Gothic Art And Architecture
Uploaded by sls465 on Apr 19, 2007
Gothic Art And Architecture
During the past week or so our group has been doing a research assignment on Gothic art and architecture. In the following paragraphs we will be discussing Gothic art and architecture, the Rayonnant Gothic period, and sculpture.
From about 1140 to the end of the 16th century religious buildings, stained glass, and illuminated manuscripts and other decorative arts came to be known. Architecture was predominant in this period.
At the beginning of the second half of the 12th century, the creation of large cathedrals in northern France, took full advantage of Gothic vaults. Vauts with intricate patterns are the main architectural ornamentation. With the Gothic vault, a ground plan could take on a variety of shapes. The general plan of the cathedrals, however, consisting of a long three-aisled nave intercepted by a transcript and followed by a shorter choir and sanctuary, differs little from that of Romanesque churches. A cathedral is a church of the Bishop. It must be the largest, finest and most richly adorned in the district. Mainly they are figures of people, animals, plants, scenes from the Bible, figures of saints, and representations of virtues.
Next, during the long riegn of Louis IX, from 1226 to 1270 Gothic architecture entered a new phase, know as the Rayonnant. The word Rayonnant comes from that of a raidiating spokes, like those of a wheel, especially of the enormous rose windows that are one of the features of the style. Also, height was no longer the prime objective. The architects reduced the masonary frame of the churches, expanded the window areas, and replaced the external wall of the triforium with traceried glass. In most cases, all these features of the Rayonnant were incorporated in the first major undertaking in the new style, the rebuilding of the royal abbey church of Saint-Denis. However, of the earlier structure only the ambulatory and the west facade were preserved. In the evolution of the Gothic architecture the progressive enlargement of the windows was not intended to shed more light into the interiors, but rather it provided an increasing area for the stained glass.
Flamboyant architecture originated in the 1380's by...