Designed by Pierre de Montreuil, who was dubbed “the Master of Sainte-Chappelle,” the chapel became the model for similar royal chapels throughout France and Europe.
#Gothic metal art windows#
Its fifteen large windows created a sense of soaring verticality and lightness, as wall space was almost eliminated and replaced by resplendent images and thin golden ribs. Commissioned by the French King Louis IX to hold his numerous holy relics, most notably the Crown of Thorns, the chapel was also a symbol of royal prestige. Flying Buttresses and Byzantine ArchitectureĪ famous early example of the Rayonnant style was Sainte-Chappelle (1242-1248) in Paris. The structure also became key to a number of subsequent Gothic innovations, including the lancet arch, creating a high, narrow, and steeply pointed opening the equilateral arch, widening the arch to allow for more circular forms in stained glass and the flamboyant arch, primarily used in windows and traceries for decorative effect.
The pointed arch made the Gothic style possible, as it could be used for asymmetrical spaces and to intersect columns at a sharp angle thus displacing the weight into the columns and lightening the walls. As architectural critic Jonathan Meades wrote, these early examples “would in the 12 th century become the quintessential architecture of Christendom.” As the Pope and Catholic rulers sought to extend the range of Christianity in the Middle Ages through the Crusades, knowledge of Middle Eastern architecture became more common among Europeans. Widely deployed in the building of mosques and palaces like the fortress of Al-Ukhaidir (775), the pointed arch was found throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Andalucia (modern day Spain), and Sicily. The pointed arch was a noted element of Middle Eastern architecture beginning in the 7 th century, as seen in the Al-Aqsa Mosque (780) in Jerusalem. The architecture that informed the Gothic period drew upon a number of influences, including Romanesque, Byzantine, and Middle Eastern. Most of the Early Gothic architects, sculptors, and designers of stained glass windows were anonymous, and it is only later in the High Gothic period that architects and artists known as “masters” became identified. Some Gothic churches took decades to build, contributing both to the economy of the town and to the expansion of the necessary guilds that represented the various trades involved in construction and design. At the same time, noble patronage began to play a primary role in building projects, as stained glass windows and portals emphasized the identification of the king as a kind of earthly representation of divine authority, as seen in the “royal portal” reserved for nobility and high ranking church officials. Increasing trade led to the growth of many urban centers, and the local Cathedral became a sign of civic pride.
The humanism at this time saw man as part of a complex hierarchy, divinely ordered by God whose ultimate nature surpassed reason. The monks and theologians ushered in a new Humanism that sought to reconcile Platonic ideals and Church theology. With increasing prosperity and more stable governments, cultural changes included the early formations of universities, like the University of Paris in 1150, and the proliferation of Catholic orders, like the Franciscan and Dominicans. Beginnings of Gothic Art and Architecture The Gothic EraĬity-states and feudal kingdoms dotted Europe, and the power of the Catholic church continued to grow during the Gothic era.
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