Gothic Art and Architecture: Characteristics and Evolution
Gothic Art and Architecture: A New Era
The Monastery of Cluny, founded in the early tenth century, was the promoter of the Benedictine order. Although today we retain only a small part of its building complex, we know that its temple, a perfect example of a Pilgrimage Church, had immense proportions: five aisles, two transepts, numerous chapels, and several towers.
Evolution of Style and Representation
From the thirteenth century, figures became more realistic and natural: the hieratic, the disproportion, and imbalance were progressively replaced by the imitation of nature. Simultaneously, the representation of man became human: the figures bend and rotate, reflect feelings, smile, regret, suffer, talk, and communicate with each other.
Technological Advancements in Art
Regarding technology, fresco was still used to decorate walls, and tempera, mixing pigments with egg white, was used in painting on canvas. To close the huge clerestories of the temples, stained glass windows were used, joining polychrome glass with strips of lead. The illustration of letters used miniature. However, the material that revolutionized pictorial production, oil, did not arrive until the end of the period. Oil binds the pigments, preventing fast drying and giving the artist more time to paint. Thanks to its properties, oil can be applied over a painted surface, rectified, used to make glazes, and applied with fine brushes, allowing for the creation of highly detailed images. In northern Europe, where it was invented in the late fourteenth century, it produced a real revolution.
Shifting Themes in Gothic Art
The subject matter also underwent a huge change. Religious scenes continued to be prominent, most notably the image of the Crucifixion, the Pietà , and the Descent from the Cross. However, alongside Christian iconography, the secular theme gained force, funded by a bourgeoisie that understood art as a vehicle to boost their social status. Thus, in the Gothic period, painters began to represent their clients, leading to the new genre of portraiture.
Architectural Innovations of the Gothic Period
- The pointed arch replaced the rounded arch, creating spaces to move higher and more strongly, transferring the stress of the walls to the sides. It is usually pierced with tracery at the top.
- The new ribbed vault succeeded in concentrating the weight of the filling into four parts, corresponding to the pillars. With this revolutionary invention, the wall ceased to fulfill a sustaining role. Being dispensable, it provided architects with the possibility of equipping buildings with large spans and, therefore, light.
- The wall was replaced by stained glass windows composed of polychrome glass displaying religious images, giving the interior of the building a light filtered through color.
- The grandstand was replaced by the clerestory, smaller galleries.
- The elevation of the central nave was divided into three parts: the lower jaw consisting of high pointed arches, the clerestory above, and the clerestory or glazes spanning the third.
- The pillar continued to act as a sustaining element of the heavy roofs and added the use of thin pilasters, called baquetones, which held the weight of the nerves in the vaults.
- Exterior flying buttresses were added, structures that transmitted the lateral thrusts of the vault of the nave to the buttresses.
- The Latin cross plan remained the most used, but the head underwent a fundamental transformation, increasing in size and complexity. In general, Gothic churches had larger proportions, in many cases with five naves, crossed by a huge transept.
- The west side remained the most attractive part of the building. In the Gothic period, it was often framed by tall towers and presented a large rosette in the center, a long, circular, openwork span. The facades of the transept also grew in size and were elaborately worked.
Symbolism and Verticality
Thanks to the enormous and numerous bays, cathedrals became perfect reproductions of the heavenly Jerusalem: the temples were flooded with a heavenly and divine light, accented with the colors of the stained glass. The seclusion and obscurity that characterized Romanesque buildings gave way to spectacular and bright, heavenly temples.
Simultaneously, verticality became the objective pursued by architects. Buildings not only reached surprising heights but also used a number of elements that sought to accentuate the feeling of elevation and verticality. The pointed arch was joined by many structural elements to accentuate the feeling of height. The already high towers were topped by large needles. Gables, pinnacles, and arrows made Gothic buildings seem to want to get closer to heaven.
Iconography
The iconographic program was concentrated outside the building, where religious figures occupied the archivolts and the tympanum of the main entrances. Gargoyles and fantastic animals decorated the cornices. Inside, figurative scenes were found in the windows, choir stalls, and altars.
Notre Dame Cathedral: An Example of Gothic Architecture
The cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris was built along the same lines as Saint Denis but with a higher proportion. It has five naves, a row of chapels on the sides, and a double ambulatory, which solves the problem of the cover with a series of triangular vaults. The massive facade is framed by two towers and has a large rosette in the center.