Gothic Art
- This article is about Gothic art. See also Gothic architecture
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that lasted about 200 years. It began in France out of the Romanesque period in the mid-12th century, concurrent with Gothic architecture found in Cathedrals. By the late 14th century, it had evolved towards a more secular and natural style known as International Gothic, which continued until the late 15th century, where it evolved into Renaissance art. The primary Gothic art mediums were sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco and illuminated manuscript.
Early Gothic
Architecture
On June 11, 1144, King Louis of France, Eleaonr of Aqutaine (his queen), and members of the royal court converged on the royal abbey of St. Denis. St. Denis, with its crown of chapels radiant with stained glass windows would set a predent that builders around Paris would follow for the next half century.
The existence of the Gothic style can be attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux and Abbot Suger. Bernard held the belief that faith was mystical rather than rational. Bernard's Cistercian architecture reflected this concept: the building stressed purity of outline, simplicity and a form and light peculiarly conducive to meditation. However, it was Suger that initiated the movement, and gave Gothic Architecture its identity.
In his own words, Abbot Suger stated,
"Moreover, it was cunningly provided that—through the upper columns and central arches which were to be placed upon the lower ones built in the crypt—the central nave of the new addition should be made the same width, by means of geometrical and arithmetical instruments, as the central nave of the old [Carolingian] church; and, likewise, that the dimensions of the new side-aisles should be the same as the dimensions of the old side-aisles, except for that elegant and praise-worthy extension...a circular string of chapels, by virtue of which the whole [church] would shine with the wondeful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty."
In actuality, this description is pivotal in grasping the movement of Early Gothic Architecture. While Suger wants to follow the blue print of older Romanesque churches, it is the, "elegant and praiseworthy extensions," the "string of chapels," and "luminous windows," that give Gothic Architecture its name and notoriety.
Another key feature of Gothic Architecture is the Gothic rib fault. A rib vault is identified by the presence of crossed, or diagonal, arches under the groins of a vault. These arches form the framework of the Gothic skeletal structure. The Gothic vault may be distinguished from other rib or arched vaults by its use of the pointed, or broken arch as an integral part of the skeletal armature. As a result of the thinly vaulted webs between the arches, all the arches have their crowns at approximately the same level, a feeat the Romanesque architects could not achieve.
Sculpture
Gothic sculpture first made its appearance in the Ile-de-France with the same suddenness as Gothic architecture, and astoundingly enough, in the very same place: the abbey church of St. Denis. The portals of the cathedral constitute the most impressive corpus of Early Gothic sculpture. For example, the three west portals of Chartres, viewed as a whole, portray the majesty and omnipotence of Christ. It became routine for religious sculptures to appear in portals of cathedrals during the Gothic era. The jamb statues expose the true colors of Early Gothic sculpture. While the disregard of normal proportions and their rigid adherence to an architectural frame is distinctly Romanesque, the fact that the statues stand out from the plane of the wall and are treated as three dimensional are distinctly Gothic. They move into the space of the observer and exhibit an entirely new type of naturalism: drapery folds are no longer calligraphic exercises translated into stone; they now either fall vertically or radiate naturally from their point of suspension. These new innovations have come to represent the idea of the body coming into its own.
High Gothic
Late Gothic
English Gothic
French Gothic
German Gothic
Italian Gothic
Mediums of Gothic Art
Sculpture
Stained Glass
Architecture
History
Under the Roman Empire, a strong central government protected its people and the land with a strong military. However, by 476 C.E., at the fall of the Roman Empire, Germanic tribes called the Goths had invaded and captured what was left of it. These tribes were not unified and often quarreled with each other making roads very dangerous to travel. Halted trade and cultural diffusion, but most importantly a decline in cultural progress marked the beginning of the Middle Ages. With people afraid to travel, they remained in one area and paved the way for the manorial system - the basis of Medieval and feudal society. People were now in one area - they weren't necessarily safe. Therefore, lords offered their land to workers. Workers would produce crops on the land, while the lord gave the worker (also called peasant) protection with his knights. This was one manor. To protect manors from each other, they built large, strong castles, which ultimately gave rise to Gothic architecture, named after the barbaric tribes, but essentially instrumental in the stabilization of society.
The term "Gothic" originated as a means for derision by critics who criticized the lack of adherence to the standards of classical Greece and Rome. However, the thirteenth and fourteenth century contemporaries referred to Gothic cathedrals as opus modernum (modern work). In fact, the advent of the Gothic style represents the summit of achievement for unified Christendom. It is a symbol of the papacy; a successful and inspiring synthesis of religion, philosophy, and art. The scene of this great equilibrium of forces favoring religion is the Gothic city. The soaring cathedral asserts the nature of the Gothic spirit.
Gothic sculpture
Gothic sculpture was born on the wall, in the middle of the 12th century in Île-de-France, when Abbot Suger built the abbey at Saint Denis Basilica (ca. 1140), considered the first Gothic building, and soon after the Chartres Cathedral (ca. 1145). Prior to this there had been no sculpture tradition in Ile-de-France—so sculptors were brought in from Burgundy, who created the revolutionary figures acting as columns in the Western (Royal) Portal of Chartres Cathedral (see image)—it was an entirely new invention, and would provide the model for a generation of sculptors.
The French ideas spread. In Germany, from 1225 at the Cathedral in Bamberg onward, the impact can be found everywhere. The Bamberg Cathedral had the largest assemblage of 13th century sculpture, culminating in 1240 with the Bamberg Rider, the first equestrian statue in Western art since the 6th century. In England the sculpture was more confined to tombs and non-figurine decorations (which can in part be blamed on Cistercian iconoclasm. In Italy there was still a Classical influence, but Gothic made inroads in the sculptures of pulpits such as the Pisa Baptistery pulpit (1269) and the Siena pulpit. A late mastework of Italian Gothic sculptures is the series of Scaliger Tombs in Verona (early-late 14th century).
Gothic sculpture evolved from the early stiff and elongated style, still partly Romanesque, into a spatial and naturalistic feel in the late 12th and early 13th century. Influences from surviving ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were incorporated into the treatment of drapery, facial expression and pose.
Dutch-Burgundian sculptor Claus Sluter and the taste for naturalism signaled the beginning of the end of Gothic sculpture, evolving into the classicistic Renaissance style by the end of the 15th century.
Distinguishing Features
The Last Judgment often carved on the tympanum of the main portal was a stark reminder of the solemnity of the space the faithful were about to enter. It is on the west facade of Saint-Denis, around 1140, that portals were first flanked by standing figures, known as jamb statues (Head of King David, 38.180), a format repeated ever since. With their insatiable demand for figurative sculptures to adorn portals, archivolts, tympanums, choir screens ( Head of an Angel, 1990.132) and foliate capitals for the interior, cathedrals and churches were crucibles of sculptural innovation. Teams of sculptors labored for years on the decoration of a cathedral, before moving to another site, thereby disseminating styles over wide regions. Some of the sculptors active on the west facade of Reims Cathedral, for example, later contributed to the sculptural program of Bamberg Cathedral, several hundred miles away. The stylistic language first formulated in stone on a monumental scale resonated in other media. In their elongated curved pose and enigmatic smile, the wooden altar angels at The Cloisters (52.33.1,2), and several like them, ultimately derive from their cousins on the west facade of Reims Cathedral.
Influential Sculptors
- Mastro Guglielmo 12th Century Italian Sculptor
- Benedetto Antelami 1178-1196 Italian Sculptor
- Nicola Pisano 1220-1284 Italian Sculptor
- Fra Guglielmo 1235-1310 Italian Sculptor
- Guido Bigarelli 1238-1257 Italian Sculptor
- Giovanni Pisano 1250-1314 Italian Sculptor
- Nicola Pisano 1220-1284 Italian Sculptor
- Fra Guglielmo 1235-1310 Italian Sculptor
- Guido Bigarelli 1238-1257 Italian Sculptor
- Giovanni Pisano 1250-1314 Italian Sculptor
- Lorenzo Maitani 1255-1330 Italian Sculptor/Architect
- Arnolfo di Cambio 1264-1302 Italian Sculptor
- Tino da Camaino 1285-1337 Italian Sculptor
- Evrard d'Orleans 1292-1357 French Sculptor
- Andrea Pisano 1295-1348 Italian Sculptor
- Giovanni da Balduccio 1300-1360 Italian Sculptor
- Goro di Gregorio 1300-1334 Italian Sculptor
- Gano di Fazio 1302-1318 Italian Sculptor
- Agostino di Giovanni 1310-1347 Italian Sculptor
- Peter Parler 1330-1399 German Sculptor
- Andre Beauneveu 1335-1401 Netherlandish Painter/Sculptor
- Jacobello Dalle Masegne Died 1409 Italian Sculptor
- Giovanni da Campione 1340-1360 Italian Sculptor
- Bonino da Campione 1350-1390 Italian Sculptor
- Claus Sluter 1350-1406 Flemish Sculptor
- Giovanni Bon 1355-1443 Italian Sculptor/Architect
- Jean de Liege 1361-1382 Flemish Sculptor
Impact
Gothic vocabulary gradually permeated all forms of art throughout Europe. Pointed arches, trefoils, quatrelobes, and other architectural ornaments were adopted on metalwork, such as reliquaries and liturgical vessels (17.190.360), on rich ecclesiastic vestments (27.162.1), on precious diptychs intended for private devotion (1980.366; 1970.324.7a,b), on illuminated manuscripts (1990.217), as well as on secular items such as furniture, combs, or spoons. Subject to regional and temporal variations, Gothic art shaped human perception in Europe for nearly four centuries.
Gothic painting
Painting in a style that can be called "Gothic" did not appear until about 1200, or nearly 50 years after the start of Gothic architecture and sculpture. The transition from Romanesque to Gothic is very imprecise and not at all a clear break, but we can see the beginnings of a style that is more somber, dark and emotional than in the previous period. This transition occurs first in England and France around 1200, in Germany around 1220 and Italy around 1300.
Painting (the representation of images on a surface) during the Gothic period was practiced in 4 primary crafts: frescos, panel paintings, manuscript illumination and stained glass. Frescoes continued to be used as the main pictorial narrative craft on church walls in southern Europe as a continuation of early Christian and Romanesque traditions. In the north stained glass was the art of choice until the 15th century. Panel paintings began in Italy in the 13th century and spread throughout Europe, so by the 15th century they had become the dominate form supplanting even stained glass. Illuminated manuscripts represent the most complete record of Gothic painting, providing a record of styles in places where no monumental works have otherwise survived. Painting with oil on canvas does not become popular until the 15th and 16th centuries and was a hallmark of Renaissance art.
Distinguishing Features
The earliest Gothic art was Christian sculpture, born on the walls of Cathedrals and abbeys. Christian art was often typological in nature, showing the allegorical stories of the New Testament and the Old Testament side by side. Saints' lives were often depicted. Images of the Virgin Mary changed from the Byzantine iconic form to a more human and affectionate mother, cuddling her infant, swaying from her hip, and showing the refined manners of a well-born aristocratic courtly lady.
Secular art came in to its own during this period with the rise of cities, foundation of universities, increasing trade, a money-based economy and a bourgeois class who could afford to patronize the arts and commission works resulting in a proliferation of paintings and illuminated manuscripts. Increased literacy and a growing body of Medieval literature encouraged the representation of secular themes in art. With the growth of cities, trade guilds were formed and artists were often required to be members of a painters' guild. Due to better record keeping, more artists are known to us by name in this period than any previous period. In fact, some artists were even so bold as to sign their names.
Influential Artists
- Maestro Esiguo 13th Century
- Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes 13th Century Italy
- Bonaventura Berlinghieri 1215-1242 Italian Painter :de:Bonaventura Berlinghieri
- Duccio di Buoninsegna 1255-1318 Italian Painter
- Master of San Francesco Bardi 14th Century Italian Painter
- Master of San Jacopo a Mucciana 14th Century Italian
- Simone Martini 1285-1344 Italian Painter
- Jacopo del Casentino 1297-1358 Italian Painter
- Segna di Buonaventure 1298-1331 Italian Painter
- Jean Pucelle 1300-1355 French Manuscript Illuminator
- Vitale da Bologna 1309-1360 Italian Painter
- Allegretto Nuzi 1315-1373 Italian Painter
- Giottino 1320-1369 Italian Painter
- Giusto de Menabuoi 1320-1397 Italian Painter
- Puccio Capanna 1325-1350 Italian Painter
- Altichiero 1330-1384 Italian Painter
- Bartolo di Fredi 1330-1410 Italian Painter
- Master of the Dominican Effigies 1336-1345 Italian Painter
- Niccolo di Pietro Gerini ca. 1340-1414 Italian Painter
- Guariento di Arpo 1338-1377 Italian Painter
- Master of the Rebel Angels 1340 French Painter
- Andrea da Firenze (painter)|Andrea da Firenze 1343-1377 Italian Painter
- Nino Pisano 1343-1368 Italian Painter/Sculptor
- Puccio di Simone 1345-1365 Italian Painter
- Nicolo da Bologna 1348-1399 Italian
- Luis Borrassa 1350-1424 Spanish Painter
- Jacquemart de Hesdin 1350-1410 French Miniaturist
- Giovanni da Milano 1350-1369 Italian Painter
- Master of the Rinuccini Chapel 1350-1375 Italian
- Melchior Broederlam 1355-1411 Netherlandish Painter
- Giovanni del Biondo 1356-1399 Italian Painter
- Gherardo Starnina 1360-1413 Italian Painter
- Taddeo di Bartolo 1362-1422 Italian Painter
- Jean Malouel 1365-1415 Netherlandish Painter
- Gentile da Fabriano 1370-1427 Italian Painter
- Lorenzo Monaco 1370-1425 Italian Painter
- Stefano da Verona 1375-1438 Italian Painter
- Master of Saint Veronica 1395-1420 German Painter
- Fra Angelico 1395-1455 Italian Painter
- Jacopo Bellini 1400-1470 Italian Painter
- Limbourg Brothers|Hermann Jean and Paul Limbourg 1400 Netherlandish Manuscript Illuminator
- Master of the Berswordt Altar 1400 German Painter
- Henri Bellechose 1415-1440 Flemish Painter
- Bernt Notke ca. 1435-1508 German Sculptor and Painter
Gothic Architecture
Gothic architecture is the result of an engineering challenge: how to span in stone ever-wider surfaces from ever-greater heights? While most early medieval churches were covered with timber ceilings, many Romanesque buildings have either stone barrel vaults (i.e., semi-circular) or groin vaults (i.e., bays of barrel vaults crossing at a right angle). Their walls are necessarily thick to counter the outward thrust of the vault, and they allow only small windows (view of Durham Cathedral). From 1100 onward, architects experimented with innovations that, once properly combined, allowed the dissolution of the wall and a fluid arrangement of space. For example, they adopted the pointed arch, which has a lesser lateral thrust than the round arch and is easily adaptable to openings of various widths and heights. They also developed a system of stone ribs to distribute the weight of the vault onto columns and piers all the way to the ground; the vault could now be made of lighter, thinner stone and the walls opened to accommodate ever-larger windows. Equally important, flying buttresses began to appear in the 1170s, whose vertical members (uprights) are connected to the exterior wall of the building with bridge-like arches (flyers). These external structures absorb the outward thrust of the vault at set intervals just under the roof, making it possible to reduce the building’s exterior masonry shell to a mere skeletal framework.
The new architectural grammar was first coherently articulated in the ambulatory (chevet) of the royal abbey church of Saint-Denis, north of Paris, built under Abbot Suger between 1140 and 1144. Two concentric aisles are separated by slender columns: the outer aisle is covered by five-part and the inner aisle by four-part rib vaults. The resulting effect is one of clear spatial distribution and organic lightness: the bays are opened on all sides and the walls of the radiating chapels, no longer load-bearing, have large openings filled with stained glass. With growing assurance, architects in northern France, and soon all over Europe, competed in a race to conquer height. The vault of each new cathedral strained to surpass that of its predecessors by a few meters. The dramatic collapse in 1284 of the tallest among them, Beauvais, marked the vertical limits of Gothic architecture. Its choir and transept were rebuilt soon afterwards to the original 48 meters, now supported by twice as many flying buttresses.
The typical elevation of a Gothic cathedral interior, with storey upon corresponding storey, draws the gaze to the highest point in the vault, in an irresistible upward pull symbolic of the Christian hope of leaving the terrestrial world for a heavenly realm. Such a transcendent experience of architecture is reinforced by the rich stained-glass windows, sometimes spanning the entire height of the edifice. Decorated with scenes from the Bible, the lives of the saints (Scenes from the Passion of Saint Vincent of Saragossa and the History of His Relics, 24.167a-k), or with larger figures of prophets and other personages, stained-glass windows were central to the perception of the cathedral as a compendium of the Christian faith. Throughout the thirteenth century, an obligatory feature in most cathedrals was the monumental rose-window with God, Christ, or the Virgin at its center surrounded by the cosmos. The shimmering, colored light called to mind the heavenly Jerusalem described in the Book of Revelations (the Apocalypse) as a city of gold and precious stones.
Distinguishing Features
Influential Architects
Gothic Revival
Gothic revival was a return to Gothic architectural building styles during the 18th and 19th centuries. Primarily Gothic revival gained popularity in England and the United States. It did, however, begin in Europe. One example of Gothic revival in the United States is St. Patrick's Cathedral, built by James Renwick, who rose as a Gothic revival architect during the 1840's.
St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan, New York. It was built from 1858 to 1879 under the design of James Renwick.
Gallery
Depiction of the Trinity on the portal of the Basilica of St.-Denis, Paris, France
Adam, Eve, and the (female) serpent at the entrance to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France
Bust of Cicero by Jörg Syrlin the Elder (ca. 1470) on the choir stalls in the Ulmer Münster
Man of Sorrows on the main portal of the Ulmer Münster by Hans Multscher (1429)
Detail of the Garden of Gethsemane from the Ulmer Münster
Moses on the baptismal font by the sculptor Christoph von Urach, Church of Saint Amandus, Bad Urach, 1518
External links
- Gothic art, from ArtCyclopedia.com
- Gothic art, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
- Gothic art, from Microsoft Encarta.
- Gothic art, from The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.
- Gothic art, Museumsportal Schleswig-Holstein
- Gothic art, from "A World History of Art" and [1].
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