Art of the High Middle Ages

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Art of the High Middle Ages Romanesque c.
1050-1200 (12th century) Gothic c. 1200-1300
(13th century)
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Romanesque Art 1050-1200

• A little after the year One Thousand, basilicas
  began to be built throughout the known land, and
  especially in Italy and the Gaul territories. And
  because the majority of them were still in good
  conditions and were not lacking in anything, a
  great spirit of emulation overtook all Christian
  populations each wishing to surpass the next in
  magnificence. It was as if the world wanted to
  shake off the old, and cover itself with a great
  white cloak of churches".
• Raul Glaber, c. 1003

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• Reasons for Revival of Large-Scale Architecture
  Sculpture
• relief over millennium
• replace destruction of 9th 10th centuries
  invasions
• rise of towns
• new function of churches not just for clergy
  but for laity
• beautify house of God
• PILGRIMAGES

• Architectural Goals
• height (towards heaven)
• light (metaphor for God)
• stone vaulting (1. fireproof 2. acoustics 3.
  looks cool)

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Medieval PilgrimageRoutes
RelicReliquary
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Plan for the Monastery at St. Gall, Switzerland,
c. 819
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St. Just de Valcabrere, 11th Century
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St. Just
CarolingianBasilica
St. SerninPilgrimage Church
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E
Radiating Chapels(Absidioles)
W
Apse
Choir
Transept
Crossing Square
Ambulatory
Bay
Nave
St. Sernin, Toulouse, 1080-1120
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St. Sernin, Toulouse, 1080-1120
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Medieval Construction Methods
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Sta. Sabina c. 425
St. Michael, Hildesheimc. 1000
St. Sernin c. 1100
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St. Sernin, Toulouse, 1080-1120
tribune gallery
nave arcade
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Groin Vaulted Side Aisles
Barrel Vaulted Nave
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La Madeleine, Vezelay, France, c. 1100-1120
1. Groin Vaulted Nave
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St. Etienne, Caen, France, c. 1068-1120 vaulted
c. 11151120
2. RibbedVaults
sexpartite vault
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St. Etienne, Caen, France, c. 1068-1120 vaulted
c. 11151120
3 Story Elevation ClerestoryGalleryNave Arcade
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Durham Cathedral, England, begun c. 1093
Gothic Alert !
3. Pointed Arches
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Amiens Cathedral, c.1220-1270
Gothic Pointed Arch
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Notre Dame, Paris, 1180-1200
4. Flying Buttress
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lancet ocular windows
clerestory
triforium
nave arcade
144'
80'
107'
118'
Nave elevations of four French Gothic cathedrals
at the same scale(a) Laon, (b) Paris, (c)
Chartres, (d) Amiens.
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Gothic Architecture 13 th Century The Gothic
Solution

• Groin vaulted nave
• Ribbed vaults
• Pointed arches
• Flying Buttresses (only feature not used in
  Romanesque)
• 3 Story Elevation nave arcade, triforium,
  clerestory

Skeletal framework and dissolution of walls