GOD

Spiritual Realm(Faith & Divine

Revelation)

MAN

Earthly World(Reason)

Cathedral

Gothic architecture originated in the design and construction of a new choir for the Abbey Church of St. Denis, near Paris, in 1140-1144.

Over the next fifty years, the Gothic style gradually replaced the Romanesque in France as the "modern" style.

The Age of the Great Cathedrals, c. 1200-1270, saw the perfection of Gothic concepts which spread throughout Europe.

By 1400, the Gothic style in France began to decline, emphasizing ornament rather than structural clarity.

By 1500, it had been replaced almost completely by the "classical" forms of Renaissance architecture.

French Gothic architecture is divided into three phases: Early, High and Late

Gothic Architecture

Early Gothic – Laon Cathedral, 1160-1205

• 4 story elevation

• sexpartite (6 part) vaults spanning 2 bays

• alternate support system

• division into horizontal and vertical bands

• recessed triple portals

• towers at crossings and transepts

High Gothic – Amiens Cathedral, 1220-1236

• 3 story elevation

• quadripartite (4 part) vaults spanning 1 rectangular bay

• no alternate support system (unified space)

• equal height of arcade & clerestory

• deeply recessed portals

• more tracery, sculpture & piercing of walls

• play of light & dark

Nave elevations of four French Gothic cathedrals at the same scale(a) Laon, (b) Paris, (c) Chartres, (d) Amiens.

80' 107' 118' 144'

Early Gothic High Gothic

Late/Flamboyant Gothic – St.-Maclou, Rouen, 1434-1514

• named for flame-like pointed tracery attached to every surface • ornamental surface treatment emphasized over structural clarity

• cavernous portals and open tracery

• five-part facade

• crossing towers not façade towers

• much smaller than High Gothic structures.