GothicGothicArchitectureArchitecture

and Sculptureand Sculpture

Gothic Context• As in the Romanesque period, the innovations of the Gothic age were in large part the outgrowth of widespread prosperity.• As people continued to move into towns, those towns developed into large urban centers, further freeing people from the feudal system of old. • Within these cities, prosperous merchants formed guilds (professional associations), scholars founded the first modern universities, and vernacular (in the local language) literature (especially courtly romances) became popular.• Although the church was still extremely powerful, the secular (not tied to any exclusive religion) nations of modern Europe were beginning to take shape, such as England, Spain, and France.• The Gothic era varies depending upon country, but it is divided roughly into three periods:-Early Gothic (1140 – 1194)-High Gothic (1194 – 1300)-Late Gothic (1300 – 1500)

Europe around 1200 CE

Pointed Arches

• One of the most significant technical innovations to influence architecture was the invention of the pointed arch.• Unlike the rounded arches of old, the pointed arch sent the weight of roof more directly downward, instead of outward, and thus needed less buttressing.• This allowed the architect to put in more windows in the church, making the interior lighter.• The pointed shape of the pointed arch also draws the eye upward, creating the illusion that the vault is taller, even when it is not.

• Furthermore, the height of a rounded arch is dictated by its width, so the height of the transverse arches across the nave were always higher than the height of the arcades down either side of the nave. • By contrast, an architect could change the height of a pointed arch to any height by altering how quickly it tapered up to the top point. This enabled the architect to make all of the arches in the nave (both transverse, diagonal, and side arcade) equal in height, raising the total height of the nave.

Gothic Architecture1. Pinnacle – A sharply pointed ornament capping the

piers or flying buttresses; also used on facades. 2. Flying buttress – Masonry struts that transfer the

thrust of the nave vaults across the roofs of the side aisles and ambulatory to a tall pier rising above the church’s exterior wall.

3. Vaulting web – The masonry blocks filling the area between the ribs of a groin vault.

4. Diagonal rib – In plan, one of the ribs forming the X of a groin vault.

5. Transverse rib – A rib crossing the nave or aisle at a 90-degree angle.

6. Springing – the lowest stone of an arch. In Gothic vaulting, the lowest stone of a diagonal or transverse rib.

Gothic Architecture7. Clerestory – The windows below the vaults in the nave elevation’s uppermost level. By using flying buttresses and rib vaults on pointed arches, Gothic architects could build huge clerestory windows and fill them with stained glass held in place by ornamental stonework called tracery.8. Oculus – A small, round window (not to be confused with a rose window).9. Lancet – A tall, narrow window crowned by a pointed arch.10. Triforium – The story in the nave elevation consisting of arcades, usually blind arcades but occasionally filled with stained glass.11. Nave arcade – The series of arches supported by piers separating the nave from the side aisles.12. Compound pier (cluster pier) with shafts (responds) – A pier with a group, or cluster, of attached shafts, or responds, extending to the springing of the vaults.

St. Denis, Paris• Originally a Carolingian church, St. Denis was remodeled under the supervision of Abbot Suger (SOO-zher), who was the head of the abbey at the time, as well as an advisor to the French Kings Louis VI and VII.• At the time, the French kings only truly ruled an area called the Île-de-France, which encompassed only the area within about 100 miles of Paris, but they had pretensions to rule all of France.• As St. Denis had been the burial place of most French kings since Merovingian times, it was decided that rebuilding the church would help to increase the prestige of the monarchy.• The new renovations included pointed arches, equalized ceiling heights, and stained glass windows, which is why the new St. Denis is considered the first truly Gothic structure.• The abbey is named for Saint Denis who brought Christianity to Gaul in third century, and was martyred. According to legend, after his execution, Denis miraculously stood up and marched to his grave, carrying his severed head in his hands. The abbey houses his tomb.

St. Denis (Abbey Church)Near Paris, France

St. Denis, Paris• The features of the new structure included:-A remodeled choir and ambulatory, surrounded with seven consecutive radiating chapels. The use of pointed arches enabled higher ceiling height and thinner piers, making the ambulatory seem more connected to the choir as one large room. -Extensive use throughout of large, stained glass windows, which Abbot Suger believed let in lux nova (“new light”).-A taller nave and tower which used pointed arches with ribbed vaulting, creating a greater sense of heavenly lift.-An array of gem-encrusted and golden furniture, most importantly the main altar in front of the saint’s tomb.• In Suger’s eyes, his splendid new church, permeated with light and outfitted with gold and gems, was a place halfway between Heaven and Earth. • He regarded a lavish investment in art as a spiritual aid, not as an undesirable distraction for the pious monk, setting the stage for the proliferation of costly and elaborately decorated cathedrals in the Gothic age.

St. Denis (Abbey Church)Near Paris, France

Laon Cathedral, Laon• Begun about 1160, finished shortly after 1200.• Sexpartite rib vaults similar to Romanesque St. Etienne.• Included a new feature, the triforium, a row of arcades below the clerestory. The triforium occupies the space corresponding to the exterior strip of wall covered by the sloping timber roof above the galleries.• The insertion of the triforium into the Romanesque three-story nave elevation increased the number to four: nave arcade, vaulted gallery, triforium, and clerestory.• The façade includes the very Gothic large rose window, as well as deep porches in front of the doorways, and open towers.• The architecture at Laon exemplifies the Gothic inclination to reduce sheer mass and replace it with intricately framed voids (negative spaces).

Laon CathedralLaon, France

The Rise of Paris• French capital moved to Paris by Louis VI in 1130.• Around 1200, Philip II Augustus, who was at the time experiencing success in expanding French territories, made significant improvements to Paris by paving the streets, building its walls, and constructing the Louvre as his palace (which is today a famous museum). He became known as the “maker of Paris.”• Construction of the University of Paris attracted the best thinkers in Europe, making Paris the intellectual center of the West (although Rome remained the religious center). • A group of thinkers known as Schoolmen developed a philosophy called Scholasticism. They were introduced to the teachings of Aristotle by the Arabic scholars of Islamic Spain, and sought to use Aristotle’s method of logical inquiry and argument to prove the central articles of Christian faith.• Peter Abelard (1079-1142)- the most influential early Schoolman who helped develop Scholasticism.• Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)- Italian monk, moved to Paris, taught at University of Paris, and wrote Summa Theologica, a model of Scholastic approach to knowledge with five ways to prove the existence of god by argument. Later made a saint.

Notre Dame on the “Île-de-la-Cité”

Paris, France

Notre Dame, Paris• Notre Dame is French for “Our Lady,” and is a name given to several Gothic cathedrals due to the rise in popularity of the Virgin Mary at the time. We will distinguish between the various Notre Dames by their cities of location.• After Louis VI moved to Paris, the city needed a major cathedral. This cathedral replaced a previous Merovingian basilica.• Built on an island in the Seine river that flows through Paris known as the Île-de-la-Cité.• Built in parts over the course of about 100 years. The choir and transept were finished in 1182, but the façade was not done until about 1250 or 1260.• First use of flying buttresses on a major urban cathedral.• Oculus windows over each of the clerestory lancets.• Spire was added much later.• Sexpartite vaulting on ceiling.

Notre DameParis, France

Notre Dame, Chartres• The original cathedral at Chartres was built around 1145 in the Early Gothic style, but much of it burned down in 1194.

• The westwork and the crypt (which housed the cathedrals most precious relic, the mantle of the Virgin Mary) remained, but the rest of the church was rebuilt in the new High Gothic style.

• The west portal, part of the original structure, is known as the Royal Portal (because of the sculptures of kings and queens that adorn it).

• The north and south portals (on either end of the transept) are part of the new structure, and are stylistically different from the west portal.

Royal Portal, Chartres• Royal Portal named for the kings and queens on either side of the door jambs.

• Central tympanum depicts the second coming of Christ. He is surrounded by the signs of the 4 evangelists. The 12 apostles are on the lintel below, and the 24 elders on the archivolts.

• Left tympanum depicts Christ’s Ascension into Heaven, surrounded by signs of the Zodiac in the archivolts, symbolizing the cosmic and earthly worlds.

• Right tympanum depicts the Virgin with the infant Jesus in her lap. She maintains a central role due to the popularity of the Cult of the Virgin, who held her in high esteem and saw her as the kindly Queen of Heaven, standing compassionately between the last judge and the horrors of Hell, interceding for all her faithful.

Royal PortalWest façade,

Notre Dame of Chartres

Royal Portal, Chartres• The capitals are decorated with scenes from the life of the Virgin and Christ, creating a kind of frieze that unites the three doorways visually and iconographically.• The taller figures are the royal ancestors of Christ, although some people may have regarded them as the kings and queens of France (which was the motivation for the damage done to the similar figures at St. Denis during the French revolution). • They are different from classical caryatids in that they are merely attached to the columns behind them, they are not themselves the columns.• Style: The figures stand rigidly upright, arms held in tightly, linear folds of their garments and their elongated proportions (inherited from Romanesque style) echoing the verticality of the columns behind them.• Faces appear more naturalistic than Romanesque faces. Kindly facial expression. Initiated an era concerned with personality and individuality.• Originally brightly painted.

Jamb figures, Royal Portal,Notre Dame, Chartres

c. 1150

Jamb Figures, South Transept• Although still attached to columns, the jamb figures on the south transept (built after the fire) are less column-like in their pose, and project further out from the wall.• Faces are more expressive and individualized, and robes are more natural than the Early Gothic style.• St. Theodore, depicted on the Porch of the Martyrs, stands with his head turned to the left, and his hips to the right, creating a sense of curved classical contrapposto (recalling Polykleitos’ Spear Bearer). • Theodore is dressed as an idealized, youthful Christian knight, clad in the chainmail of the 13th century crusaders, with one hand resting on his decorated shield, and the other his spear.• Transition from Early to High Gothic style was similar to transition from Archaic to Classical Greece.

St. Theodore, Porch of the Martyrs,

Jamb Figures,Porch of the Confessors

South TranseptNotre Dame, Chartres

c. 1230

Chartres’ New Nave• After the fire of 1194, the nave and transept of Chartres was rebuilt. It had several distinctive changes in style, which is why it is considered the first example of High Gothic architecture.• It was the first cathedral to have the flying buttresses included in its original inception, allowing the architects to remove the gallery from the nave elevation (which used to serve as part of the buttressing). • The removal of the gallery left only 3 levels (nave arcade, triforium, and clerestory), instead of the Early Gothic four.• The nave ceiling was divided into rectangles that only spanned one bay, instead of the previously typical two bays.• Each ceiling rectangle was simple in design, consisting of only four parts instead of six (compare plans to the right). This helped to unify the interior.

Nave Interior,Notre Dame, Chartres

Begun 1194

Chartres Plan

Laon Plan

Making Stained Glass• Stained glass was first used in the fourth century, but it was during the Gothic era that it became the most popular.• Stained glass is made by following a number of steps, involving several people:- First, a master designer draws the design on a wooden panel, indicating all the linear details and noting the colors for each section.- Glass-blowers provided flat sheets of colored glass to glaziers (glassworkers) who cut the glass into the various shapes.- Painters added details (such as on the face on the right) with enamel on the glass, using the designer’s wooden panel underneath the glass as a guide. The glass pieces were heated in a kiln to fuse the enamel.- Glaziers then joined the glass panels together using thin, flexible strips of lead. The leading held the glass pieces together, and served to separate the colors to heighten the effect of the design as a whole.- Finally, the glaziers strengthened the completed window with an armature of iron bands, which in the 12th century formed a grid over the entire design. In the 13th century, the bands followed the outlines of the medallions and surrounding areas.

Chartres Stained Glass• The stained glass windows at Chartres were paid for by workers’ guilds and royalty. • The lancet window referred to as Our Lady of the Beautiful Windows was one of the originals to survive the fire of 1194.• The central section, with the red background, depicts the Virgin Mary enthroned, holding the Christ child on her lap. The dove of the Holy Spirit is above.• The surrounding angels (blue backgrounds) are not originals; they were added when the window was reinstalled in the choir after the fire.• How is this depiction of Mary with a baby Jesus similar or different from some of the others we have seen?

• “The glass windows in a church are Holy Scriptures, which expel the wind and the rain, that is, all things hurtful, but transmit the light of the True Sun, that is, God, into the hearts of the faithful.” - William Durandus, bishop of Mende (c. 1250)

Our Lady of the Beautiful Windows(Notre Dame de la Belle Verriére),Detail of a window in the choir of

Chartres Cathedral, FRc. 1170 with 13th century side panels

Chartres Stained Glass• This window is from the 13th century, after the fire.• Because the builders of the new nave planned from the outset to use flying buttresses, they were able to also include plans for expansive stained glass windows (this one is 43’ wide). • This rose window and its lancets were commissioned by Queen Blanche of Castile, around 1220. • Reflecting the royalty of the patron is the inclusion of the yellow castles and fleur-de-lis (a three-petaled iris flower that was a symbol for French royalty as well as the Virgin Mary, and later the Holy Trinity).

Rose window and lancetsNorth transept,

Notre Dame Chartres, FR

c. 1220

Chartres Stained Glass• In the roundel in the middle is another enthroned Virgin Mary, again holding the Christ child. • Above her are four doves, and below are eight angels.• Twelve square panes contain images of Old Testament kings, including David and Solomon. These are the royal ancestors of Christ.

Rose window detailNorth transept,Chartres

Chartres Stained Glass• The central lancet below the rose window depicts Saint Anne and the baby Virgin.• Flanking St. Anne are four of Christ’s Old Testament ancestors: Melchizedek, David, Solomon, and Aaron. • Almost the entire mass of wall opens up into stained glass, held in place by intricate stone tracery. The designers tried to subtract as much stone as possible, just short of destabilizing the building, which has proven itself successful by lasting over 800 years so far.

Lancet detailNorth transept,

Chartres

Notre Dame, Amiens• Architects: Robert de Luzarches, Thomas de Cormont, and Renaud de Cormont• Began in 1220, nave finished 1236, radiating chapels finished 1247, choir finished 1270.• Significantly taller than Laon, Paris, or Chartres, the nave of Amiens is 144 feet tall.• Façade similar in style to Laon, with three deep portals. • However, the stone carvings on Amiens is more intricate and detailed, and the greater height of the nave is apparent by the height of the rose window.• The row of figures below the rose window is the king’s gallery.• The shorter tower was added in the 1300s; the taller tower was added in the 1400s.

West Façade,Notre Dame, Amiens, FR

Began in 1220 Beau Dieu(Beautiful God)

Trumeau

Laon

Notre Dame, Amiens• The architects borrowed the rectangular vaulting system of Chartres, but pushed it to go even higher, on even more slender piers. • They eliminated as much stone from the structure as possible, and replaced it with open space or windows, creating a sense of buoyant lightness.• The crossing and the choir are the exception to the otherwise regular rectangle vaults.• From below, the vaulting over the choir looks like a canopy.• The clerestory and the triforium are filled with large stained glass windows. Not since Hagia Sophia had light played such an important role in the visual effect of a church.

Nave,Notre Dame, Amiens, FRc. 1220

Notre Dame, Reims• Reims is pronounced like “rance” or “rass”• Architects: Gaucher de Reims and Bernard de Soissons• King’s gallery located above the rose window and placed in taller and more ornate frames.• Generally, the components of the façade are similar to Amiens, but “stretched” taller.• Rose window set in a pointed arch.• Pinnacles above the portal tall and elaborate.• Stained glass windows in the tympana.• Statues and reliefs on the west façade focus on the Virgin Mary.• Paid for in part by indulgences – indulgences were pardons for sins committed that could be purchased (with money) from the clergy.

Reims CathedralReims, France, c. 1225-1290

Annunciation and Visitation• The columns are of decreased significance and size, serving to detach the sculptures from their architectural background. • The pair to the left depict the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel visits Mary to announce to her that she will bear a child.• The pair to the right depict the Visitation, wherein Mary visits her older cousin Elizabeth (who is pregnant with John the Baptist) to inform her of the news.• These sculptures were made over a period of about 25 years, and involved several different sculptors.• Compare the right pair with the left pair. How are they stylistically different? What artistic period were the sculptors of the pair on the right more familiar with and how can you tell?• In the pair on the left, how is Gabriel stylistically different from Mary?

Annunciation (left) and Visitation (right)Jamb statues on the right side of the central doorway of the

west façade, Reims Cathedral, France, c. 1230

Sainte-Chapelle, Paris

Sainte-Chapelle, Paris• Built by Louis IX as a chapel joined to the royal palace as a repository for the crown of thorns and other relics of Christ’s passion he had purchased in 1239 from his cousin Baldwin II, the Latin emperor of Constantinople. • A masterful example of the Rayonnant (“radiant”) style• Stained glass makes up 75% of the structure.• Suffered some damage (now restored) during the revolution• Although most of the windows depict scenes from the Old Testament depicting the royal ancestors of Jesus, there is one window depicting scenes from the life of Louis IX.• “Sainte-Chapelle” translates as “Holy Chapel”• Louis IX (ruled 1226-1270) was considered an ideal king, revered for his piety, justice, truthfulness, and charity. He was famous for his diplomacy, and under his rule France was peaceful and prosperous. He lead two unsuccessful crusades, and died during the second. He was made a saint less than thirty years after his death.

Sainte-Chapelle,Ile-de-la-Cite, Paris, Francec. 1245

The Virgin of Paris• From the Late Gothic period.• Located in Notre Dame, Paris, hence its name.• Mary is depicted as a worldly queen, wearing a large, gem-encrusted crown.• The baby Jesus reaches toward his young mother in a tender moment, an example of the continued humanization of religious figures in the Late Gothic period (similar to Hellenistic Greece).• Pose is an exaggerated S-curve

The Virgin of ParisNotre Dame, Paris, FREarly 14th Century

The Virgin of ParisThe Virgin of ParisNotre Dame, Paris, FREarly 14th Century

S-curve

• From the Late Gothic period.• Located in Notre Dame, Paris, hence its name.• Mary is depicted as a worldly queen, wearing a large, gem-encrusted crown.• The baby Jesus reaches toward his young mother in a tender moment, an example of the continued humanization of religious figures in the Late Gothic period (similar to Hellenistic Greece).• Pose is an exaggerated S-curve

The Virgin of Jeanne d’Evreaux• Much smaller in scale than the Virgin of Paris .• Wealthy patrons would commission statuettes of religious figures such as this one for private worship, or to donate to churches.• This statue was commissioned by the French queen Jeanne d’Evreux, and donated to the abbey of St. Denis.• Mary stands on a rectangular base that is decorated with enamel scenes of Christ’s passion. • Despite the subject matter depicted on the base, Mary does not appear to mourn. Instead, she gazes tenderly at Jesus, who playfully reaches up to touch her face.• Originally depicted with a crown, a sense of royalty is also communicated through the scepter shaped as a fleur-de-lis (a symbol of the French monarchy).• The statuette is also a reliquary. The scepter contained several hairs believed to be from Mary’s head.• As with the Virgin of Paris, Mary stands with an exaggerated S-curve pose.

Virgin of Jeanne d’EvreuxSt. Denis, France, 1339Silver gilt and enamel, 2’ 3.5” high

The Castle of Love• During the Gothic period arose the popularity of the courtly romance, in which a brave, honorable knight politely courted a virtuous lady.• The secular theme of the courtly romance was often incorporated into private artworks, such as this jewelry box lid. Items such as this might have been given by a suitor to his lady of interest.• This jewelry box was based off of an allegorical poem called the Romance of the Rose.• On the lid, knights are laying siege to a castle of maidens by shooting flowers from their bows, and hurling baskets of flowers over the castle walls with catapults.• In the central panel, two knights joust as the maidens look on over the castle wall.• On the right, a knight receives his reward: a bouquet of roses from a chastely dressed maiden on horseback.• The side of the box includes the legend of the unicorn, a medieval allegory of female virtue (only a virgin could attract the unicorn, thereby proving her moral purity.

Castle of LoveJewelry box,From Paris, FRc. 1330-1350Ivory and iron4.5” x 9.75”

House of Jacques Coeur, Reims• Jacques Coeur (pronounced “kerr”) was a wealthy financier who owned banking houses in several major cities in France and abroad, and was the friend of Pope Nicholas V as well as the treasurer of King Charles VII.• Unfortunately, Coeur was framed by his enemies for having poisoned the king’s mistress, Agnes Sorel. The judges who sentenced him to prison and confiscated his wealth were among those who owed him money. Coeur escaped to Rome, where the pope warmly received him.• His townhouse in his native city of Bourges (Boorj) is the best surviving example of Late Gothic domestic architecture.• The parts of the house are arranged around an open courtyard.• Ground level: included maintenance shops, storage rooms, servants’ quarters, and baths (a rare luxury at the time)• Upper stories: offices, family rooms, a private chapel (over the entrance), and a treasury (in one of the towers). • Decoration: large pointed-arch stained-glass windows, steep pyramidal roofs of varying heights, and a canopied niche facing the street that once housed a royal equestrian statue.

Inner façade and Courtyard of the House of Jacques CoeurBourges, FR, c. 1450

English Gothic

Salisbury Cathedral, England• By the second half of the 13th century, the French Gothic style was spreading throughout western Europe. • Because each area had its own style of Romanesque architecture, each area then blended its local style to the French Gothic style to create its own variety of Gothic architecture.• The English Gothic style emphasized linear pattern and horizontality instead of the French structural logic and verticality.• Salisbury was begun the same year as Amiens.• The façade includes some French Gothic features (such as pointed lancet windows) but is structurally just a flat, wide screen for the nave. The levels do not match the interior levels.• Instead of emphasizing the height of the façade, the focus is on the great crossing tower (added around 1330). • Only a few flying buttresses, and an unusual double-transept.• The pier responds stop at the springing of the nave arches, and do not continue upwards to the vault ribs.• Contrast between the light stone of the walls and vaults and the dark marble used for the moldings.

Salisbury CathedralSalisbury, England

1220-1258

Chapel of Henry VII, England• Since Romanesque times, the use of elaborate architectural pattern for its own sake had been a distinguishing characteristic of English architecture. The use of patterns became increasingly complex, culminating in what is known as the Perpendicular style.• The Perpendicular style takes its name from the emphasis on verticality of its decorative details, in contrast with earlier English Gothic churches such as Salisbury.• A late example of the Perpendicular style is the Chapel of Henry VII, adjoining Westminster Abbey in London. • Architects: Robert and William Vertue• Use of fan vaults (vaults with radiating ribs forming a fanlike pattern) and large hanging pendants.• • •

Chapel of Henry VIIWestminster Abbey

London, Englandc. 1500

Holy Roman Empire Gothic

Strasbourg• Located in present-day France, but at the time was part of the German Rhineland part of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by Ottonian successors.• The apse, choir, and transepts were begun in 1176, and completed by 1230. Stylistically, these sections are Romanesque, but the decorations, especially the portals of the south transept, are markedly Gothic. • Of all buildings built entirely within the Gothic period, this cathedral is the tallest one still standing.

Strasbourg CathedralStrasbourg, France

c. 1230

Dormition of the Virgin, Strasbourg• The tympanum of the left doorway of the south transept is an example of the classical revival style of the French Gothic era that had spread to the Rhineland.• It depicts Mary on her deathbed. The 12 apostles gather around Mary, forming an arc of mourners well-suited to the semicircular frame.• At the center, Christ receives his mother’s soul (depicted as the doll-like figure in Christ’s hands). • Mary Magdalene crouches in front of the deathbed in sorrow.• The figures express profound sorrow through dramatic poses and gestures.• The sculptor’s objective was to imbue the sacred figures with human emotions and to stir emotional responses in observers.• The figures wear rippling drapery, with deeply incised folds.• The figures on the edges are smaller, and those in the back of the crowd do not have feet.

Dormition (or Death) of the VirginTympanum of the left doorway of the south transept

Strasbourg Cathedral, Strasbourg, Francec. 1230

Naumburg Cathedral• Although he is not the patron of the whole Naumburg Cathedral in northern Germany, Bishop Dietrich II of Wettin did commission the western choir, and oversee the completion of the building.• The bishop built the choir as a memorial to the twelve donors of the original 11th-century church. • The artist who oversaw the team of sculptors responsible for building the choir screen is known as the Naumburg Master.• In the center of the screen is the crucified Christ. On either side are the grieving John the Evangelist and Virgin Mary. • John weeps openly, unable to look at Jesus. Mary also does not look at Jesus, but instead gestures towards the worshippers of the church, seemingly offering to intercede on their behalf at the last judgment. • Continues the emphasis on heightened emotion.• Figures retain their original paint, giving a sense of what the outdoor sculptures (also typically painted) would have originally looked like.

CrucifixionNaumburg CathedralNaumburg, Germany

c. 1250Figures are

painted limestone

Ekkehard and Uta, Naumburg• Within the choir are statues of the original donors, carved again by the Naumburg Masters’ workshop of sculptors. • Two of these figures are the military governor Ekkehard II of Meissen and his wife, Uta. • The statues are attached to columns and stand beneath architectural canopies, following the pattern of French Gothic portal statuary.• Ekkehard appears as an intense Christian knight. Uta, by contrast, is aloof yet beautiful, pulling her cloak partially in front of her face. The sculptor has convincingly indicated the form of her arm and hand underneath her cloak.• The realistic draping of the clothing as well as the individualized expressions and features imply that the sculptor probably viewed a live model (since Ekkehard and Uta would have died several hundred years before these statues were made, and thus could not have posed for the sculptor themselves).

Ekkehard and UtaNaumburg CathedralNaumburg, Germany

c. 1250Painted limestone

6’ 2” high

Röttgen Pietà• The confident 13th-century portraits at Naumburg contrast greatly with the haunting 14th-century German painted wooden statuette of the Virgin Mary, holding the dead Christ in her lap.• “Pietà” is Italian for pity or compassion, and is the word used to describe an artwork that depicts Mary cradling the dead body of Christ.• Named after an art collector, not the original patron.• The artist has stylized the bodies to emphasize the level of emotional suffering. Christ’s body is twisted and full of gaping wounds, his head thrown back with an expression of pain. Mary leans forward to cradle him, an expression of anguish on her face.• The artist made the heads disproportionately large to accentuate the emotions on the faces, as well as to make Christ’s body seem even more emaciated by contrast. • The work seems to challenge the viewer to compare their own suffering to the suffering of Mary and Christ.

Röttgen PietàRhineland, Germanyc. 1300Painted wood2’ 10.5” high

Cologne Cathedral, Germany• Original Architect: Gerhard of Cologne• Although Gothic style sculptures could be found earlier, it was not until the mid-1200s that the French Gothic style found its way into the architecture of the Holy Roman Empire.• Construction of this church lasted over 600 years.• Work halted entirely from the mid-16th to the mid-19th centuries, when church officials unexpectedly discovered the 14th-century design for the façade. Gothic Revival architects then completed the building according to the original plans, adding the nave, towers, and façade to the east end, which had stood alone for several centuries.• Large in size, the nave is 422 feet long, and the choir is 150 feet high (based on the design for Amiens). • The structural strength of the building was proven during World War II, during which there was severe aerial bombing in Cologne. Aside from the windows blowing out, the church suffered no other damage.

Cologne CathedralCologne, Germany

Begun 1248Nave, façade, and towers completed 1880

Shrine of the Three Kings• Artist: Nicholas of Verdun, the leading Mosan artist (from the Meuse River valley in present-day Belgium), known for his work in precious metals and enamels.• Patron: Philip von Heinsberg, archbishop of Cologne, commissioned the shrine to contain relics from the three magi.• The relics of the magi had been acquired by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the conquest of Milan in 1164. Possession of the magi’s relics gave the Cologne archbishops the right to crown German kings.• It is a large reliquary at six feet long, and is made of silver, bronze, enamel, and various gemstones.• Overall shape is that of a basilican church.• Repoussé figures of the Virgin, the three magi, Old Testament prophets, and New Testament apostles in arcuated frames.• Deep channels and tight bunches of drapery folds are hallmarks of Nicholas’ style.

Shrine of the Three KingsNicholas of VerdunCologne Cathedral

Germanyc. 1190

5’ 8” x 6’ x 3’ 8”Silver, bronze,

enamel, gemstones

Italian Late Medieval

Orvieto Cathedral, Italy• Architect: Lorenzo Maitani• Characteristically French Gothic aspects are: -the pointed gables over the three doorways- the rose window and statues in niches in the upper zone- the four large pinnacles dividing the façade into three bays• The larger outer two pinnacles serve as miniature substitutes for the large towers of a Gothic westwork.• The façade is a Gothic overlay masking a basilican structure in the Tuscan Romanesque tradition. Few Italian architects fully embraced the Gothic style.

Orvieto CathedralOrvieto, ItalyBegun 1310

Orvieto Cathedral, Italy• The interior of Orvieto reveals a timber roof and rounded arches in the nave arcade and chancel arch, more closely related to early Christian churches than Gothic.• Only two levels to the nave elevation: the nave arcade and the clerestory.

Florence Cathedral, Italy• Primary architect: Alfonso di Cambio• Florence Cathedral is also called Santa Maria del Fiore (Italian for Holy Mary of the Flower). • The cathedral was intended to be the most beautiful church in all of Tuscany, and it reveals the competitiveness Florentines felt with cities such as Siena and Pisa.• Outer surface decorated with geometric marble-encrusted designs. The revetment (decorative wall panels) was designed to match the revetment of the 11th century baptistery of San Giovanni in front of it.• The campanile (bell tower) is free-standing.• The emphasis is on horizontality, not verticality like the Gothic churches of France.• The façade was not completed until the 19th century, and then in a form altered from its original design. Italian builders had little concern for the facades of their churches, because they considered the façade to be a decorative screen, instead of an integral part of the architecture.

Florence CathedralFlorence, Italy, c. 1300

Doge’s Palace, Italy• Venice was ruled by a tightly-knit corporation of ruling families , instead of a central king. It was a republic instead of a monarchy.• The Doge’s (duke’s) seat of government was the Doge’s Palace. • The bottom row is an arcade of pointed arches. • The second row is made up of ogee arches (arches made up of double-curving lines).• Above the ogee arches are medallions pierced with quatrefoils.• Each story is taller than the one below it. The top story is larger than the two bottom stories combined.• The upper story’s wall is patterned using white and rose-colored marbles.• Colorful, decorative, light and airy in appearance, this Venetian palace is ideally suited to this unique Italian city that floats between water and sky.

Doge’s PalaceVenice, Italy

Begun c. 1340

Ogee Arch