Gothic (Part Five).

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Sainte Chapelle, Paris, France.

Photo: 14 October 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Didier B (Sam67fr).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The façade of a large Church or Cathedral, often referred to as the West Front, is generally designed to create a powerful impression on the approaching worshipper, demonstrating both the might of God and the might of the institution that it represents. One of the best known, and most typical of such façades, is that of Notre Dame de Paris.

Central to the façade is the main Portal, often flanked by additional doors. In the Arch of the door, the Tympanum, is often a significant piece of sculpture, most frequently Christ in Majesty and Judgment Day. If there is a central Door Jamb, or a Trumeau, then it frequently bears a statue of the Madonna and Child. There may be much other carving, often of figures in Niches set into the mouldings around the Portals, or in sculptural screens extending across the façade.

Facade of Orvieto Cathedral, Italy.

Photo: 14 September 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Adonovan0.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Above the main Portal, there is generally a large window, like that at York Minster, or a group of windows, such as those at Ripon Cathedral. In France, there is generally a Rose Window, like that at Reims Cathedral. Rose Windows are also often found in the façades of Churches of Spain and Italy, but are rarer elsewhere and are not found on the façades of any English Cathedrals. The gable is usually richly decorated with Arcading or sculpture, or, in the case of Italy, may be decorated with the rest of the façade, with polychrome marble and mosaic, as at Orvieto Cathedral.

English: Notre-Dame de Paris. 

South facade. View from the River Seine.

Italiano: La cattedrale di Notre Dame de Paris vista dalla Senna.

Photo: 28 April 2009.

Source: Zuffe.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The West Front of a French Cathedral, and many English, Spanish and German Cathedrals, generally have two Towers, which, particularly in France, express an enormous diversity of form and decoration. However, some German Cathedrals have only one Tower, located in the middle of the façade (such as Freiburg Minster, Germany).

The way in which the Pointed Arch was drafted and utilised developed throughout the Gothic period. There were fairly clear stages of development, which did not, however, progress at the same rate, or in the same way in every country. Moreover, the names used to define various periods or styles, within the Gothic, differ from country to country.

The simplest shape is the long opening with a Pointed Arch, known in England as the Lancet. Lancet openings are often grouped, usually as a cluster of three or five. Lancet openings may be very narrow and steeply pointed. Lancet Arches are typically defined as two-centered Arches whose radii are larger than the Arch's span.

Windows in the Chapter House at York Minster show the

Equilateral Arch with typical circular motifs in the Tracery.

Photo: 19 December 2003.

Source: Own work.

Author: Andy Barrett (User:Big Smooth).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Salisbury Cathedral is famous for the beauty and simplicity of its Lancet Gothic, known in England as the Early English Style. York Minster has a group of Lancet Windows each fifty feet high and still containing ancient glass. They are known as the Five Sisters. These simple undecorated grouped windows are found at Chartres Cathedral and Laon Cathedral and are used extensively in Italy.

Many Gothic openings are based upon the Equilateral form. In other words, when the Arch is drafted, the radius is exactly the width of the opening, and the centre of each Arch coincides with the point from which the opposite Arch springs. This makes the Arch higher, in relation to its width, than a semi-circular Arch, which is exactly half as high as it is wide.

The Equilateral Arch gives a wide opening of satisfying proportion, useful for doorways, decorative Arcades and large windows.

The Depressed Arch, supported by Fan Vaulting, 

at King's College Chapel, England.

Photo: July 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Agnete.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The structural beauty of the Gothic Arch means, however, that no set proportion had to be rigidly maintained. The Equilateral Arch was employed as a useful tool, not as a Principle of Design. This meant that narrower or wider Arches were introduced into a building Plan, wherever necessity dictated. In the architecture of some Italian cities, notably Venice, semi-circular Arches are interspersed with Pointed Arches.

The Equilateral Arch lends itself to filling with Tracery of simple equilateral, circular and semi-circular forms. The type of Tracery that evolved, to fill these spaces, is known in England as Geometric Decorated Gothic, and can be seen to splendid effect at many English and French Cathedrals, notably Lincoln Cathedral and Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris. Windows of complex design, and of three or more Lights, or vertical sections, are often designed by overlapping two or more Equilateral Arches.

The Flamboyant Arch is one that is drafted from four points, the upper part of each main arc turning upwards into a smaller arc and meeting at a sharp, flame-like point. These Arches create a rich and lively effect when used for Window Tracery and surface decoration. The form is structurally weak and has very rarely been used for large openings, except when contained within a larger and more stable Arch. It is not employed at all for Vaulting.

Flamboyant Window Tracery 

at Limoges Cathedral, France.

Photo: 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: TTaylor.

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: Limoges Cathedral, France.

Français: Vue nocturne de la cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Limoges,

Haute-Vienne, France.

Photo: 20 December 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Babsy.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Some of the most beautiful and famous Traceried Windows of Europe employ this type of Tracery. It can be seen at St Stephen's Vienna, Sainte Chapelle in Paris, at the Cathedrals of Limoges and Rouen, in France, and at Milan Cathedral, in Italy. In England, the most famous examples are the West Window of York Minster, with its design based on the Sacred Heart, the extraordinarily-rich seven-light East Window at Carlisle Cathedral and the exquisite East Window of Selby Abbey.

Doorways, surmounted by Flamboyant mouldings, are very common in both ecclesiastical and domestic architecture in France. They are much rarer in England. A notable example is the doorway to the Chapter Room at Rochester Cathedral, Kent, England.

The style was much used in England for Wall Arcading and Niches. Prime examples are in the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral, the Screen at Lincoln Cathedral, and externally on the façade of Exeter Cathedral. In German and Spanish Gothic architecture, it often appears as Openwork Screens on the exterior of buildings. The style was used to rich, and sometimes extraordinary, effect in both these countries, notably on the famous pulpit in Vienna Cathedral.

PART SIX FOLLOWS.