that the Black Monks no longer supported themselves by physical labor. Cluny's agreement to offer perpetual prayer (laus perennis (literally "perpetual praise") meant that it had increased a specialization in roles.

As perhaps the wealthiest monastic house of the Western world, Cluny hired managers and workers to do the labor of monks in other orders. The monks devoted themselves to almost constant prayer, thus elevating their position into a profession. Despite the monastic ideal of a frugal life, the abbey in Cluny commissioned candelabras of solid silver and gold chalices made with precious gems for use at the abbey Masses. Instead of being limited to the traditional fare of broth and porridge, the monks ate very well, enjoying roasted chickens (a luxury in France then) and wines from their vineyards and cheeses made by their employees. The monks wore the finest linen habits and silk vestments at Mass. Artifacts exemplifying the wealth of Cluny Abbey are today on display at the Musée de Cluny in Paris.

At Cluny, the central activity was the liturgy; it was extensive and beautifully presented in inspiring surroundings, reflecting the new personally-felt wave of piety of the 11th century. Monastic intercession was believed indispensable to achieving a state of grace, and lay rulers competed to be remembered in Cluny's endless prayers; this inspired the endowments in land and benefices that made other arts possible.

The fast-growing community at Cluny required buildings on a large scale. The examples at Cluny profoundly affected architectural practice in Western Europe from the tenth through the twelfth centuries. The three successive churches are conventionally called Cluny I, II and III. In building the third and final church at Cluny, the monastery constructed what was the largest building in Europe before the 16th century, when St. Peter's in Rome was rebuilt. The construction of Cluny II, ca. 955-981, begun after the destructive Hungarian raids of 953, led the tendency for Burgundian churches to be stone-vaulted.

In the fragmented and localized Europe of the 10th and 11th centuries, the Cluniac network extended its reforming influence far. Free of lay and episcopal interference, responsible only to the papacy, which was in a state of weakness and disorder with rival popes supported by competing nobles, Cluniac spirit was felt revitalizing the Norman church, reorganizing the royal French monastery at Fleury[disambiguation needed] and inspiring St Dunstan in England. There were no official English Cluniac priories until that of Lewes in Sussex, founded by the Anglo-Norman earl William de Warenne c 1077. The best-preserved Cluniac houses in England are Castle Acre Priory, Norfolk, and Wenlock Priory, Shropshire. It is thought that there were only three Cluniac nunneries in England, one of them being Delapré Abbey at Northampton.

Until the reign of Henry VI, all Cluniac houses in England were French, governed by French priors and directly controlled from Cluny. Henry's act of raising the English priories to independent abbeys was a political gesture, a mark of England's nascent national consciousness.

The early Cluniac establishments had offered refuges from a disordered world but by the late 11th century, Cluniac piety permeated society. This is the period that achieved the final Christianization of the heartland of Europe.

Pope Callixtus II was elected at the papal election, 1119 at Cluny.Well-born and educated Cluniac priors worked eagerly with local royal and aristocratic patrons of their houses, filled responsible positions in their chanceries and were appointed to bishoprics. Cluny

spread the custom of veneration of the king as patron and support of the Church, and in turn the conduct of 11th-century kings, and their spiritual outlook, appeared to undergo a change. In England, Edward the Confessor was later canonized. In Germany, the penetration of Cluniac ideals was effected in concert with Henry III of the Salian dynasty, who had married a daughter of the duke of Aquitaine. Henry was infused with a sense of his sacramental role as a delegate of Christ in the temporal sphere. He had a spiritual and intellectual grounding for his leadership of the German church, which culminated in the pontificate of his kinsman, Pope Leo IX. The new pious outlook of lay leaders enabled the enforcement of the Truce of God movement to curb aristocratic violence.

The St. Foy abbey-church in Conques was a popular stop for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela, in what is now Spain. The original monastery building at Conques was an eighth-century oratory built by monks fleeing the Saracens in Spain.[1] The original chapel was destroyed in the eleventh-century in order to facilitate the creation of a much larger church [2] as the arrival of the relics of St. Foy caused the pilgrimage route to shift from Agen to Conques.[3] The second phase of construction, which was completed by the end of the eleventh-century, included the building of the five radiating chapels, the ambulatory with a lower roof, the choir without the gallery and the nave without the galleries.[4] The third phase of construction, which was completed early in the twelfth-century, was inspired by the churches of Toulouse and Santiago Compostela. Like most pilgrimage churches Conques is a basilica plan that has been modified into a cruciform plan.[5] Galleries were added over the aisle and the roof was raised over the transept and choir to allow people to circulate at the gallery level. The western aisle was also added to allow for increased pilgrim traffic.[6] The exterior length of the church is 59 meters. The interior length is 56 meters. the width of each transept is 4 meters. The height of the crossing tower is 26.40 meters tall.[5]

The main draw for medieval pilgrims at Conques were the remains of St. Foy, a martyred young woman from the fourth century. Her name has been assimilated into the general conception of 'Holy Faith.' The relics of St. Foy arrived in Conques through theft in 866. After unsuccessful attempts to acquire the relics of St. Vincent of Saragossa and then the relics of St. Vincent Pompejac in Agen they set their sights on the relics of St. Foy.[7] A monk from Conques posed as a loyal monk in Agen for nearly a decade in order to get close enough to the relics to steal them.[8]

The arches of the main aisle are simple rounded arches. These arches are echoed in the arches of the gallery which are half of the main arches' height with central supporting piers. Narrower versions of these arches are also found in the apse. The aisle around the apse is separated from the sanctuary by pillars and by the chapels which open up off of the transept.[5] There are three radiating chapels off of the apse [9] and two chapels off of the transept.[10] The side aisles are roofed with a barrel vault that was originally covered with stucco.[5] The nave at Conques is roofed with a continuous barrel vault which is 2 feet thick. The nave is divided into bays by piers which rise through the gallery and over the barrel vault. The piers of the naves are huge stone blocks laid horizontally and covered with either four half-columns or four pilasters. The interior of the church is 20.70 meters tall with the sense of verticality being intensified by the repeating pattern of half-columns and pilasters approaching the high altar. The barrel vault's outward thrust is met by the half barrels of the galleries which run the length of the nave and transept.[11]

The crossing dome is a delicate octagon set in square. Ribs radiate out from the center. Figures in the squinches are angels with realistic expressions and animated eyes.[5]

There are 212 columns in Conques with decorated capitals. The capitals are decorated with a variety of motifs including palm leaves, symbols, biblical monsters and scenes from the life of St. Foy.[12] On the fifth capital of the north side of the nave are two intricate and expressive birds. On the corresponding capital on the south side of the nave are flat and lifeless human figures. The figures appear to have a slight hunch, as if they are reacting to the weight of the arches above them.[5] The capitals functioned as didactic picture books for both monks and pilgrims.[2] Traces of color are still visible on a number of the columns.[9]

Light filters into Conques through the large windows under the groin vaults of the aisle and through the low windows under the half barrels of the galleries. The windows in the clerestory and the light from the ambulatory and radiating chapels focus directly onto the high altar. The nave receives direct light from the crossing tower.[13]

The ambulatory allowed pilgrims to glimpse into the sanctuary space through a metal grill.[14] The metal grill was created out of donated shackles from former prisoners who attributed their freedom to St. Foy.[15] The chains also have a number of symbolic meanings including reminding pilgrims of the ability of St. Foy to free prisoners and the ability of monks to free the penitent from the chains of sin. The stories associated with the ability of St. Foy to free the faithful follows a specific patter. Often a faithful pilgrim is captured and chained about the neck, they pray to St. Foy and are miraculously freed. The captor is sometimes tortured and then dismissed. The liberated pilgrims would then immediately travel to Conques and dedicate their former chains to St. Foy relaying their tale to all who would listen. As stories spread pilgrimage traffic increased.[7]

There is little exterior ornamentation on Conques except necessary buttresses and cornices. The exception to this is the Last Judgment tympanum located above the western entrance. As pilgrimages became safer and more popular the focus on penance began to wane. Images of doom were used to remind pilgrims of the purpose of their pilgrimage.[16] The tympanum appears to be later than the artwork in the nave. This is to be expected as construction on churches was usually begun in the east and completed in the west.[5] The tympanum depicts Christ in Majesty presiding over the judgment of the souls of the deceased. The cross behind Christ indicates he is both Judge and Savior. Archangel Michael and a demon weigh the souls of the deceased on a scale. The righteous go to Christ's right while the dammed go to Christ's left where they are eaten by a Leviathan and excreted into Hell. The torture of Hell are vividly depicted including poachers being roasted by the very rabbit they poached from the monastery.[17] The tympanum also provides an example of cloister whit. A bishop who governed the area of Conques but was not well liked by the monks of Conques is depicted as being caught in one of the nets of Hell.[16] The virtuous are depicted less colourfully.[18] The Virgin Mary, St. Peter and the pilgrim St. James stand on Christ’s left. Above their heads are scrolls depicting the names of the Virtues. Two gable shaped lintels act as the entrance into Heaven. In Heaven Abraham is shown holding close the souls of the righteous.[9] A pudgy abbot leads a king, possibly Charlemagne, into heaven. The tympanum was inspired by illuminated manuscripts and would have been fully colored, small traces of the color survive today.[9]

Conques is the home of many spectacular treasures. One of which is the famous ‘A’ of Charlemagne. The legend is that Charlemagne had twenty-four golden letters created to give to the monasteries in his kingdom. Conques received his ‘A’ indicating that it was his favorite.[19] This is only legend, while the ‘A’ exists it dates to circa 1100 and no other pieces of Charlemagne's alphabet have ever been found.[20] Conques is also home to an arm of St. George the Dragon Slayer. It is claimed that the arm at Conques is the arm with which he actually slayed the dragon. The golden statue reliquary of St. Foy dominated the treasury of Conques. Catching a glimpse of the reliquary was the main goal of the pilgrims who came to Conques. The head of the reliquary contains a piece of skull which has been authenticated.[21] The reliquary is a fifth-century roman head, possibly the head on an emperor, mounted on a wooden core covered with gold plating. Made in the latter half of the ninth-century the reliquary was 2 feet 9 inches tall. As miracles reportedly increased the gold crown, earrings, gold throne, filigree work and cameos and jewels, mostly donations from pilgrims, were added. In the fourteenth-century a pair of crystal balls and there mounts were added to the throne. Silver arms and hands were added in the sixteenth century. In the eighteenth-century bronze shoes and bronze plates on the knees

In architecture, a tympanum (plural, tympana) is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch.[1] It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments.[2] Most architectural styles include this element.[3] In ancient Greek and Roman and in Christian architecture tympana usually contain religious imagery,[4] when on religious buildings, and are very often the most important, or only, location for monumental sculpture on the outside of a building. In classical architecture, and in classicising styles from the Renaissance onwards, major examples are usually triangular; in Romanesque architecture they have a semi-circular shape, or that of a thinner slice from the top of a circle, and in Gothic architecture they have a more vertical shape, coming to a point at the top. These shapes naturally influence the typical compositions of sculpture within the tympanum.

The Cathedral of Orvieto is a large 14th century Roman Catholic cathedral situated in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. The building was constructed under the orders of Pope Urban IV to commemorate and provide a suitable home for the Corporal of Bolsena, a miracle which is said to have occurred in 1263 in the nearby town of Bolsena, when a traveling priest who had doubts about the truth of transubstantiation found that his Host was bleeding so much that it stained the altar cloth. The cloth is now stored in the Chapel of the Corporal inside the cathedral.

Situated in a position dominating the town of Orvieto which sits perched on a volcanic plug, the cathedral’s façade is a classic piece of religious construction, containing elements of design from the 14th to the 20th century, with a large rose window, golden mosaics and three huge bronze doors, while inside resides two frescoed chapels decorated by some of the best Italian painters of the period with images of Judgement Day.

ConstructionThe construction of the cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary (Santa Maria Assunta), lasted almost three centuries with the design and style evolving from Romanesque to Gothic as construction progressed. The flagstone of the cathedral was laid on 13 November 1290 by Pope Nicholas IV, and construction was entrusted to chief-mason (capomastro) Fra Bevignate di Perugia (also called Fra Bevignate da Gubbio) using a design by Arnolfo di Cambio (the architect of the cathedral of Florence). The cathedral was initially designed as a Romanesque basilica with a nave and two side aisles. But when Giovanni di Uguccione succeeded Fra Bevignate, the design was transformed into Italian Gothic forms.

Construction continued slowly until in 1309 the Sienese sculptor and architect Lorenzo Maitani (universalis caput magister) was commissioned to work on the church and solve several issues concerning the load-bearing capabilities of the building, especially of the choir. He substantially changed the design and construction of the building. He strengthened the external walls with flying buttresses, which proved later to be useless. These buttresses were eventually included in the walls of the newly built transept chapels. He rebuilt the apse into a rectangular shape and added a large stained-glass quadrifore window. Starting in 1310 he created the current façade up to the level of the bronze statues of the symbols of the Evangelists.. He also added much of the interior. He died in 1330, shortly before the completion of the duomo, succeeded by his sons. In 1347 Andrea Pisano, the former Master of the Works of the Florence Cathedral, was appointed the new Master of the Works. He was followed in 1359 by Andrea di Cione, better known as Orcagna.The beautiful mosaic decoration and the rose window are attributed to him. The Sienese architect Antonio Federighi continued the decoration of the façade between 1451 and 1456, adding some Renaissance modules. In 1503 Michele Sanmicheli finished the central gable and added the right spire, which was finished by Antonio da Sangallo junior in 1534. Final touches to the façade were made by Ippolito Scalza by adding the right pinnacle in 1590 and the left in 1605-1607. All in all, the succeeding architects kept a stylistic unity to the façade.

The façadeThe Gothic façade of the Orvieto Cathedral is one of the great masterpieces of the Late Middle Ages. The three-gable design is attributed to Maitani, who had clearly undergone some influence by the design scheme for the façade in Tuscan Gothic style of the Siena Cathedral by Giovanni Pisano (1287–1297) and the plan for façade of the Florence Cathedral by Arnolfo di Cambio (1294–1302).

The most exciting and eye-catching part is its golden frontage, which is decorated by large bas-reliefs and statues with the symbols (Angel, Ox, Lion, Eagle) of the Evangelists created by Maitani and collaborators (between 1325 and 1330) standing on the cornice above the sculptured panels on the piers. In 1352 Matteo di Ugolino da Bologna added the bronze Lamb of God above the central gable and the bronze statue of Saint Michael on top of the gable of the left entrance.

The bas-reliefs on the piers depict biblical stories from the Old and New Testament. They are considered among the most famous of all 14th century sculpture. These marbles from the fourteenth and fifteenth century are the collective and anonymous work of at least three or four masters with assistance of their workshops, It is assumed that Maitani must have worked on the reliefs on the first pier from the left, as work on the reliefs began before 1310. The installation of these marbles on the piers began in 1331.

Above this decoration are glittering mosaics created between 1350 and 1390 after designs by artist Cesare Nebbia. These original pieces have been replaced and redesigned in the centuries since, particularly in 1484, 1713 and 1842. Most of these mosaic represent major scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, from the "Nativity of Mary" in the lower right gable to the "Coronation of the Virgin Mary" in the topmost gable. One of these glassmakers is recorded as Fra Giovanni Leonardelli.

Central to the mosaics is the large rose window built by the sculptor and architect Orcagna between 1354 and 1380. In the niches above the rose window stand the twelve apostles, while in niches on both sides twelve Old Testament prophets are represented in pairs. Statues in niches is typical for French Gothic cathedrals. It is therefore likely that the sculptors have undergone some influence. Eight statues have been attributed in the records to Nicola de Nuto. The spandrels around the rose window are decorated with mosaics representing the four Doctors of the Church. The frame of the rose window holds 52 carved heads, while the center of the rose window holds a carved head of the Christ.

The newest part of the decoration are the three bronze doors which give access to the entrance of the cathedral. These were finished in 1970 by the Sicilian sculptor Emilio Greco (1913–1995) depicting mercies from the life of Christ and are surmounted by a sculpture of the Madonna and Child created by Andrea Pisano in 1347.

The cathedral's side walls, in contrast to the façade, are more simply furnished with alternating layers of local white travertine and blue-grey basalt stone.

The interiorThe cathedral consists of a nave with six bays and two aisles, and is cruciform in shape. The concept has deliberately been left uncluttered and spacious. The interior, like the exterior, is decorated with alternative rows of alabaster and travertine but only to a height of about 1.5 m. The rows above them were painted in alternative rows of black and white stripes in the late nineteenth century.

The cylindrical columns also consist of alternate rows of travertine and basalt. Their shape and ornamentation evolved during the construction of the cathedral, as well as the decoration of the capitals. The alabaster panes in the bottom parts of the aisle windows keep the interior cool during the fierce Italian summer, while the neo-Gothic stained-glass in the upper parts of the windows date from 1886–1891 and were designed by Francesco Moretti.

The trussed timber roof was decorated in the 1320s by Pietro di Lello and Vanuzzo di Mastro Pierno, and was heavily restored in the 1890s by the architect Paolo Zampi and Paolo Coccheri to its current state. During the years 1335-1338 the transept was roofed with quadripartite (four-celled) stone vaults.

Near the left entrance is the large marble baptisimal font with lions and elaborate frieze reliefs. It was begun in 1390 by Luca di Giovanni. It was expanded sixteen years later by Pietro di Giovanni from Freiburg, who added the red marble basin, and Sano di Matteo, who sculpted the octagonal pyramid in 1407.

It is overlooked by a fresco in International Gothic style of the "Madonna Enthroned with Child", a Maestà painted by Gentile da Fabriano in 1425. This is the only fresco saved when the stucco altars were added to the nave chapels in the late 16th century.These altars in turn were destroyed in the 19th century and only fragments of the other 14th and 15th century frescoes reappeared. Some of these frescoes are ascribed to Pietro di Puccio (who also painted frescoes in the Camposanto in Pisa).

At the beginning of the nave stands a holy water stoup, sculpted by the Sienese architect Antonio Federighi between 1451 and 1456. During that time he also contributed to the decoration of the façade.

Above the entrance of the Chapel of the Corporal stands the cathedral's large organ, containing 5,585 pipes and originally designed by Ippolito Scalza and Bernardino Benvenuti in the fifteenth century before being redesigned in 1913 and 1975. Scalza’s other major contribution to the church is the large Pietà he sculpted in 1579. it took him eight years the carve the four figures in this imposing marble group.

ApseThe large stained-glass quadrifore window in the apse was made between 1328 and 1334 by Giovanni di Bonino, a glass master from Assisi. The design was probably made by Maitani. Above the altar hangs a large polychrome wooden crucifix attributed to Maitani.

Construction of the Gothic wooden choir stalls was begun in 1329 by Giovanni Ammannati together with a group of Sienese wood carvers. They stood originally in the center of the nave but were moved to the apse around 1540.

Behind the altar are a series of damaged Gothic frescoes dedicated to the life of the Virgin Mary, occupying the three walls completely. They were created around 1370 by the local artist Ugolino di Prete Ilario and a few collaborators such as Pietro di Puccino, Cola Petruccioli and Andrea di Giovanni. It took them about ten years to finish. This series of frescoes were the largest in Italy at that time. They have been restored every hundred years for several following centuries. Two scenes, the Annunciation and the Visitation, were redone by Antonio del Massaro at the end of the 15th century.

PisaThe heart of the Piazza del Duomo is the Duomo, the medieval cathedral, entitled to Santa Maria Assunta (St. Mary of the Assumption). This is a five-naved cathedral with a three-naved transept. The church is known also as the Primatial, the archbishop of Pisa being a Primate since 1092.

Construction was begun in 1064 by the architect Busketo, and set the model for the distinctive Pisan Romanesque style of architecture. The mosaics of the interior, as well as the pointed arches, show a strong Byzantine influence.

The façade, of grey marble and white stone set with discs of coloured marble, was built by a master named Rainaldo, as indicated by an inscription above the middle door: Rainaldus prudens operator.

The massive bronze main doors were made in the workshops of Giambologna, replacing the original doors destroyed in a fire in 1595. The central door was in bronze and made around 1180 by Bonanno Pisano, while the other two were probably in wood. However worshippers never used the façade doors to enter, instead entering by way of the Porta di San Ranieri (St. Ranieri's Door), in front of the Leaning Tower, made in around 1180 by Bonanno Pisano.

Above the doors there are four rows of open galleries with, on top, statues of Madonna with Child and, on the corners, the Four evangelists.

Also in the façade we can find the tomb of Busketo (on the left side) and an inscription about the foundation of the Cathedral and the victorious battle against Saracens.

At the east end of the exterior, high on a column rising from the gable is a modern replica of the Pisa Griffin, the largest Islamic metal sculpture known, the original of which was placed there probably in the 11th or 12th century, and is now in the Cathedral Museum.

The interior is faced with black and white marble and has a gilded ceiling and a frescoed dome. It was largely redecorated after a fire in 1595, which destroyed most of the medieval art works.

Fortunately, the impressive mosaic, in the apse, of Christ in Majesty, flanked by the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Evangelist, survived the fire. It evokes the mosaics in the church of Monreale, Sicily. Although it is said that the mosaic was done by Cimabue, only the head of St. John was done by the artist in 1302 and was his last work, since he died in Pisa in the same year. The cupola, at the intersection of the nave and the transept, was decorated by Riminaldi showing the ascension of the Blessed Virgin.

Galileo is believed to have formulated his theory about the movement of a pendulum by watching the swinging of the incense lamp (not the present one) hanging from the ceiling of the nave. That lamp, smaller and simpler than the present one, it is now kept in the Camposanto, in the Aulla chapel.

The impressive granite Corinthian columns between the nave and the aisle came originally from the mosque of Palermo, captured by the Pisans in 1063.

The coffer ceiling of the nave was replaced after the fire of 1595. The present gold-decorated ceiling carries the coat of arms of the Medici.

The elaborately carved pulpit (1302–1310), which also survived the fire, was made by Giovanni Pisano and is one the masterworks of medieval sculpture. It was packed away during the redecoration and was not rediscovered and re-erected until 1926. The pulpit is supported by plain

columns (two of which mounted on lions sculptures) on one side and by caryatids and a telamon on the other: the latter represent St. Michael, the Evangelists, the four cardinal virtues flanking the Church, and a bold, naturalistic depiction of a naked Hercules. A central plinth with the liberal arts supports the four theological virtues.

The present day reconstruction of the pulpit is not the correct one. Now it lies not in the same original position, that was nearer the main altar, and the disposition of the columns and the panels are not the original ones. Also the original stairs (maybe in marble) were lost.

The upper part has nine panels dramatic showing scenes from the New Testament, carved in white marble with a chiaroscuro effect and separated by figures of prophets: Annunciation, Massacre of the Innocents, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Flight into Egypt, Crucifixion, and two panels of the Last Judgement.

The church also contains the bones of St Ranieri, Pisa's patron saint, and the tomb of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII, carved by Tino da Camaino in 1315. That tomb, originally in the apse just behind the main altar, was disassembled and changed position many times during the years for political reasons. At last the sarcophagus is still in the Cathedral, but some of the statues were put in the Camposanto or in the top of the façade of the church. The original statues now are in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo.

Pope Gregory VIII was also buried in the cathedral. The fire in 1595 destroyed his tomb.

The Cathedral has a prominent role in determining the beginning of the Pisan New Year. Between the tenth century and 1749, when the Tuscan calendar was reformed, Pisa used its own calendar, in which the first day of the year on March 25, which is the day of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. The Pisan New Year begins 9 months before the ordinary one. The exact moment is determined by a ray of sun that, through a window on the left side, hit a shelf egg-shaped on the right side, just above the pulpit by Giovanni Pisano. This occurs at noon.

In the Cathedral also can be found some relics brought during the Crusades: the remains of three Saints (Abibo, Gamaliel and Nicodemus) and a vase that it is said to be one of the jars of Cana.

BaptisteryThe BaptisterySee also: Baptistry (Pisa)The Baptistery, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, stands opposite the west end of the Duomo. The round Romanesque building was begun in the mid 12th century: 1153 Mense August fundata fuit haec ("In the month of August 1153 was set up here..."). It was built in Romanesque style by an architect known as Diotisalvi ("God Save You"), who worked also in the church of the Holy Sepulchre in the city. His name is mentioned on a pillar inside, as Diotosalvi magister. the construction was not, however, finished until the 14th century, when the loggia, the top storey and the dome were added in Gothic style by Nicola Pisano and Giovanni Pisano.

It is the largest baptistery in Italy. Its circumference measures 107.25 m. Taking into account the statue of St. John the Baptist (attributed to Turino di Sano) on top of the dome, it is even a few centimetres higher than the Leaning Tower.

The portal, facing the façade of the cathedral, is flanked by two classical columns, while the inner jambs are executed in Byzantine style. The lintel is divided in two tiers. The lower one depicts

several episodes in the life of St. John the Baptist, while the upper one shows Christ between the Madonna and St John the Baptist, flanked by angels and the evangelists.

The immensity of the interior is overwhelming, but it is surprisingly plain and lacks decoration. It has notable acoustics also.

The octagonal font at the centre dates from 1246 and was made by Guido Bigarelli da Como. The bronze sculpture of St. John the Baptist at the centre of the font, is a remarkable work by Italo Griselli.

The pulpit was sculpted between 1255-1260 by Nicola Pisano, father of Giovanni Pisano, the artist who produced the pulpit in the Duomo. The scenes on the pulpit, and especially the classical form of the naked Hercules, show at best Nicola Pisano's qualities as the most important precursor of Italian renaissance sculpture by reinstating antique representations.[2] Therefore, surveys of the Italian Renaissance usually begin with the year 1260, the year that Nicola Pisano dated this pulpit.

Bell TowerThe campanile (bell tower) is located behind the cathedral. The last of the three major buildings on the piazza to be built, construction of the bell tower began in 1173 and took place in three stages over the course of 177 years, with the bell-chamber only added in 1372. Five years after construction began, when the building had reached the third floor level, the weak subsoil and poor foundation led to the building sinking on its south side. The building was left for a century, which allowed the subsoil to stabilise itself and prevented the building from collapsing. In 1272, to adjust the lean of the building, when construction resumed, the upper floors were built with one side taller than the other. The seventh and final floor was added in 1319. By the time the building was completed, the lean was approximately 1 degree, or 2.5 feet (80 cm) from vertical. At its greatest, measured prior to 1990, the lean measured approximately 5.5 degrees. As of 2010, this has been reduced to approximately 4 degrees.

The tower stands approximately 60m high, and was built to accommodate a total of seven main bells, cast to the musical scale

St. DenisThe site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery, in late Roman times - the archeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral; the people buried there seem to have had a faith that was a mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs and practices[1]. Around 475 St. Genevieve purchased some of the land and built a church. In the 7th century, the earlier church was replaced by a much grander construction, on the orders of Dagobert I; it is claimed that Dagobert also moved the body of Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, to the building.

The church became a place of pilgrimage and the burial place of the French Kings, nearly every king from the 10th to the 18th centuries being buried there, as well as many from the previous centuries. (It was not used for the coronations of kings, this role being designated to the Cathedral of Reims; however, queens were commonly crowned there.) "Saint-Denis" soon became the abbey church of a growing monastic complex. In the 12th century the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the abbey church using innovative structural and decorative features that were drawn from a number of other sources. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building.[2] The basilica's 13th century nave is also the prototype for the Rayonnant Gothic style, and provided an architectural model for cathedrals and abbeys of northern France, England and other countries.

Suger began his rebuilding project at the western end of St Denis, demolishing the old Carolingian westwork, with its single, centrally located door. He extended the old nave westwards by an additional four bays and added a massive western narthex, incorporating a new façade and three chapels on the first floor level. This new westwork, 34m wide and 20m deep, featured three great doorways, the central one larger than those either side, reflecting the relative sizes of the nave's central vessel and lateral aisles within. This tripartite arrangement was clearly influenced by the late 11th century façades of the abbey churches of St Etienne and La Trinité in Caen, 150 miles to the west, with which it also shared a three story elevation and flanking towers (of which only the south tower survives, its partner having been dismantled following clumsy repairs in the 1840s).

The major innovation in the façade at St Denis is the way the unknown architects have chosen to emphasise the divisions between the different parts, with massive vertical buttresses separating the three doorways and with horizontal string-courses and window arcades clearly marking out the vertical divisions. As well as its obvious influence on subsequent west façade designs, this clear delineation of parts is a common theme in the development of Gothic architecture and a marked departure from earlier Romanesque designs. Also innovative was the rose window at the centre of the upper story of the west portal (destroyed during the Revolution - the current window is a 19th century replacement). Although small circular windows (oculi) within triangular tympana were common on the west facades of Italian Romanesque churches, this was probably the first example of a rose window within a square frame, which was to become a dominant feature of the Gothic facades of northern France (soon to be imitated at Chartres Cathedral and many others)

On completion of the west front, Abbot Suger moved on to the reconstruction of the eastern end, leaving the Carolingian nave in use. He wanted a choir (chancel) that would be suffused with light. To achieve his aims, Suger's masons drew on the several new elements which evolved or had been introduced to Romanesque architecture: the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, the ambulatory with radiating chapels, the clustered columns supporting ribs springing in different directions and the flying buttresses which enabled the insertion of large clerestory windows.]

Notre Dame de ParisNotre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in France and in Europe, and the naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture. The first period of construction from 1163 into 1240s coincided with the musical experiments of the Notre Dame school.

Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports). The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. After the construction began and the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic style) grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. Many small statues were placed around the outside. These were crafted individually and served as supports for columns and water spouts. Among these are the famous gargoyles. These were originally colored, as was most of the exterior. The paint has worn off, but the grey stone was once covered with vivid colors. The cathedral was essentially complete by 1345.

Westminster AbbeyHenry of Reyns, John of Gloucester and Robert of Beverley. It is not known if Henry was English or French but the architect was greatly influenced by the new cathedrals at Reims, Amiens and Chartres, borrowing the ideas of an apse with radiating chapels and using the characteristic Gothic features of pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, rose windows and flying buttresses. The design is based on the continental system of geometrical proportion, but its English features include single rather than double aisles and a long nave with wide projecting transepts. The Abbey has the highest Gothic vault in England (nearly 102 feet) and it was made to seem higher by making the aisles narrow. The Englishness is also apparent in the elaborate mouldings of the main arches, the lavish use of polished Purbeck marble for the columns and the overall sculptural decoration. The east-west axis was determined by the existing position of the Lady Chapel.

The abbot and monks, in proximity to the royal Palace of Westminster, the seat of government from the later 12th century, became a powerful force in the centuries after the Norman Conquest: the abbot often was employed on royal service and in due course took his place in the House of Lords as of right. Released from the burdens of spiritual leadership, which passed to the reformed Cluniac movement after the mid-tenth century, and occupied with the administration of great landed properties, some of which lay far from Westminster, "the Benedictines achieved a remarkable degree of identification with the secular life of their times, and particularly with upper-class life", Barbara Harvey concludes, to the extent that her depiction of daily life[7] provides a wider view of the concerns of the English gentry in the High and Late Middle Ages. The proximity of the Palace of Westminster did not extend to providing monks or abbots with high royal connections; in social origin the Benedictines of Westminster were as modest as most of the order. The abbot remained Lord of the Manor of Westminster as a town of two to three thousand persons grew around it: as a consumer and employer on a grand scale the monastery helped fuel the town economy, and relations with the town remained unusually cordial, but no enfranchising charter was issued during the Middle Ages.[8] The Abbey built shops and dwellings on the west side, encroaching upon the sanctuary.

The abbey became the coronation site of Norman kings, but none were buried there until Henry III, intensely devoted to the cult of the Confessor, rebuilt the abbey in Anglo-French Gothic style as a shrine to honour Saint Edward the Confessor and as a suitably regal setting for Henry's own tomb, under the highest Gothic nave in England. The Confessor's shrine subsequently played a great part in his canonisation. The work continued between 1245 and 1517 and was largely finished by the architect Henry Yevele in the reign of Richard II. Henry VII added a Perpendicular style chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1503 (known as the Henry VII Chapel). Much of the stone came from Caen, in France (Caen stone), the Isle of Portland (Portland stone) and the Loire Valley region of France (tuffeau limestone).

Florence CathedralThe Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (English: Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower) is the main church of Florence, Italy. The Duomo, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.

The cathedral of Florence is built as a basilica, having a wide central nave of four square bays, with an aisle on either side. The chancel and transepts are of identical polygonal plan, separated by two smaller polygonal chapels. The whole plan forms a Latin cross. The nave and aisles are separated by wide pointed Gothic arches resting on composite piers.

The dimensions of the building are enormous: length 153 metres (502 ft), width 38 metres (124 ft), width at the crossing 90 metres (295 ft). The height of the arches in the aisles is 23 metres (75 ft). The height from pavement to the opening of the lantern in the dome is also 90 metres (295 ft).

The commitment to reject traditional Gothic buttresses had been made when Neri di Fioravante's model was chosen over a competing one by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini.[6] That architectural choice, in 1367, was one of the first events of the Italian Renaissance, marking a break with the Medieval Gothic style and a return to the classic Mediterranean dome. Italian architects regarded Gothic flying buttresses as ugly makeshifts and since the use of buttresses was forbidden in Florence, in addition to being a style favored by central Italy's traditional enemies to the north.[7] Neri's model depicted a massive inner dome, open at the top to admit light, like Rome's Pantheon, but enclosed in a thinner outer shell, partly supported by the inner dome, to keep out the weather. It was to stand on an unbuttressed octagonal drum. Neri's dome would need an internal defense against spreading (hoop stress), but none had yet been designed.

The building of such a masonry dome posed many technical problems. Brunelleschi looked to the great dome of the Pantheon in Rome for solutions. The dome of the Pantheon is a single shell of concrete, the formula for which had long since been forgotten. A wooden form had held the Pantheon dome aloft while its concrete set, but for the height and breadth of the dome designed by Neri, starting 52 metres (171 ft) above the floor and spanning 44 metres (144 ft), there was not enough timber in Tuscany to build the scaffolding and forms.[8] Brunelleschi chose to follow such design and employed a double shell, made of sandstone and marble. Brunelleschi would have to build the dome out of bricks, due to its light weight compared to stone and easier to form, and with nothing under it during construction. To illustrate his proposed structural plan, he constructed a wooden and brick model with the help of Donatello and Nanni di Banco and still displayed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. The model served as a guide for the craftsmen, but was intentionally incomplete, so as to ensure Brunelleschi's control over the construction.

French Gothic architecture is a style of architecture prevalent in France from 1140 until about 1500.

Contents

Sequence of Gothic styles: FranceThe designations of styles in French Gothic architecture are as follows:

• Early Gothic• High Gothic• Rayonnant• Late Gothic or Flamboyant style

These divisions are effective, but still set grounds for debate. Because the lengthy construction of Gothic cathedrals could span multiple architectural periods, and builders in each period did not always follow wishes of previous periods, dominant architectural style often changes throughout a particular building. Consequently, it is often difficult to declare one building as a member of a certain era of Gothic architecture. It is more useful to use the terms to describe specific elements within a structure, rather than applying them to the building as a whole.

Gothic styles

Early Gothic

Nave in four tiers, with clerestories and triforium under sexpartite vaulting

This style began in 1140 and was characterized by the adoption of the pointed arch and transition from late Romanesque architecture. To heighten the wall, builders divided it into four tiers: arcade (arches and piers), gallery, triforium, and clerestorey. To support the higher wall builders invented the flying buttresses, which reached maturity only at High Gothic during the 13th century. The vaults were six ribbed sexpartite vaults.

High Gothic

This 13th-century style canonized proportions and shapes from early Gothic and developed them further to achieve light, yet tall and majestic structures. The wall structure was modified from four to only three tiers: arcade, triforium, and clerestory. Piers coronations were smaller to avoid stopping the visual upward thrust. The clerestorey windows changed from one window in each segment, holed in the wall, to two windows united by a small rose window. The rib vault changed from six to four ribs. The flying buttresses matured, and after they were embraced at Notre-Dame de Paris and Notre-Dame de Chartres, they became the canonical way to support high walls, as they served both structural and ornamental purposes.

Gothic Architecture

Gothic architecture grew out of the previous architectural genre, Romanesque. For the most part, there was not a clean break, as there was later to be in Renaissance Florence with the revival of the Classical style by Brunelleschi in the early 15th century.

Romanesque tradition

Main article: Romanesque architectureRomanesque architecture, or Norman architecture as it is generally termed in England because of its association with the Norman invasion, had already established the basic architectural forms and units that were to remain in slow evolution throughout the Medieval period. The basic structure of the cathedral church, the parish church, the monastery, the castle, the palace, the great hall and the gatehouse were all established. Ribbed vaults, buttresses, clustered columns, ambulatories, wheel windows, spires and richly carved door tympanums were already features of ecclesiastical architecture.[10]

The widespread introduction of a single feature, the pointed arch, was to bring about the stylistic change that separates Gothic from Romanesque, and broke the tradition of massive masonry and solid walls penetrated by small openings, replacing it with a style where light appears to triumph over substance. With its use came the development of many other architectural devices, previously put to the test in scattered buildings and then called into service to meet the structural, aesthetic and ideological needs of the new style. These include the flying buttresses, pinnacles and traceried windows which typify Gothic ecclesiastical architecture.[7]

Possible Eastern influence

While so-called 'pitched' brick vaulting, which could be constructed without centering, may date back in the Ancient Near East to the 2nd millennium BC,[11] the earliest evidence of the pointed masonry arch appears in late Roman and Sassanian architecture, mostly evidenced in early church building in Syria and Mesopotamia, but occasionally also in secular structures like the Karamagara Bridge.[12] After the Muslim conquests of the 7th century, it became gradually a standard feature of Islamic architecture.[7]

According to one theory, increasing military and cultural contacts with the Muslim world, as Norman conquest of Islamic Sicily in 1090, the Crusades which began in 1096 and the Islamic presence in Spain brought the knowledge of pointed arches to Medieval Europe.[13][14]

According to another theory, it is believed that the pointed arch evolved naturally in Western Europe as a structural solution to a purely technical problem, concurrent with its introduction and early use as a stylistic feature in French and English churches.[13] (See below: Pointed arch, origins)

Abbot Suger, friend and confidante of the French Kings, Louis VI and Louis VII, decided in about 1137, to rebuild the great Church of Saint-Denis, attached to an abbey which was also a royal residence.

Suger began with the West front, reconstructing the original Carolingian façade with its single door. He designed the façade of Saint-Denis to be an echo of the Roman Arch of Constantine with its three-part division and three large portals to ease the problem of congestion. The rose window is the earliest-known example above the West portal in France.

At the completion of the west front in 1140, Abbot Suger moved on to the reconstruction of the eastern end, leaving the Carolingian nave in use. He designed a choir (chancel) that would be suffused with light.[15] To achieve his aims, his masons drew on the several new features which evolved or had been introduced to Romanesque architecture, the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, the ambulatory with radiating chapels, the clustered columns supporting ribs springing in different directions and the flying buttresses which enabled the insertion of large clerestory windows.

The new structure was finished and dedicated on 11 June 1144, in the presence of the King. The Abbey of Saint-Denis thus became the prototype for further building in the royal domain of northern France. It is often cited as the first building in the Gothic style. A hundred years later, the old nave of Saint-Denis was rebuilt in the Gothic style, gaining, in its transepts, two spectacular rose windows.[16]

Through the rule of the Angevin dynasty, the style was introduced to England and spread throughout France, the Low Countries, Germany, Spain, northern Italy and Sicily.[6][8]

Characteristics of Gothic churches and cathedralsIn Gothic architecture, a unique combination of existing technologies established the emergence of a new building style. Those technologies were the ogival or pointed arch, the ribbed vault, and the flying buttress.

The Gothic style, when applied to an ecclesiastical building, emphasizes verticality and light. This appearance was achieved by the development of certain architectural features, which together provided an engineering solution. The structural parts of the building ceased to be its solid walls, and became a stone skeleton comprising clustered columns, pointed ribbed vaults and flying buttresses. (See below: Light)

A Gothic cathedral or abbey was, prior to the 20th century, generally the landmark building in its town, rising high above all the domestic structures and often surmounted by one or more towers and pinnacles and perhaps tall spires.[7][16] These cathedrals were the skyscrapers of that day and would have, by far, been the largest buildings that Europeans would have ever seen.

Plan

Most Gothic churches, unless they are entitled chapels, are of the Latin cross (or "cruciform") plan, with a long nave making the body of the church, a transverse arm called the transept and, beyond it, an extension which may be called the choir, chancel or presbytery. There are several regional variations on this plan.

The nave is generally flanked on either side by aisles, usually single, but sometimes double. The nave is generally considerably taller than the aisles, having clerestory windows which light the central space. Gothic churches of the Germanic tradition, like St. Stephen of Vienna, often have nave and aisles of similar height and are called Hallenkirche. In the South of France there is often a single wide nave and no aisles, as at Sainte-Marie in Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges.

In some churches with double aisles, like Notre Dame, Paris, the transept does not project beyond the aisles. In English cathedrals transepts tend to project boldly and there may be two of them, as at Salisbury Cathedral, though this is not the case with lesser churches.

The eastern arm shows considerable diversity. In England it is generally long and may have two distinct sections, both choir and presbytery. It is often square ended or has a projecting Lady Chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In France the eastern end is often polygonal and surrounded by a walkway called an ambulatory and sometimes a ring of chapels called a "chevet". While German churches are often similar to those of France, in Italy, the eastern projection beyond the transept is usually just a shallow apsidal chapel containing the sanctuary, as at Florence Cathedral.[7][10][16]

Structure: the pointed arch

One of the defining characteristics of Gothic architecture is the pointed or ogival arch. Arches of this type were used in the Near East in pre-Islamic[17] as well as Islamic architecture before they were structurally employed in medieval architecture, and are thus thought to have been the inspiration for their use in France, as at Autun Cathedral, which is otherwise stylistically Romanesque.[7]

However, contrary to the diffusionist theory, it appears that there was simultaneously a structural evolution towards the pointed arch, for the purpose of vaulting spaces of irregular plan, or to bring transverse vaults to the same height as diagonal vaults. This latter occurs at Durham Cathedral in the nave aisles in 1093. Pointed arches also occur extensively in Romanesque decorative blind arcading, where semi-circular arches overlap each other in a simple decorative pattern, and the points are accidental to the design.

The Gothic vault, unlike the semi-circular vault of Roman and Romanesque buildings, can be used to roof rectangular and irregularly shaped plans such as trapezoids. The other structural advantage is that the pointed arch channels the weight onto the bearing piers or columns at a steep angle. This enabled architects to raise vaults much higher than was possible in Romanesque architecture.[7] While, structurally, use of the pointed arch gave a greater flexibility to architectural form, it also gave Gothic architecture a very different and more vertical visual character to Romanesque.

In Gothic Architecture the pointed arch is used in every location where a vaulted shape is called for, both structural and decorative. Gothic openings such as doorways, windows, arcades and galleries have pointed arches. Gothic vaulting above spaces both large and small is usually supported by richly moulded ribs.

Rows of pointed arches upon delicate shafts form a typical wall decoration known as blind arcading. Niches with pointed arches and containing statuary are a major external feature. The pointed arch lent itself to elaborate intersecting shapes which developed within window spaces into complex Gothic tracery forming the structural support of the large windows that are characteristic of the style.[9][10]

Height

A characteristic of Gothic church architecture is its height, both absolute and in proportion to its width, the verticality suggesting an aspiration to Heaven. A section of the main body of a Gothic church usually shows the nave as considerably taller than it is wide. In England the proportion is sometimes greater than 2:1, while the greatest proportional difference achieved is at Cologne Cathedral with a ratio of 3.6:1. The highest internal vault is at Beauvais Cathedral at 48 metres (157 ft).[7]

Externally, towers and spires are characteristic of Gothic churches both great and small, the number and positioning being one of the greatest variables in Gothic architecture. In Italy, the tower, if present, is almost always detached from the building, as at Florence Cathedral, and is often from an earlier structure. In France and Spain, two towers on the front is the norm. In England, Germany and Scandinavia this is often the arrangement, but an English cathedral may also be surmounted by an enormous tower at the crossing. Smaller churches usually have just one tower, but this may also be the case at larger buildings, such as Salisbury Cathedral or Ulm Minster, which has the tallest spire in the world,[18] slightly exceeding that of Lincoln Cathedral, the tallest which was actually completed during the medieval period, at 160 metres (520 ft).

Vertical emphasis

The pointed arch lends itself to a suggestion of height. This appearance is characteristically further enhanced by both the architectural features and the decoration of the building.[16]

On the exterior, the verticality is emphasised in a major way by the towers and spires and in a lesser way by strongly projecting vertical buttresses, by narrow half-columns called attached shafts which often pass through several storeys of the building, by long narrow windows, vertical mouldings around doors and figurative sculpture which emphasises the vertical and is often attenuated. The roofline, gable ends, buttresses and other parts of the building are often terminated by small pinnacles, Milan Cathedral being an extreme example in the use of this form of decoration.

On the interior of the building attached shafts often sweep unbroken from floor to ceiling and meet the ribs of the vault, like a tall tree spreading into branches. The verticals are generally repeated in the treatment of the windows and wall surfaces. In many Gothic churches, particularly in France, and in the Perpendicular period of English Gothic architecture, the treatment of vertical elements in gallery and window tracery creates a strongly unifying feature that counteracts the horizontal divisions of the interior structure.[16]

Light

One of the most distinctive characteristics of Gothic architecture is the expansive area of the windows as at Sainte Chapelle and the very large size of many individual windows, as at York Minster, Gloucester Cathedral and Milan Cathedral. The increase in size between windows of the Romanesque and Gothic periods is related to the use of the ribbed vault, and in particular, the pointed ribbed vault which channeled the weight to a supporting shaft with less outward thrust than a semicircular vault. Walls did not need to be so weighty.[10][16]

A further development was the flying buttress which arched externally from the springing of the vault across the roof of the aisle to a large buttress pier projecting well beyond the line of the external wall. These piers were often surmounted by a pinnacle or statue, further adding to the downward weight, and counteracting the outward thrust of the vault and buttress arch as well as stress from wind loading.

The clerestory windows of the Good Shepherd Cathedral of San Sebastián.The internal columns of the arcade with their attached shafts, the ribs of the vault and the flying buttresses, with their associated vertical buttresses jutting at right-angles to the building, created a stone skeleton. Between these parts, the walls and the infill of the vaults could be of lighter construction. Between the narrow buttresses, the walls could be opened up into large windows.[7]

Through the Gothic period, due to the versatility of the pointed arch, the structure of Gothic windows developed from simple openings to immensely rich and decorative sculptural designs. The windows were very often filled with stained glass which added a dimension of colour to the light within the building, as well as providing a medium for figurative and narrative art.[16]

Notre Dame de Paris.Majesty

The façade of a large church or cathedral, often referred to as the West Front, is generally designed to create a powerful impression on the approaching worshipper, demonstrating both the might of God, and the might of the institution that it represents. One of the best known and most typical of such façades is that of Notre Dame de Paris.

Central to the façade is the main portal, often flanked by additional doors. In the arch of the door, the tympanum, is often a significant piece of sculpture, most frequently Christ in Majesty and Judgment Day. If there is a central door jamb or a tremeau, then it frequently bears a statue of the Madonna and Child. There may be much other carving, often of figures in niches set into the mouldings around the portals, or in sculptural screens extending across the façade.

Above the main portal there is generally a large window, like that at York Minster, or a group of windows such as those at Ripon Cathedral. In France there is generally a rose window like that at Reims Cathedral. Rose windows are also often found in the façades of churches of Spain and Italy, but are rarer elsewhere and are not found on the façades of any English Cathedrals. The gable is usually richly decorated with arcading or sculpture, or in the case of Italy, may be decorated, with the rest of the façade, with polychrome marble and mosaic, as at Orvieto Cathedral.

The West Front of a French cathedral and many English, Spanish and German cathedrals generally has two towers, which, particularly in France, express an enormous diversity of form and decoration.[7][8] However some German cathedrals have only one tower located in the middle of the façade (such as Freiburg Münster).

Lecture 12: Romanesque: 600 ~ 1300 AD

✤ Related to Byzantine not Roman architecture.

✤ Power of the Church over the state.

✤ Pilgrimages and The Crusades.

✤ Muscular character of construction.

✤ Pointed arches, groin vaults, and towers. ✤ Symmetrical floor plans.

✤ Transitions into Gothic architecture.

Date: 796 - 804 AD Architect: Odo of Metz

Palantine Chapel: Aachen, Germany

Date: 796 - 804 AD Architect: Odo of Metz

Palantine Chapel: Aachen, Germany

Date: 796 - 804 AD Architect: Odo of Metz

Palantine Chapel: Aachen, Germany

Date: 796 - 804 AD Architect: Odo of Metz

Palantine Chapel: Aachen, Germany

Date: 784 - 987 AD Architect: Unknown

The Great Mosque: Cordoba, Spain

Lecture 12: Romanesque: 600 ~ 1300 AD

✤ Related to Byzantine not Roman architecture.

✤ Power of the Church over the state.

✤ Pilgrimages and The Crusades.

✤ Muscular character of construction.

✤ Pointed arches, groin vaults, and towers. ✤ Symmetrical floor plans.

✤ Transitions into Gothic architecture.

Date: 451 - 475 AD

Baptistery at Ravenna

Date: 562 AD Architect: Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles

Hagia Sofia: Istanbul, Turkey

Date: 562 AD Architect: Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles

Hagia Sofia: Istanbul, Turkey

Lecture 12: Romanesque and Gothic Architecture

✤ San Vitale

✤ Palantine Chapel

✤ Dome of the Rock

✤ The Great Mosque at Cordoba

✤ Alhambra

Date: 527 - 546 AD Architect: Unknown

San Vitale: Ravenna, Italy (Plan)

Date: 527 - 546 AD Architect: Unknown

San Vitale: Ravenna, Italy (Section)

Date: 527 - 546 AD Architect: Unknown

San Vitale: Ravenna, Italy

Date: 796 - 804 AD Architect: Odo of Metz

Palantine Chapel: Aachen, Germany

Date: 796 - 804 AD Architect: Odo of Metz

Palantine Chapel: Aachen, Germany

Date: 796 - 804 AD Architect: Odo of Metz

Palantine Chapel: Aachen, Germany

Date: 796 - 804 AD Architect: Odo of Metz

Palantine Chapel: Aachen, Germany

Date: 784 - 987 AD Architect: Unknown

The Great Mosque: Cordoba, Spain

Date: 784 - 987 AD Architect: Unknown

The Great Mosque: Cordoba, Spain

Date: 784 - 987 AD Architect: Unknown

The Great Mosque: Cordoba, Spain

Lecture 12: Romanesque and Gothic Architecture

✤ St Foy: Conques, France✤ Vezelay Abbey: Vezelay, France✤ Cluny Abbey: Cluny, France✤ Pisa Cathedral: Pisa, Italy✤ Orvieto Cathedral: Orvieto, Italy

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 819 AD Architect: Unknown

St. Foy: Conques, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 1104 - 1132 AD Architect: Unknown

St.Vezelay: Vezelay, France

Date: 910 AD Architect: Unknown

Cluny: Cluny, France

Date: 910 AD Architect: Unknown

Cluny: Cluny, France

Date: 910 AD Architect: Unknown

Cluny: Cluny, France

Date: 910 AD Architect: Unknown

Cluny: Cluny, France

Date: 910 AD Architect: Unknown

Cluny: Cluny, France

Date: 1064 AD Architect: Busketo

Pisa Cathedral: Pisa, Italy

Date: 1064 AD Architect: Busketo

Pisa Cathedral: Pisa, Italy

Date: 1153 AD Architect: Diotisalvi

Pisa Cathedral: Pisa, Italy Baptistery

Date: 1173 AD Architect:

Pisa Cathedral: Pisa, Italy

Date: 1064 AD Architect: Busketo

Pisa Cathedral: Pisa, Italy

Date: 1064 AD Architect: Busketo

Pisa Cathedral: Pisa, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Date: 1290 - 1591 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Lorenzo Maitani

Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto, Italy

Gothic: 1130 ~ 1450 AD

✤ Emphasis on the Vertical (Tallness)✤ Thinness of the Walls ✤ Bringing Light into the Space

Gothic: 1130 ~ 1450 AD

✤ Cruciform (cross) Plan✤ Flying Buttress✤ Clerestory Windows✤ Pointed Arch and Ribbed Vaulting✤ Division of Parts

Gothic: 1130 ~ 1450 AD

✤ St Denis: Paris, France✤ Notre Dame: Paris, France✤ Westminster Abbey: London, England ✤ Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Diagram of Flying Buttress

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1163 - 1343 AD Architect: Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montereaux

Notre Dame: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Date: 1135 - 1231 AD Architect:Abbot Suger

St. Denis: Paris, France

Notre Dame: Paris, France

Date: 1163 - 1343 AD Architect: Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montereaux

Notre Dame: Paris, France

Date: 1163 - 1343 AD Architect: Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montereaux

Notre Dame: Paris, France

Date: 1163 - 1343 AD Architect: Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montereaux

Notre Dame: Paris, France

Date: 1163 - 1343 AD Architect: Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montereaux

Notre Dame: Paris, France

Date: 1163 - 1343 AD Architect: Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montereaux

Notre Dame: Paris, France

Date: 1163 - 1343 AD Architect: Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montereaux

Notre Dame: Paris, France

Date: 1163 - 1343 AD Architect: Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montereaux

Date: 1245 AD Architect: Henry of Reynes and John of Glouchester

Westminster Abbey: London, England

Westminster Abbey: London, England

Date: 1245 AD Architect: Henry of Reynes and John of Glouchester

Westminster Abbey: London, England

Date: 1245 AD Architect: Henry of Reynes and John of Glouchester

Westminster Abbey: London, England

Date: 1245 AD Architect: Henry of Reynes and John of Glouchester

Westminster Abbey: London, England

Date: 1245 AD Architect: Henry of Reynes and John of Glouchester

Westminster Abbey: London, England

Date: 1245 AD Architect: Henry of Reynes and John of Glouchester

Westminster Abbey: London, England

Date: 1245 AD Architect: Henry of Reynes and John of Glouchester

Westminster Abbey: London, England

Date: 1245 AD Architect: Henry of Reynes and John of Glouchester

Westminster Abbey: London, England

Date: 1245 AD Architect: Henry of Reynes and John of Glouchester

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1296 - 1463 AD Architect: Arnolfo di Cambio and Filippo Bruneschelli

Florence Cathedral: Florence, Italy

Date: 1258 - 1280 AD Architect: Bernardo Buonotalenti

St. Trinita: Florence, Italy

St. Trinita: Florence, Italy

Date: 1258 - 1280 AD Architect: Bernardo Buonotalenti