romanesque & gothic study images
TRANSCRIPT
Romanesque & Gothic Study Images
1078 – 1211 Santiago de Compastello
Compound piers
Gallery
Transverse arches
Santiago de Compastello
Santiago de Compastello
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury vs. Chartres
Beauvais Cathedral Kings College Chapel
English GothicMore horizontal layout generally (less stress on height)
More expansive sculptural program on facades
Spires located over the crossing
Often a double transept
High use of square transept rather than round
Use of fan vaulting
Large transept windows rather than rose windows on Westwork
Integral rather than flying buttresses often used
Often located on the periphery or outside urban area
Often built on Norman church sites which held monasteries
“the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven…having the glory of God, and her light like a most precious stone, even like a jasper clear as crystal…and the city was pure gold, like clear glass…whose foundations were garnished with all manner of gems: jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, amethyst…” – Abbott Suger
Gothic Stained Glass Windows
• Intricate pieces of colored glass joined bylead caning
• Illustrated biblical stories, Saint’s lives, and occasionally contemporary scenes of workers
• Jewel like colors and brilliance• Painted surfaces• Later Gothic windows allow more clarity and
light into cathedral through lighter colors
The Tree of Jesse
The Abbey of Saint-Denis
About four miles north of Paris lies the Abbey of Saint-Denis. Originally founded in 630 by King Dagobert, it sits at the site of Saint Denis' martyrdom. The abbey underwent a reconstruction in the 12th century under Abbot Suger and became one of the earliest instances of Gothic architecture.
The church grew in fame. Joan of Arc blessed her weapons here, and many French rulers and aristocrats were buried in its crypt, including Louis XII, Catherine de Medicis, Louis XVI, and Marie Antoinette. During the French Revolution, many royal tombs were desecrated and many sacred objects were lost. And in the years following, the church fell further into disrepair. It was, however, repaired under the rule of Napoleon.
Among its treasures are a number of elaborate 12th Century stained-glass windows, carved tombs, mosaics, and the French Regalia, which were objects used during the coronation of French kings.
As you walk through the nave to the east end of the church, you come to the transept, which is the horizontal area that intersects with the nave. This particular transept is stubby; its arms are shorter than most other transepts. Most of the transepts from the Gothic time period are shorter than those from the Romanesque era. Cathedrals such as Amiens and Reims have transepts with arms similar in length to that at Saint Denis. One thing that is unique about the transept at Saint Denis is that it is the mausoleum for all of the kings and queens of France. If you go to either the north or south sides of the transept at Saint Denis you can see the tombs of the many kings and queens that are here.
St.-Denis
exterior buttresses of St. Denis
right: plan of choir of St. Denis.
Plan of Ambulatory in St. Denis andAmbulatory view of St. Denis
North Transept, left side West Entrance
Melchizedek, Abraham with Isaac, Moses, Samuel, and David
Jamb figures of Confessors with St. Theodore on the right. South Transept of Chartres Cathedral.
Gothic SculptureRoyal Portals, Chartres Cathedral
• Dominant columnar shape of jamb figures
• Robes almost hypnotic in concentric concentration, no nervous excitement as in Romanesque
• Far more rounded in volume than Romanesque, more 3d
• Rippling sense of surface• Heads: serene, slightly heavy eyes,
benevolent• Salvation stressed rather than the
terror of judgment as in Romanesque• Bands of pockets of light and shadow• Each piece of stone is united with
column behind
Jamb statues stand attached to wall, but also in front of it
Greater than life sizeHanging long robesArchitecture dominatesChrist in tympanum: tranquil
ease, delicate, strong
Gothic Sculpture
Visitation, Reims Cathedral• Classical look, i.e. Greek
contrapposto imitated• Heads look like ancient
Roman portraits• Figures start to converse
through gesture and expression
• Emerge more from the wall
Annunciation and Visitation from Reims Cathedral
MaryElizabeth
Gabriel
Naumburg Cathedral, 13th century
Ekkehard and Uta
GOTHIC
•More emphasis on naturalism
•More classical treatment of drapery
•More emphasis on spatial and psychological interactivity
•Development of guilds and high craft standards*
elongated, erect figures that emphasize the vertical and appear as part of the structure
Drapery falls in patterned, vertical pleats
Emphasize prophetic tradition
Symbolic figures
Figures more volumetric, naturally posed (contrapposto found – just not here – note Visitation at Reims).
Figures interact with space and each other (note position of arms, heads)
Individualization in figures (features, hair, jewelry, etc.)
More freestanding from architecture
Gothic Sculpture
Ekkehard and Uta• Stately, quiet, regal• Almost portrait statues• Attached to wall behind• Ekkehard: blunt, heavy-set,
pouting, hand on sword as protector of the family
• Uta: graceful, aloof, gown is so long that she must pick it up to walk
• Body revealed beneath clothes
Naumburg Cathedral, 13th century