GOTHIC

Gothic art and architecture of the 12th and 13th Centuries encompassed new ideas and technological advances The word Gothic was originally used to ridicule the style of this time period (did not conform to the standards of Classical Greece and Rome)

GOTHIC - Characteristics
Gothic Architecture: pointed arches, thin spires, flying buttresses, sense of verticality, rose window Unity: similarly decorated inside and out

Importance on light (stained glass)

Painting: focus on realistic details (drapery, movement, facial expressions, sense of 3-d space)

Cathedral of Chartres, about 1194, France

VOCABULARY
Flying Buttress: A
supportive structure consisting of a tower buttress and a flying arch which spans the side aisles and supports the upper wall of the nave of a Gothic church

Vault: Arched Ceiling

Ribbed Vault: Molded stone ribs

covering seams of groin vaults

Rose Window: a circular window with

stone tracery radiating from the center and a characteristic feature of Gothic church architecture

North Rose window (Glorification of the Virgin Window), 1140-1250, Chartres Cathedral, France

Stained Glass: the technique of filling architectural openings with glass coloured by fused metallic oxides. Pieces of glass are held in place by pieces of lead.

Tracery: stone armature decorating windows

Notre Dame, about 1163-1250, Paris, France

Reims Cathedral, about 1225-1299, France

Sainte Chapelle, interior, France

The Annunciation and Visitation, jamb statues of central doorway, west facade, 1225-90, stone, Reims Cathedral, France.

Chartres Cathedral Jamb figures - Early Gothic example

Key Points: Left: severe style Right: elegant style In general figures appear to move more, and the drapery gives an impression of real body underneath Figures look almost detached from the architectural background

Subject Matter: The Annunciation (Angel and Mary) and The Visitation (Mary and Elizabeth)

Key Points:

The figures are in active, natural poses: leaning, sitting, holdingetc

We feel a sense of weight and mass in the figures = natural Background indicates space= enhances reality of the scene
Giotto, The Lamentation, 1305-06, Fresco, Padua

Fresco: A method of painting where paint is applied on a wall of wet plaster

Manuscript Illumination
Book of Hours - a collection of prayers, texts, and psalms along with illustrations and used for Catholic worship and devotion

International Style: merging of French and Italian Gothic painting. It is characterized by bright colours, a courtly elegance, and a naturalistic rendering of detail. It began in the courts of the wealthy and then spread through Europe.

The Limbourg Brothers, January from Trs Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (The Book of Hours), 1416, illuminated manuscript