Gothic Art and Architecture: A Comprehensive Overview
Gothic Art and Architecture
Background
The Gothic style emerged in Western Europe during the second half of the 12th century and lasted until the late 15th century. Originating in France, it spread throughout Europe, marking a significant shift. This period witnessed the decline of the Holy Roman Empire and the feudal system, replaced by monarchies and a burgeoning trade fueled by the Crusades. Cities developed, a new bourgeois class arose, knowledge flourished in universities, and a renewed, humanized spirituality emerged, reflected in the Franciscan and Dominican orders.
The defining architectural structure of the Gothic period is the cathedral, an episcopal temple symbolizing the economic power and prestige of a city and its inhabitants. The urban world sought to assert its independence from the declining feudal-rural world.
Features of Gothic Architecture
Gothic architecture employed carved stone blocks. Its key features include:
- Pointed Arch and Vaulting: Arches composed of diagonally intersecting ribs (nerves) with a central keystone. This vaulting style concentrates weight on the four support points where the ribs meet.
- Large Stained Glass Windows: Allowing for greater luminosity.
- Lightweight Webbing: Filling the spaces between the ribs, enabling taller structures.
- Evolution of Arches: Employing ogee, basket-handle, and more complex decorative arches (sexpartite, tierceron).
- Exterior Arch Support: Thrusts are transferred outwards via flying buttresses that often terminate in pinnacles, emphasizing verticality.
- Soaring Pillars: The vault rests on pillars, columns, or baquetones (round moldings) that correspond to the vault’s ribs.
- Decorative Elements: Pinnacles, pierced tracery in windows, pointed and geminate arches, rosettes, gables, sculptures, stained glass, finials, gargoyles, and intricately shaped keystones and drains.
- Expanded Floor Plans: Cathedrals feature increased naves (3, 5, or 7 aisles), an ambulatory (single or double) around the apse, and polygonal chapels. The choir is elevated and serves as the center of light.
- Crucifixion Emphasis: The crossing is centrally located and subtly marked, often in a Latin cross plan. The high nave and side aisles continue to the crossing’s height, culminating in a spire or flèche.
- Vertical Facades: Divided into vertical sections corresponding to the aisles (usually 3) and 3 horizontal sections. Abundant sculptural decoration flanks towers topped by a terrace or spire. The overall effect is vertical and upward, reflecting a new spirituality.
- Stained Glass: Diffused light within the cathedral, replacing Romanesque gloom and creating a transformed, idealized atmosphere.
Spanish Context
The Gothic style flourished in Spain from the second half of the 12th century to the first third of the 16th century, primarily in the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Its origins trace back to France.
The 13th century marked a golden age for Castile, both politically and economically. The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) and the reconquest of Cordoba and Seville by Ferdinand III secured control of Andalusia. The distribution of new territories increased the prosperity of Castilian nobles and higher clergy, who invested in vast estates dedicated to livestock. The warrior nobility and the Church became patrons of the arts, using wool revenues and taxes to construct grand cathedrals that showcased their power and inspired the faithful.
Following civil unrest and the general crisis of the 14th century, Castile and Leon experienced a resurgence in the 15th century, driven by trade with Flanders.
In Aragon, after the conquest of Mallorca and Valencia by James I in the 13th century, a policy of Mediterranean expansion began. Catalan-Aragonese trade flourished during the 14th century, with the bourgeoisie as the most dynamic social class.
Vocabulary
- Pointed Arch: An arch formed by two curves meeting at an angle at the keystone.
- Stained Glass: Enclosure of openings shaped by stained glass panels assembled with lead. Primarily decorative.
- Ogee Arch: A pointed arch composed of four circular sectors, with the two lower sectors’ centers within the arch and the two upper sectors’ centers outside it.
- Elliptical Arch: An arch formed by a curve that is not a perfect circle.
- Sexpartite Vault: A ribbed vault divided into six sections.
- Tierceron Vault: A ribbed vault with straight tertiary ribs.
- Buttress: An element attached to walls to counter the outward thrust of vaults.
- Pinnacle: A pyramid-shaped termination of a Gothic buttress.
- Rose Window: A circular window with tracery.
- Gable: A pointed crown of a wall or window in a Gothic facade.
- Ambulatory: A passage or aisle around the apse or presbytery, the space surrounding the altar in a church.
- Crossing: The space where two perpendicular aisles intersect in a church, also called the transept.
- Spire: A tall, pointed structure atop a tower.
Notable Works
- Burgos Cathedral (1221): Designed by Enrique.
- León Cathedral (1234): Designed by the French master Enrique, known for its luminosity.
- Toledo Cathedral (1226): Created by Petrus Petri and Martin, influenced by Arab architecture.
- Barcelona Cathedral (1298): Designed by Jaume Fabre, Bertran Riquer, featuring three aisles of equal height.
Gothic Painting
- The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck: (Flemish and Baroque features)
- Descent from the Cross by Rogier van der Weyden (1437)
- Portrait of a Girl by Petrus Christus (Berlin Museum)
- St. John Altarpiece by Hans Memling (Pomegranate)
Picasso
Blue Period (1936-1945)
- Guernica
- Portrait of Dora Maar
- Cat Devouring a Bird
- Skull of an Ox
- Woman with Fish Hat
- Alborada