GOTHIC CATHEDRALS

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GOTHIC CATHEDRALS
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Chartres Cathedral 1125-1220
Why is this picture symbolic of the medieval
Church?
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Right! The cathedral dominates its surroundings
as the Church dominated the Middle Ages
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Shining a light, some might say, in the medieval
darkness
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The sheer size of these cathedrals insured that
they would be the focal point of any landscape
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and the size was made possible by dramatic
innovations in architecture.
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Lets look at the style that preceded Gothic,
which was Romanesque.
You will recall that the Romans major
contribution to architecture was the dome
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Remember the Pantheon?
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The dome was constructed by enclosing a rounded
arch
and the weight of the entire dome pushed down
equally on every inch of the walls
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This meant that domed buildings were limited in
how high they could rise without collapsing under
the weight of the dome
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As a result, the early Christian churcheswhich
were based on the Roman model and therefore
called Romanesquewere limited in height
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The interior had rounded arches and thick walls
with little space for windows
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Gothic cathedrals, on the other hand, seemed to
reach the sky!
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This resulted from one of the major cultural
advancements of the Middle Ages the new Gothic
style of architecture
This was accomplished by combining three separate
but connected arches, creating a ribbed vault.
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The ribbed vault was topped by a pointed arch
that channeled the weight of the arch to
specific columns
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which were supported from the outside by flying
buttresses
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These architectural developments enabled
cathedral builders to create walls of greater
height
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which at the same time could be less massive,
allowing more space for windows.
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In these window spaces were placed the glorious
stained glass that decorates the Gothic cathedral
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Of course, like much medieval art, the stained
glass windows were educational, reinforcing the
teachings of Christianity for the illiterate
populace.
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The cathedral at Chartres has more than 100
stained glass windows!
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The entrance to the cathedral was decorated with
sculpture
containing, of course, more Bible scenes.
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In addition to the recognizable symbols seen in
the stained glass, the entire cathedral itself
was a symbol, pointing toward heaven as did all
of medieval life
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The floor plan was in the shape of a cross
And the altar always faced east, toward Jerusalem
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Churchgoers sat in the nave
which comes from the Latin word for ship
(navis).
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The cathedral, therefore, was a metaphor for the
Church which was a ship taking souls of the
believers to heaven!
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The cathedral was important to its town or city
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instilling civic pride
and bringing great wealth.
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The wealth was provided by pilgrims who traveled
to the cathedrals because relics were housed
there.
Relics were material things left on earth by
especially holy people such as saints.
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The belief was that if you visited a cathedral
that boasted, lets say, the skeleton of St.
Francis
and prayed to the saint
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your prayers would be heard and some of your
sins might be forgiven.
Relics spawned their own artistic accomplishments
The beautiful reliquaries that contained them
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Chartres cathedral housed one of the holiest of
relics the veil said to belong to the Virgin
Mary.
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Hope you enjoyed the show!