Survey 1 ch17

Copyright © 2018, 2014, 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Art History
Sixth Edition
Chapter 17
Gothic Art of the Twelfth and
Thirteenth Centuries

Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
17.a Identify the visual hallmarks of Gothic art and its regional variations
for formal, technical, and expressive qualities.
17.b Interpret the meaning of works of Gothic art based on their themes,
subjects, and symbols.
17.c Relate Gothic art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political
contexts.

Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
17.d Apply the vocabulary and concepts relevant to Gothic art, artists,
and art history.
17.e Interpret a work of Gothic art using the art historical methods of
observation, comparison, and inductive reasoning.
17.f Select visual and textual evidence in various media to support an
argument or an interpretation of a work of Gothic art.

SCENES FROM GENESIS
Detail of the Good Samaritan Window, south aisle of nave, Cathedral of Notre-Dame,
Chartres, France. c. 1200–1210.
Stained and painted glass. © 2016. A. Dagli Orti/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 17-01]

Gothic Europe
• Beginning in the middle of the twelfth century, an estimated 2,700
Gothic-style churches were built in the Île-de-France region alone.
• Advances in technology that included exterior buttressing allowed for
larger windows and taller vaults.
• "Gothic" was coined by artist and historian Giorgio Vasari.

EUROPE IN THE GOTHIC ERA
The color changes on this map chart the gradual expansion of territory ruled by the king
of France during the period when Gothic was developing as a modern French style.
[Map 17-01]

The Rise of Urban and Intellectual Life
• Towns became centers of artistic patronage, fostering communal
identity through public projects.
• Universities began to surpass monasteries and cathedral schools.
• Scholasticism applied Aristotelian logic to Christian theology.
– It was a system of reasoned analysis that developed in
universities.

The Age of Cathedrals
• Many cathedrals were built during 1150–1400, some of which
replacing earlier churches destroyed in fires.
• The enormous expense of such gigantic churches sometimes inspired
resentment and rioting.

France and the Origins of the Gothic
Style
• The growing power of the Capetian monarchy provided a backdrop for
the development of the Gothic style.
• French kings consolidated royal authority and increased their domains
and privileges.
– Architectural demands in the capital may have provided the
opportunity for new ways of planning.

The Birth of Gothic at the Abbey
Church of Saint-Denis (1 of 2)
• Construction of the abbey church of Saint-Denis began in the 1130s.
– The impetus was the inability to accommodate crowds of pilgrims
in the older building.
– Abbot Suger supervised the building of a new west façade and
narthex, but the choir is the area in which the Gothic style may
have first appeared.

PLAN OF THE CHOIR (OF THE ABBEY CHURCH OF SAINT-DENIS
France. 1140–1144. [Fig. 17-02a]

VIEW OF AMBULATORY AND APSE CHAPELS OF THE ABBEY CHURCH OF SAINT-
DENIS
France. 1140–1144.
© akg-images/Bildarchiv Monheim. [Fig. 17-02b]

The Birth of Gothic at the Abbey
Church of Saint-Denis (2 of 2)
• The plan of the choir retains features of the Romanesque pilgrimage
church, including a semicircular apse surrounded by an ambulatory.
• Its stained-glass windows were saved from the French Revolution by
Alexandre Lenoir.
– The Flight into Egypt includes symbols from a popular apocryphal
Gospel.

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
Detail of the Incarnation (Infancy of Christ) Window, axial choir chapel, abbey church of
Saint-Denis. c. 1140–1144. The Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
© The Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. [Fig. 17-03]

Elements of Architecture: Rib Vaulting
• The new model of architecture allowed a spacious, adaptable skeletal
framework that supported rib vaulting.
– Slender piers allowed for the tallest-yet churches with large
expanses of stained glass.

ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE: Rib Vaulting
Rib vault with pointed arches.
Kathy Mrozek

Art and Its Contexts: Abbot Suger on
the Value of Art in Monasteries
• Abbot Suger masterminded the reconstruction of Saint-Denis.
• By describing and discussing the project, he spoke on the debate
about the appropriateness of elaborate art in monasteries.
• He believed the bronze doors should be marveled not for the gold, but
the craftsmanship and subject matter.

Technique: Stained-Glass Windows
• De Diversis Artibus provided knowledge about twelfth-century stained
glass making.
• Using grozing, artists would use an iron tool to chip the glass away to
the precise shape that was needed and place it between the cames.
• Artists used a vitreous paint to block light and delineate features.

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame at
Chartres (1 of 7)
• Saint-Denis became a prototype for a new style that resulted in
competitive experimentation throughout France.
• The site of a pre-Christian virgin-goddess cult and later dedicated to
the Virgin Mary, Chartres became a major pilgrimage destination.

WEST FAÇADE, CHARTRES CATHEDRAL (CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE-DAME)
France. West façade begun c. 1134; cathedral rebuilt after a fire in 1194; building
continued to 1260; north spire 1507–1513.
© akg-images/Schütze/Rodemann. [Fig. 17-04]

Chartres (2 of 7)
• The west façade of Notre-Dame at Chartres contains a sculptural
program for its Royal Portal consisting of three doors with imposing
scenes on each tympanum.
– Christ enthroned in majesty is center; on the right, the Incarnation;
on the left, the Ascension.

ROYAL PORTAL, WEST FAÇADE, CHARTRES CATHEDRAL
c. 1145–1155.
© Achim Bednorz, Cologne. [Fig. 17-05]

Chartres (3 of 7)
• Statues flanking all three openings on the jambs contain figures with
idealized heads that radiate serenity.
– This contrasts the energized, dynamic figures on the portals of
Romanesque churches.

ROYAL PORTAL, WEST FAÇADE, CHARTRES CATHEDRAL
Detail of prophets and ancestors of Christ (kings and queens of Judea), right side, central
portal. c. 1145–1155.

Chartres (4 of 7)
• A contemporaneous painting, Masons at Work, shows a building site
with laborers using vast resources to complete their work.
• Work grew yet more costly as the structure rose higher in the 1220s.
– People opposed the building because of the burden of heavier
taxes.

MASONS AT WORK
Detail of a miniature from a Picture Bible made in Paris. 1240s.
The Morgan Library and Museum, New York. MS. M638, fol. 3r. © 2016. Photo Pierpont
Morgan Library/Art Resource/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 17-07]

Chartres (5 of 7)
• Architecture
– Chartres codified Gothic structural devices.
 Pointed arches and ribbed groin vaults
 Flying buttresses
 A short triforium
 Lancets
 Stained glass

PLAN, CHARTRES CATHEDRAL
1194–c. 1220.
[Fig. 17-08a]

INTERIOR LOOKING EAST, CHARTRES CATHEDRAL
1194–c. 1220.
© Achim Bednorz, Cologne. [Fig. 17-08b]

Art and Its Contexts: Master Masons
• Construction could be delayed by lack of funding or time needed for
mortar to solidify, so master masons moved from job to job.
• Masons were at great risk of injury, particularly from falls, and not all
received paid leave.
• From the thirteenth century on, masons were buried in cathedrals they
built.

Elements of Architecture:
The Gothic Church
• The Latin cross plan dominated Gothic churches, and most had a
three-story elevation.
• Flying buttresses supported nave vaults.
• Throughout, walls were decorated with tracery and stringcourse
moldings.
• Portal façades were flanked by towers ornamented with pinnacles and
finials.

SCHEMATIC DRAWING OF CHARTRES CATHEDRAL
[Fig. 17-09]

Chartres (6 of 7)
• Stained Glass
– By 1260, glass painters had installed 22,000 square feet of
stained glass in 176 windows.
 Most of the stained glass of Chartres Cathedral is intact,
including the Good Samaritan Window in the nave aisle.
– Its message is a parable told by Jesus to teach a moral
truth.

GOOD SAMARITAN WINDOW
South aisle of nave, Chartres Cathedral. c. 1200–1210.
Stained and painted glass.
Sonia Halliday Photographs. [Fig. 17-10]

Chartres (7 of 7)
• Stained Glass
– Other windows tell moralizing tales of saints and heroes or depict
iconic ensembles.
 The rose window floats above five lancets that glorify the Virgin
Mary.
– Fleurs-de-lis appear in a shield under St. Anne and
quatrefoils within the rose, representing the lineage of King
Louis IX.

ROSE WINDOW AND LANCETS, NORTH TRANSEPT, CHARTRES CATHEDRAL
c. 1230–1235. Stained and painted glass.
© Angelo Hornak/Corbis. [Fig. 17-11]

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Reims
(1 of 3)
• Reims is famous for its sculpture, particularly that of the Central Portal.
– The west façade portrays the Visitation in the right pair of statues.
 Stylistically, their idealized faces resemble Roman statues.

PLAN OF CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE-DAME, REIMS
France. Begun in 1211. [Fig. 17-12]

(2 of 3)
• Reims is famous for its sculpture, particularly that of the Central Portal.
– The left pair of statues portrays the Annunciation.
 These were the work of a different sculptor, who created tall,
graceful figures in International Gothic Style.

WEST FAÇADE, CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE-DAME, REIMS
Rebuilding begun 1211; façade begun c. 1225; to the height of rose window by 1260;
finished for the coronation of Philip the Fair in 1286; towers left unfinished 1311;
additional work 1406-1428.
© zechal/123RF. [Fig. 17-13]

CENTRAL PORTAL, RIGHT SIDE, WEST FAÇADE, REIMS CATHEDRAL
Annunciation (left pair: Mary [right] c. 1240, angel [left] c. 1250) and Visitation (right pair:
Mary [left] and Elizabeth [right] c. 1230).
© Angelo Hornak/Corbis. [Fig. 17-14]

(3 of 3)
• Perfected technique of bar tracery made more expansive walls of
stained glass possible.
– It replaced plate tracery.
– Thin stone bars call mullions form a lacy framework.

INTERIOR LOOKING WEST, REIMS CATHEDRAL
Begun 1211; nave c. 1220.
© akg-images/De Agostini Picture Lib./G. Dagli Orti. [Fig. 17-15]

Villard de Honnecourt
• A set of 33 sheets of parchment signed by Villard de Honnecourt
records individual details from the cathedrals of Cambrai, Chartres,
Laon, and Reims.
• Villard recorded points of interest to him including animals, furnishings,
and construction devices.
– It is argued that he did not have a great knowledge of structural
systems.

Villard de Honnecourt DRAWINGS OF THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR ELEVATION OF
THE NAVE OF REIMS CATHEDRAL
c. 1230. Ink on vellum, 9-1/4 × 6" (23.5 × 15.2 cm).
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. MS. fr. 19093. Bibliotheque nationale de France.
[Fig. 17-16]

Villard de Honnecourt SHEET OF DRAWINGS WITH GEOMETRIC FIGURES
c. 1230. Ink on vellum, 9-1/4 × 6" (23.5 × 15.2 cm).
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. MS. fr. 19093. Bibliotheque nationale de France.
[Fig. 17-17]

Art in the Age of St. Louis (1 of 4)
• Paris became the artistic center of Europe, creating a style called the
"Court Style."
• Small-scale objects in precious materials and illuminated manuscripts
were prized.

• The Sainte-Chapelle in Paris
– The Sainte-Chapelle in Paris pushed the use of stained glass to its
limit.
 Narrative cycles are easily legible in spite of their complexity.
 Standard themes relating to the Mass decorate the sanctuary's
hemicycle.
 Among scenes of kings and queens of Judah are scenes of
Louis IX and the French royal house.

UPPER CHAPEL INTERIOR, THE SAINTE-CHAPELLE
Paris. 1239–1248.
© F1 ONLINE/SuperStock. [Fig. 17-18]

SCHEMATIC DRAWING OF THE SAINTE-CHAPELLE
Paris. 1239–1248.
© Dorling Kindersley. [Fig. 17-19]

• The Sainte-Chapelle in Paris
– This chapel within the royal palace was commissioned to house
Louis IX's relics of Christ's Passion.
– The structure is supported by external buttressing that leaves the
interior free of clutter so the viewer can focus on the reliquary.

HOLOFERNES' ARMY CROSSING THE EUPHRATES RIVER
Detail of the Judith Window, the Sainte-Chapelle, Paris. c. 1245.
Stained, painted, and leaded glass, diameter 23-5/16" (59.2 cm).
Philadelphia Museum of Art. © 2016. Photo The Philadelphia Museum of Art/Art
Resource/Scala, Florence [Fig. 17-20]

• Illuminated Manuscripts
– The three-volume Moralized Bible from about 1230 pairs scriptural
passages with allegorical visual interpretations.
 One page represents Louis IX and Queen Blanche of Castille
enthroned against a gold-leaf background.
 A design of stacked medallions outlines a page with scenes
regarding the Apocalypse.

QUEEN BLANCHE OF CASTILE AND KING LOUIS IX
From a Moralized Bible made in Paris. 1226–1234.
Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum, each page 15 × 10-1/2" (38 × 26.6 cm).
The Morgan Library and Museum, New York. MS. M. 240, fol. 8r. © 2016. Photo Pierpont
Morgan Library/Art Resource, NY/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 17-21]

MORALIZATIONS FROM THE APOCALYPSE
From a Moralized Bible made in Paris. 1226–1234.
Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum, each page 15 × 10-1/2" (38 × 26.6 cm).
The Morgan Library and Museum, New York. MS. M. 240, fol. 6r. © 2016. Photo Pierpont
Morgan Library/Art Resource, NY/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 17-22]

England
• Textile production dominated manufacture and trade due to the
popularity of English embroidery.
• Influence of the French Gothic style was tempered by local materials
and methods.

Manuscript Illumination (1 of 2)
• Matthew Paris
– This monk compiled a series of historical works, adding marginal
pictures.
 A nearly full-page image of the Virgin and Child includes a
named portrait of the artist.
– He gazes not at the holy pair, but at the words in front of
him, which he appears to hold as though pushing them up
to the objects of devotion.

Matthew Paris SELF-PORTRAIT KNEELING BEFORE THE VIRGIN AND CHILD
From the Historia Anglorum, made in St. Albans, England. 1250–1259.
Ink and color on parchment, 14 × 9-3/4" (35.8 × 25 cm).
The British Library, London. Royal MS. 14.c.vii, fol. 6r.
© The British Library Board (Royal 14 C Vll, fol.6r) [Fig. 17-23]

Manuscript Illumination (2 of 2)
• The Windmill Psalter
– The letter B fills the entire left-hand page at the beginning of
Psalm 1.
 The interlaced tendrils and figures represent the Tree of Jesse,
a genealogy of Jesus's ancestors.
– The second letter, E, fills up half as much space with a scene from
the Judgment of Solomon.

A CLOSER LOOK: The Opening of Psalm 1
From the Windmill Psalter, made in England, probably London. Late 13th century.
Ink, color, and gold on vellum, each page 12-3/4 × 8-3/4" (32.3 × 22.2 cm).
The Morgan Library and Museum, New York. MS. 102, fols. lv-2r. © 2016. Photo Pierpont
Morgan Library/Art Resource/Scala, Florence. [Fig. 17-24]

Architecture (1 of 4)
• English churches did not emphasize height as much as length of the
nave.
• Salisbury Cathedral
– The Cathedral of Salisbury typifies the English style.
– It is in a park-like setting with attached cloister and chapter house.

SALISBURY CATHEDRAL
England. Church building 1220–1258; west façade finished 1265; spire c. 1320–1330;
cloister and chapter house 1263–1284.
© Skyscan/Corbis. [Fig. 17-25]

• Salisbury Cathedral
– The crossing tower boasts a spire of extraordinary height.
– The interior reflects Norman traditions.
– A distinctive plan with wide double transepts and a spacious
sanctuary recalls a monastic church.
– Horizontal movement of the arcades directs worshippers' gaze to
the altar.

PLAN OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL
[Fig. 17-26]

• Military and Domestic Architecture
– Western European knights had versions of Muslim- and
Byzantine-inspired fortifications built upon returning home.
– Outer enclosing walls were straightened and a double tower
guarded the gate.
– Interior spaces were filled with living quarters as well as barns and
stables for animals and war horses.

• Stokesay Castle
– This manor is a surviving example of a fortified country house.
– Large windows lining the hall look across a moat and into the
countryside.
– At both ends of the open hall were two-story additions including
retiring rooms.
 Palaces followed the same design, but were simply larger.

EXTERIOR OF THE GREAT HALL, STOKESAY CASTLE
England. Late 13th century.
Fotomicar/Fotolia. [Fig. 17-28]

Germany and the Holy Roman Empire
• The Holy Roman Empire ceased to be a significant power in the
thirteenth century.
• The French Gothic style permeated the western Germanic territories
with regional adaptations and innovations.

• Germany developed the hall church, an open, light-filled space with a
nave and aisles of equal height that could accommodate large crowds.
• Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Marburg
– The plan of this church is an early German form, but inside,
closely spaced piers support the ribbed vault.

EXTERIOR, CHURCH OF ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY
Marburg, Germany. 1235–1283.

INTERIOR, CHURCH OF ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY
Marburg, Germany. 1235–1283.

• The Old-new Synagogue
– This is the oldest functioning synagogue in Europe.
– It only has two aisles, each with three bays supported by walls and
two octagonal piers.
– Medieval synagogues hosted gatherings for men to read and
discuss the Torah, which was located on the east wall.

INTERIOR, OLD-NEW SYNAGOGUE (ALTNEUSCHUL)
Prague, Bohemia (Czech Republic). c. late 13th century; bimah after 1483.
© akg-images/Erich Lessing. [Fig. 17-31]

Sculpture (1 of 3)
• The most creative centers of sculpture were the Rhine River Valley
and the Mosan region.
• Shrine of the Three Kings
– Nicholas of Verdun was inspired by ancient Roman art and
created this reliquary shaped in the form of a basilican church.
– It features a jeweler's level of detail.

Nicholas of Verdun and workshop SHRINE OF THE THREE KINGS
Cologne Cathedral, Germany. c. 1190–c. 1205/10. Silver and gilded bronze with enamel
and gemstones, 5'8" × 6' × 3'8" (1.73 × 1.83 × 1.12 m).

Sculpture (2 of 3)
• St. Maurice
– This statue in Magdeburg Cathedral represents the saint Maurice
as a black African, acknowledging his Egyptians origins and a
German interest in depicting realism.
– Details of his chain mail and riveted leather seem as though they
were carved from a living model.

ST. MAURICE
Magdeburg Cathedral, Magdeburg, Germany. c. 1240–1250.
Dark sandstone with traces of polychromy.
© akg-images/Hilbich. [Fig. 17-33]

Sculpture (3 of 3)
• Ekkehard and Uta
– The sculptor of these works created highly individualized figures
and faces that do not represent portrait likenesses.
– Polychromy survives on the surface, indicating that color was
originally applied.

EKKEHARD AND UTA
West chapel, Naumburg Cathedral, Germany. c. 1245–1260.
Stone with polychromy, height approx. 6'2" (1.88 m).

Italy
• Artists began to emerge as independent agents due to organizations of
prosperous merchants.
• New religious orders known as mendicants arose.
– The Franciscans were the first, founded by St. Francis of Assisi in
1209.
– Followers were called brothers, or friars.

Sculpture of the Pisano Family (1 of 2)
• Nicola Pisano's Pulpit at Pisa
– The eloquently carved marble pulpit in the Pisa Cathedral contains
a scene of Annunciation, Nativity, and Adoration of the Shepherds
in independent composition.
 Roman sarcophagi may have influenced the format, style, and
technique of these heavy figures.

Nicola Pisano PULPIT
Baptistery, Pisa, Italy. 1260.
Marble, height approx. 15' (4.6 m).
© Studio Fotografico Quattrone, Florence. [Fig. 17-35]

Nicola Pisano ANNUNCIATION, NATIVITY, AND ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS
Detail of pulpit, Baptistery, Pisa, Italy. 1260.
Marble, 33-1/2 × 44-1/2" (85 × 113 cm).
© Studio Fotografico Quattrone, Florence. [Fig. 17-36]

Sculpture of the Pisano Family (2 of 2)
• Giovanni Pisano's Pulpit at Pistoia
– Nicola's son carved a pulpit similar to his father's in conception,
but significantly different in execution.
– In Annunciation, Nativity, and Adoration of the Shepherds, he
shows a young Mary that contrasts previous images of her looking
like a Roman matron.

Giovanni Pisano ANNUNCIATION, NATIVITY, AND ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS
Detail of pulpit, Sant'Andrea, Pistoia, Italy. 1298–1301.
Marble, 33" × 40-1/8" (83 × 102 cm).
© 2016. Photo Scala, Florence - courtesy Diocesi di Pistoia, Ufficio Beni Culturali.
[Fig. 17-37]

Painting (1 of 2)
• The imported maniera greva influenced style and technique,
introducing an emphasis on pathos and emotion.
• Painted Crucifixes
– An example attributed to Coppo di Marcovaldo represents a
monumental image of a suffering Christ with closed eyes and a
bleeding, sagging body, flanked with narrative scenes.

Coppo di Marcovaldo CRUCIFIX
From the Franciscan convent of Santa Chiara, San Gimignano, Italy. c. 1250–1270.
Tempera and gold on wood panel, 9'7-3/8" × 8'1-1/4" (2.93 × 2.47 m).
Pinacoteca, San Gimignano, Italy. © 2016. Photo Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/
Scala, Florence. [Fig. 17-38]

Painting (2 of 2)
• The Church of St. Francis at Assisi
– Upper and lower churches as well as a crypt below were elements
of this unusually elaborate building.
– The Miracle of the Crib at Greccio portrays St. Francis making the
first Christmas manger scene in the church.
 The focus of the narrative is confined to the lower right, and
viewers are invited to imagine themselves in the space.

SCHEMATIC DRAWING OF THE CHURCH OF ST. FRANCIS, ASSISI
Umbria, Italy. 1228–1253.
Maltings Partnership © Dorling Kindersley. [Fig. 17-39]

THE MIRACLE OF THE CRIB AT GRECCIO
From a cycle of the Life of St. Francis, church of St. Francis, Assisi.
Late 13th or early 14th century. Fresco. © 2016. Photo Scala, Florence. [Fig. 17-40]

Think About It (1 of 2)
• Characterize the most important of the technological innovations and
sociocultural formations that made the "Age of Cathedrals" possible.
• Explain how manuscript illumination was used to convey complex
theological ideas during the Gothic period. Analyze the iconography of
one manuscript discussed in this chapter.
• How was St. Francis's message of empathy conveyed in the frescos of
the church of St. Francis in Assisi?

Think About It (2 of 2)
• Analyze Salisbury Cathedral in England and the German church of St.
Elizabeth of Hungary in Marburg. How does each reflect
characteristics of French Gothic style, and how does each depart from
that style and express architectural features characteristic of its own
region?

Survey 1 ch17

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