Gothic architecture in France. France - the birthplace of Gothic architecture - Art History

27.09.2019

Original taken from weisse_winter in France - the birthplace of Gothic architecture

The Birth of Gothic

Gothic style originated in Northern France in the mid-12th century. and reached its peak in the first half of the 13th century. Its emergence was due to the formation of the city as an independent political and economic force and the new needs of urban life; The rapid development of French Gothic was facilitated by the national upsurge associated with the beginning of the unification of the country.

Stone Gothic cathedrals, which received their classical form in France, became symbols of the centralized kingdom and the independence of growing cities. The interior is unusually high and spacious, illuminated by the colored light of stained-glass windows: rows of slender pillars, the powerful rise of pointed pointed arches, the rapid rhythm of the arches of the upper gallery (triforium) give rise to a feeling of uncontrollable movement upward and forward, towards the altar; the contrast of the high, light main nave with the semi-dark side naves creates a picturesque richness of aspects, a feeling of the infinity of space.

The structural basis of the cathedral is a frame of pillars (in mature Gothic, taking the form of a bunch of columns) and pointed arches resting on them. The structure of the building consists of rectangular cells (grasses), delimited by 4 pillars and 4 arches, which, together with diagonally intersecting ribs (ribs), form the skeleton of a cross vault, filled with lightweight formwork. The lateral thrust of the vault is transmitted by connecting oblique arches (flying buttresses) to powerful external pillars (buttresses). The walls, freed from the load, were cut through with arched windows in the spaces between the pillars.

Taking it outside structural elements, neutralizing the expansion of the vault, made it possible to create a feeling of lightness and spatial freedom of the interior, the rapid ascension of its verticals, moderated by inter-tier divisions. In turn, the naked structures surrounding the cathedral from the south, east and north (and not visible either in the interior or from the facade) impress with their visual expression of the action of tectonic forces and the power of their rhythm. Two-tower western facades of French cathedrals with three deep “perspective” portals and patterned round window(“rose”) in the center combine upward aspiration with clarity and balance of articulations.

On the facades, pointed arches and architectural and plastic motifs vary endlessly - openwork pediments (vimpergi), turrets (vials), scrolls (crabbs), etc. Rows of statues on consoles in front of the columns of the portals and in the upper arched gallery, reliefs on the plinths and in The tympanums of the portals form an integral symbolic system, which includes characters and episodes of the Holy Scriptures, allegorical images. The entire decor is rhythmically organized and strictly subordinated to architectural divisions. This determines the tectonics and proportions of the statues, the solemnity of their poses, and the restraint of their gestures.

The best statues on the facades of cathedrals (Reims, Amiens, Strasbourg, transept portals in Chartres) are imbued with spiritual beauty, sincerity and humanity of feeling. Other parts of the building were also decorated with reliefs, statues, floral patterns, and images of fantastic animals (“chimeras”); characterized by an abundance of secular motifs (scenes of the work of artisans and peasants, grotesque and satirical images). The themes of the stained glass windows were also varied, the palette of which was dominated by red, blue and yellow tones.

France. Gothic in France

From the end of the 12th century. France becomes the center of European education. The University of Paris soon took one of the leading places in the scientific life of Europe. In the field of architecture and fine arts France also plays a major role. In the 13th century There are 300 workshops in Paris. The main customer of works of art is no longer the church, but cities, merchant guilds, guild corporations and the king. The main type of building, in turn, becomes not the monastery church, but the city cathedral.

Since the 14th century City and monastery churches of the hall type (with equal heights of naves), castle and palace chapels became increasingly important. All of them are small and simple in plan, but along their arches ("mesh", "honeycomb", "star-shaped", etc.) complex, sometimes curvilinear patterns of ribs spread. The whimsical pattern of window frames, reminiscent of flames, is also characteristic of late (“flaming”) Gothic (the Church of Saint-Maclou in Rouen, 1434-70).

Pierre Robin, 1434-1470) is the standard of late, or “flaming Gothic”. The western facade of the church is distinguished by carved doors by Jean Goujon with images of biblical scenes. Just behind the Church of St. Maclou is one of the main attractions of Rouen - the cemetery of Saint-Maclou - a rare example of medieval burials of plague victims.

The importance of secular urban architecture is increasing, in which not so much the design features of Gothic were used, but rather its compositional and decorative techniques: on main square In cities, town halls are built with abundant decoration and often with a tower (town hall in Saint-Quentin, 1351-1509), castles are turned into palaces richly decorated inside (Palace of the Popes in Avignon, 1334-52; Pierrefonds Castle, 1390-1420), mansions are built ( "hotels") of wealthy townspeople (house of Jacques Coeur in Bourges, 1443-1451). Stone sculpture on the facades of temples was replaced by altars in the interiors, combining painted and gilded wooden sculpture and tempera painting on wooden boards.

The French Basilica of Saint-Denis (Basilique Saint-Denis) is a real work of architectural art, the pearl of France among cathedrals and the spiritual stronghold of the entire nation

France, especially its center Ile de France, is rightfully considered the cradle of Gothic art. Back in the 12th century. (1137-1151) during the reconstruction of the church Saint Denis here the rib vault (circumference and chapels) was used for the first time.

The most big temple the early Gothic period was Notre Dame Cathedral- The five-nave temple could accommodate up to 9,000 people. The design of Notre Dame Cathedral clearly shows the basic principles of Gothic architecture: the ribbed lancet vault of the central nave, 35 m high, lancet windows, flying buttresses. But all that remains of the ponderous Romanesque architecture are the massive surface of the walls, the squat pillars of the central nave, the predominance of horizontal divisions, heavy towers, and restrained sculptural decoration.

Chartres Cathedral(1194-1260) is an example of the transition to mature Gothic and the combination of facades from different periods. The “Royal Portal” of the western facade belongs to the first half of the 12th century, at the beginning of the 13th century. the southern tower was completed, the northern one was completed in the 14th century, the interior is Gothic.

A brilliant example of mature French Gothic - Cathedral in Reims(1212-1311). In the appearance of the Reims Cathedral one can see a desire for verticalism of all lines, which enhances literally a whole “forest” of pinnacles and wimpergs (even the “rose” on the facade has a pointed end). The entire western façade is entirely decorated with sculpture; the stone has acquired an openwork appearance, truly reminiscent of lace. Note, however, that unlike late Gothic, this “lace” does not hide the structure of the building.

Amiens Cathedral in the center of Picardy is one of the largest "classical" Gothic churches of the 13th century. The cathedral is distinguished by the integrity of its plan, the beauty of its three-tiered interior and, in particular, the wonderful collection of sculpture on the main façade and in the south transept.

The largest and tallest Gothic cathedral in France - Amiens. Its length is 145 m, the height of the vault of the central nave is 42.5. Amiens Cathedral was built over 40 years, from 1218 to 1258, by Robert de Luzarch, Thomas de Cormont and Renaud de Cormont. Amiens Cathedral is often called the "Gothic Parthenon".

By the middle of the 13th century. the scale of construction in France is weakening. At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV centuries. the construction of cathedrals was experiencing a crisis: architectural forms became drier, decor became more abundant, statues acquired the same emphasized bend and standard sweetness. At the same time, new, diverse artistic forms that do not pretend to be universal arise; they reflected the growing self-awareness of the burghers, who sought to create their own culture, and the aristocracy of the feudal nobility, the increasing sophistication of court life. The last remarkable Gothic creation of this period is the chapel of Louis IX (in the heart of Paris, on the Ile de la Cité), the “holy chapel (chapel)” Saint Chapelle(1243-1248). Its builder is Pierre de Montreau. The single-nave chapel has two tiers: on the lower floor there is the chapel of the Mother of God, in the upper storage there is a reliquary with the crown of thorns of Christ.

Since the 14th century period begins late Gothic, in France it lasts two centuries (XIV-XV centuries). The 15th century in Gothic architecture is also called flaming gothic. In late Gothic art, a new emotional structure of images developed: mannered stylization and expression, exalted drama, and a predilection for scenes of suffering depicted with cruel naturalness. At the same time, secular paintings appeared (Palace of the Popes in Avignon, XIV-XV centuries), a portrait ("John the Good", circa 1360), and in miniatures of liturgical books and especially books of hours of noble persons ("Small Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry", circa 1380-85) there is a desire for the spiritualized humanity of images, for the transmission of life observations, space and volume. The best examples of French Gothic art include small ivory sculpture, silver reliquaries, Limoges champlevé enamel, tapestries and carved furniture. Late Gothic buildings are overloaded with decoration, complex decorative carvings and intricate patterns of ribs (Cathedral in Rouen, XIV-XV centuries).

Of the Gothic monasteries, it is especially famous Abbey of Mont Saint Michel near the border of Normandy and Brittany, located on a high cliff like an impregnable fortress.

Feudal castles at the end of the 13th century. were built only with the permission of the king, in the 14th century. this generally becomes the privilege of the king and his entourage; luxuriously decorated palaces appear in castle complexes. Castles are gradually turning into pleasure residences and hunting chateaus.

But urban construction (town halls, workshop buildings, residential buildings) is not decreasing. A private house (XV century) has been preserved - this mansion of the banker of King Charles VII Jacques Coeur in the city of Bourges.

Gothic is the heyday of monumental sculpture, in which the importance of statuary sculpture increases, although the figures are not free from the background of the wall. Increasingly, the figure is posed according to the so-called "gothic curve"(S-pose, from the Latin letter “S”): medieval art gives its paraphrase to the Greek chiasmus. In relief, there is a tendency towards high relief - high relief. A certain canon of composition is developed, certain subjects are intended for certain places in the building. Thus, in the altar part scenes from the life of Christ are depicted, on the southern facade of the transept - the New Testament, on the northern - the Old, on the western facade there is always an image of the “Last Judgment” and the “end of the world”. An example of early Gothic is the sculpture of the western facade of Notre Dame Cathedral (1210-1225); the story of Mary, “The Passion of Christ”, “The Last Judgment”. The facades of the transept were decorated already in the High Gothic period.

IN Chartres Cathedral one can trace the evolution from early Gothic sculpture to the mature Gothic period. Thus, the western façade is decorated with pillar-shaped, vertically elongated, static figures standing in strictly frontal poses. Gradually the sculpture separates from the wall and acquires a rounded volume. But even with the constraint of the poses, with the laconicism of the forms, one is struck by the expressiveness of the plasticity, the restrained grandeur of the images, sometimes even the individualization of the appearance appears (St. Jerome, St. George, St. Martin of the portal of the southern facade of the transept). In Chartres, not only different artels, but different generations of craftsmen worked for many decades.

From the second half of the 13th century. The plasticity of the cathedrals becomes more dynamic, the figures become more mobile, the folds of clothing are conveyed in a complex play of chiaroscuro. The images are sometimes executed with true perfection, with admiration for the beauty of a person. It is no coincidence that, for example, Christ blessing on the western facade Amiens Cathedral called the beautiful God. In such scenes as the seasons and the signs of the zodiac, real-life observations increasingly make themselves felt (Amiens Cathedral).

The highest point of flowering of Gothic sculpture is the decoration Reims Cathedral. Joseph from the “Bringing into the Temple” scene and the angel from the “Annunciation” resemble secular people, full of earthly joys. In the images of Mary and Elizabeth (“Meeting of Mary with Elizabeth,” 1225-1240), echoes of ancient art are clear. Late Gothic sculpture, as well as the architecture of this time, is characterized by fragmentation and fragmentation of forms (for example, the so-called “Gilded Madonna” of the Amiens Cathedral, around 1270), but in it there is an undoubted interest in portrait images, which is generally not typical French medieval art.

Light and lace of French Gothic. Rouen Cathedral (inside)

The Birth of Gothic

Gothic originated in Northern France in the middle XII century. And reached its peak in the first half of the 13th century. Its emergence was due to the formation of the city as an independent political and economic force and the new needs of urban life; The rapid development of French Gothic was facilitated by the national upsurge associated with the beginning of the unification of the country.

The removal of structural elements outside, neutralizing the expansion of the vault, made it possible to create a feeling of lightness and spatial freedom of the interior, the rapid ascension of its verticals, moderated by the inter-tier divisions. In turn, the naked structures surrounding the cathedral from the south, east and north (and not visible either in the interior or from the facade) impress with their visual expression of the action of tectonic forces and the power of their rhythm. The two-tower western facades of French cathedrals with three deep “perspective” portals and a patterned round window (“rose”) in the center combine upward aspiration with clarity and balance of divisions.

France. Gothic in France

From the end of the 12th century. France becomes the center of European education. The University of Paris soon took one of the leading places in the scientific life of Europe. In the field of architecture and fine arts, France also plays a leading role. In the 13th century There are 300 workshops in Paris. The main customer of works of art is no longer the church, but cities, merchant guilds, guild corporations and the king. The main type of building, in turn, becomes not the monastery church, but the city cathedral.

The importance of secular urban architecture is increasing, in which not so much the design features of Gothic were used, but rather its compositional and decorative techniques: town halls with abundant decoration and often with a tower were built on the main square of the city (town hall in Saint-Quentin, 1351-1509), castles turned into palaces richly decorated inside (Palace of the Popes in Avignon, 1334-52; Pierrefonds Castle, 1390-1420), mansions (“hotels”) of wealthy citizens were built (Jacques Coeur’s house in Bourges, 1443-1451). Stone sculpture on the facades of temples was replaced by altars in the interiors, combining painted and gilded wooden sculpture and tempera painting on wooden boards.

The French Basilica of Saint-Denis (Basilique Saint-Denis) is a real work of architectural art, the pearl of France among cathedrals and the spiritual stronghold of the entire nation

The largest temple of the early Gothic period was Notre Dame Cathedral- The five-nave temple could accommodate up to 9,000 people. The design of Notre Dame Cathedral clearly shows the basic principles of Gothic architecture: the ribbed lancet vault of the central nave, 35 m high, lancet windows, flying buttresses. But all that remains of the ponderous Romanesque architecture are the massive surface of the walls, the squat pillars of the central nave, the predominance of horizontal divisions, heavy towers, and restrained sculptural decoration.

Of the Gothic monasteries, it is especially famous Abbey of Mont Saint Michel near the border of Normandy and Brittany, located on a high cliff like an impregnable fortress.

Light and lace of French Gothic. Rouen Cathedral (inside)

I think it wouldn’t hurt to “walk” through the most beautiful Gothic buildings in France. Believe me, it's worth it!)

The Gothic style originated in France in the mid-12th century. The most significant works of the Gothic style in France are considered to be the cathedrals of Chartres, Amiens and Reims, but in general there are a huge number of monuments of the Gothic style left in France, from chapels to huge cathedrals. In the 15th century, the period of the so-called “flaming Gothic” began, from which only isolated examples have reached us, such as one of the portals of the Rouen Cathedral or the Saint-Jacques Tower in Paris.

Chartres Cathedral

Chartres Cathedral or Notre Dame Cathedral is the most famous monument city of Chartres, 90 km southwest of Paris. The cathedral is considered one of the most beautiful Gothic buildings.

Churches have long stood on the site of the modern Chartres Cathedral. Since 876, the Holy Shroud of the Virgin Mary has been kept in Chartres.

Instead of the first cathedral, which burned down in 1020, it was erected romanesque cathedral with a huge crypt. It survived the fire of 1134, which destroyed almost the entire city, but was badly damaged during the fire of June 10, 1194. From this fire, started by a lightning strike, only the towers with the western facade and the crypt survived. The miraculous salvation from the fire of the sacred shroud was considered a sign from above and served as the reason for the construction of a new, even more grandiose building.

The construction of the new cathedral began in the same 1194 with donations flocking to Chartres from all over France. City residents voluntarily delivered stone from surrounding quarries. The design of the previous building was taken as a basis, into which the surviving parts of the old building were inscribed. The main work, which included the construction of the main nave, was completed in 1220, the consecration of the cathedral took place on October 24, 1260 in the presence of King Louis IX and members of the royal family.

Chartres Cathedral has survived to this day almost untouched. It escaped destruction and robbery and was never restored or rebuilt.

A distinctive feature of the cathedral is that its two towers are very different from each other. The north tower has a typical ancient Gothic base (with buttresses and a small number of openings) and a Flamboyant Gothic spire, made somewhat later. The south tower, on the contrary, has a Gothic base and is crowned with a simpler spire.

Amiens Cathedral

Amiens Cathedral or Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the most famous Gothic cathedrals in the world and one of the largest in France.

The previously existing Romanesque cathedral burned to the ground in 1218 in a fire caused by a lightning strike. But the small church located near the cathedral survived. It contained the relics of Saint Firmin, the first bishop of the city of Amiens, so the church could not be demolished until the completion of the construction of the new cathedral, where the relics of the saint were subsequently transferred.

According to the original plan, the cathedral towers were supposed to be built twice as wide and much higher than the existing ones. However, they were built only to half the designed height, as a result of which the towers barely rise above the roof of the cathedral. In 1366, the construction of a tent over the south tower began, and north tower was completed only at the beginning of the 15th century. Different in height and design, they give the facade of the cathedral an extraordinary picturesqueness.

Amiens Cathedral is beautiful from all sides. The slender tower canopy of the lantern above the middle cross enhances the overall impression of aspiration upward and emphasizes the height of the Gothic structure. Graceful light buttresses, topped with pinnacles, rise from the base of the cathedral to its roof.

During the French Revolution, when thousands of sculptures and reliefs were smashed, many cathedrals in France were damaged. However, thanks to the efforts of influential citizens of Amiens, who blocked the revolutionaries' access to the cathedral, losses there were minimal.

Despite the fact that many churches were built in the Gothic style both in France and in other European countries, it is the Amiens Cathedral that is one of the most daring, original and harmonious buildings of the Gothic church.

Reims Cathedral

Reims Cathedral or Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the most famous examples of Gothic art in France due to its architecture and sculptural compositions. This is a classic example of High Gothic architecture at its peak.

The cathedral is world famous for the fact that from the Middle Ages until the 19th century, the coronations of almost all French monarchs took place here.

The cathedral in Reims has ancient history. The oldest cathedral building on this site dates back to 401. In the 9th century, construction of a new one began on the site of the dilapidated old temple. However, a huge fire in 1210 completely destroyed it. Then the third stage of construction began, as a result of which the majestic structure appeared, which has survived to this day.

The two 80-meter towers of the western façade of Reims Cathedral are the tallest in France. They could have been even higher, since it was originally planned to crown them with high tents with spiers, but this plan did not come true. In addition, they wanted to build five more towers, but this plan was also not implemented.

A special feature of Reims Cathedral is the sculptures that made it famous. More than five hundred figures are presented in the “Gallery of Kings” alone. Most of they were created in the 13th century. These are sculptural images of saints, bishops, knights, kings, and artisans. Reims Cathedral is often called the “Cathedral of Angels” because of the many sculptures depicting them. The most famous figure is the smiling angel above the northern portal. Reims Cathedral suffered greatly during the French Revolution. Even more severe damage was caused to the cathedral during the First World War. Complete restoration work was completed only in 1996.

Today, the majestic and at the same time harmonious cathedral continues to be a wonderful monument of French Gothic, whose sculptures served as a model for other churches in France, Italy and Spain.

Rouen Cathedral

Rouen Cathedral or Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the most important monuments gothic architecture France. The massive walls of the cathedral run along the entire Rue San Romano, one of the most prestigious in medieval Rouen. .

Any, even the most modest camera, easily and naturally conveys all the beauty and power of this incredible structure, which has inspired writers and artists of various calibers for centuries. People against the background of the cathedral look small, like worms. Massive entrance doors they seem tiny, like holes punched by a nail in a canvas.

The cathedral suffered greatly during the war. Before landing in Normandy, the Allies carried out carpet bombing for the whole night. One of the side towers collapsed and damaged the supporting columns. In theory, the cathedral should have collapsed and crumbled into dust, but it miraculously survived. The renovation took twelve years. In 2000, either the same or a different tower collapsed again. This happened at five in the morning, and the cathedral, fortunately, was empty, otherwise disaster would have happened. Of course, such an ancient structure has to be constantly monitored.

Rouen Cathedral is over 800 years old. The central tower with a spire is 70 meters deep from the facade - it is located exactly in the spatial center of the cathedral, which is very unusual.

Two towers overlook the square in front of the façade of the cathedral: the left one, built in the 12th-15th centuries, and the right one, dating from 1506, which was built in just 20 years. This later style, with many fine details and a complicated form, is called “flaming Gothic”.

Interior of the cathedral

The right tower was nicknamed the Olive Tower due to its yellower color. Despite the fact that there is more than enough limestone in Normandy, the stone for the Tower of Olives was brought from Wells. In addition to the color, there is another explanation for the name of the tower: according to legend, the money for its construction was taken from the proceeds from the sale of indulgences. And the church sold the most indulgences for violating the rules of Lent. The people of Rouen loved to eat butter and did not deny themselves this pleasure even on days of fasting. In addition, the heads of wealthy families had to shell out for indulgences for all household members.

The central spire was added later than all others in the mid-19th century. Its height is 151 meters.

Gustav Flaubert, being a native of Rouen, lived in this city the most significant period of his life. In particular, “Madame Bovary” was written in Rouen. He observed the construction of the spire and expressed himself sarcastically in the sense that such architecture was the whim of an enraged steam boiler manufacturer. Up close, the spire really looks too technologically advanced, but that doesn’t make it any less original.

Tower Saint-Jacques

The Tower of Saint-Jacques is the surviving bell tower of the grand church of Saint-Jacques de la Boucherie, destroyed during the revolution (in 1797). From this beautiful-sounding name it is clear that it was dedicated to St. James (meaning the apostle) and that it was built with money from the butchers’ guild (“bushri” - butcher shop). In England this apostle is called St. James, in Spain - Santiago. Catholic tradition believes that it was in Spain, in the church of the same name in Santiago de Compostella, that this saint was buried.

The church served as a gathering place for pilgrims following the Way of Saint James to their final destination - the tomb of the Apostle James in Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The church was rebuilt in the 16th century, changing the style from Romanesque to Gothic, and at the same time a bell tower was added to it - the current Saint-Jacques Tower.

The church, declared public property, was sold by the revolutionary government and dismantled for a profitable product - stones - in 1797. The bell tower was leased to a master for casting hunting shot: molten lead, falling from a 50-meter height through a special grate, solidified into small balls in placed barrels of water.

The names of two great people are associated with the Saint-Jacques Tower: Nicolas Flamel and Blaise Pascal. Nicolas Flamel was spoken of as the only alchemist who understood the secret of the philosopher's stone and learned to turn lead into gold. He made a pilgrimage to Spain from here, and was buried in de la Boucherie, which was later demolished. In 1648, the French scientist Blaise Pascal measured atmospheric pressure at the Saint-Jacques Tower. The French paid tribute to Pascal by erecting a statue of him in the tower; There are also 19 statues of various saints preserved in the niches of the tower. Since 1981, a weather station has been installed on the tower and in the park.

Looking closely, you can see that the corners of the tower are completed by figures symbolizing the evangelists: an eagle, a lion, a calf and - the tallest - an angel. After the revolutionary plunder, the church was restored only in 1854, i.e. already during the Second Empire. Her fate could have turned out differently. Hugo in “Notre Dame Cathedral” (published in 1831) wrote: “For several days now, the tower of the Church of Saint-Jacques de la Boucherie has been covered with scaffolding, and next morning a pickaxe will start working there.” Apparently, in those days churches were not blown up, but dismantled. We saved building materials...

The Birth of Gothic

France. Gothic in France

From the end of the 12th century. France becomes the center of European education. The University of Paris soon took one of the leading places in the scientific life of Europe. In the field of architecture and fine arts, France also plays a leading role. In the 13th century There are 300 workshops in Paris. The main customer of works of art is no longer the church, but cities, merchant guilds, guild corporations and the king. The main type of building, in turn, becomes not the monastery church, but the city cathedral.

The importance of secular urban architecture is increasing, in which not so much the design features of Gothic were used, but rather its compositional and decorative techniques: town halls with abundant decoration and often with a tower were built on the main square of the city (town hall in Saint-Quentin, 1351-1509), castles turned into palaces richly decorated inside (Palace of the Popes in Avignon, 1334-52; Pierrefonds Castle, 1390-1420), mansions (“hotels”) of wealthy citizens were built (Jacques Coeur’s house in Bourges, 1443-1451). Stone sculpture on the facades of temples was replaced by altars in the interiors, combining painted and gilded wooden sculpture and tempera painting on wooden boards.

The French Basilica of Saint-Denis (Basilique Saint-Denis) is a real work of architectural art, the pearl of France among cathedrals and the spiritual stronghold of the entire nation

Of the Gothic monasteries, it is especially famous Abbey of Mont Saint Michel near the border of Normandy and Brittany, located on a high cliff like an impregnable fortress.

Light and lace of French Gothic. Rouen Cathedral (inside)

One French lover of witty words said that “architecture is the art of writing lines into the sky.” This paradox reflects the completely correct observation that architectural contours and silhouettes of buildings enrich our artistic perception of the sky and airspace. Architecture changes the appearance of the sky and the external space surrounding it, just as the architectural design of the walls and furnishings change, or rather, create the artistic appearance of the interior space. This or that wall covering and the furnishings of the room make the room cramped and so on. Architecture is like the setting of natural space. The style of architecture changes the appearance of cities and the worldview of the people inhabiting them.

The Gothic style is beautiful and original, it literally changed medieval architecture. The purpose of my work is to depict the development of the Gothic style in Western Europe since its origins in France in the mid-12th century. In conducting my research, I focus on French Gothic. The most striking example is Notre Dame Cathedral. In this article I provide a full disclosure of the features of the Gothic style, and also consider character traits Gothic, embodied in the main cathedral of France - Notre Dame de Paris.

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INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………..3

CHAPTER 1. GOTHIC AS A STYLE OF MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE………………………………………………………………………………4

The emergence of the Gothic style……………………………………..4
Distinctive features of the Gothic style……………………...6
Gothic art in France……………………………………11

CHAPTER 2. CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME DE PARIS…………………………………………………….15

CHAPTER 3. GOTHIC STYLE IN OTHER WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES……………………………………………………………………………………….22

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….29

LIST OF REFERENCES……………………………..31

CHAPTER 1. GOTHIC AS A STYLE OF MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

The emergence of the Gothic style

The name “Gothic art” comes from the Italian gotico - “Gothic”, after the name of the German tribe of Goths, who came to Italy from the north and captured it in the 4th - 5th centuries. The Italians used the term "Gothic" to describe their church architecture, which was characterized by very tall and ornate structures. This concept arose during the Renaissance. "Gothic" in those days meant "barbaric." As opposed to “Roman,” Gothic was the name given to art that did not follow ancient traditions and, therefore, was of no interest to contemporaries. Such ideas changed only in the 19th century, when the Middle Ages were no longer considered the “dark ages” in the history of mankind. However, the name “Gothic” was retained by European art of the late Middle Ages.

In different European countries Gothic had its own characteristic features and chronological framework, but it flourished in the 13th-14th centuries.

In the history of art, it is customary to distinguish three types of Gothic:

early
mature (tall)
late (“flaming”)

During this historical period, the role of cities increases, and in art, along with knightly elements, the features of a new culture of the urban bourgeoisie, the burghers, begin to appear. The bulk of the population of medieval cities represented the most rebellious, freest strata of society. Craftsmen united into independent unions and workshops. Universities emerged in many cities.

Cathedrals and town halls were erected by order of city communes, but they took a very long time to build and complete – decades, or even centuries. In Gothic art, compared to Romanesque art, realistic tendencies are more pronounced, and rationalistic motives are also much more noticeable. At this time, monasteries ceased to play a fundamental role in creative activity; this role passed into the hands of urban craftsmen. These factors became important prerequisites for the emergence of a new style.

The Gothic style in art developed primarily in those countries where the Catholic Church dominated, therefore the influence of religious motives is very noticeable in the ideology and culture of that era. Gothic art remained largely cult in purpose and religious in theme: it was correlated with eternity, with “higher” irrational forces.

Gothic gradually emerged from Romanesque art. The basis of the Romanesque temple building was thick stone walls, creating a heavy, dense volume. This mass of thick, blank walls was supported and balanced by girth arches, pillars and strong architectural details that performed supporting functions. To make the building more stable, the Romanesque architect increased the thickness and strength of the wall, on which his attention was mainly focused. It was the improvement of the support system that was destined to produce a true revolution in the architecture of that time.

Distinctive features of the Gothic style

If we compare typical Romanesque buildings and gothic, there is a feeling that they are completely opposed to each other. Romanesque buildings are solid and massive, Gothic buildings are light and transparent. But if we take the buildings of the transitional period, it is clear that Gothic originates from Romanesque roots. The architects' searches led to the idea of expanding and lightening the vault system. Solid vaults are replaced by rib ceilings - a system of load-bearing arches. All the airiness and fabulousness of the Gothic structure has a rational basis: it stems from the frame system of the building. This is how through galleries, arcades, and huge windows appear.

Having lost its Romanesque thickness as unnecessary, fearlessly cut through by huge windows in bright multi-color stained glass and disappearing into the lace of carved stone, the wall has lost its defining character in the overall structure of the building. The Gothic building was reduced to an island - a miraculously growing frame that overcame the gravity of the earth and became the basis of all Gothic architecture.

When comparing the results of measurements of Gothic and Romanesque buildings, it turned out that for the middle nave In the Romanesque church, the height of 18-20 meters was the maximum, and in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, the earliest in Gothic architecture, the height of the nave reached 32 meters, and in Reims - 38 meters, and finally, in Amiens - 42 meters.

Thus, the Gothic vertical triumphed over the Romanesque horizontal. Gothic cathedrals were not only tall, but also very long: for example, Chartres Cathedral is 130 meters long, and the length of the transept is 64 meters long; to get around it you need to walk at least half a kilometer, and from every point the cathedral looks different.

Unlike the Romanesque church with its clear, easily visible forms, the Gothic cathedral is vast, often asymmetrical and even heterogeneous in its parts: each of its facades with its own portal is individual. The walls are not felt, it is as if they are not there. Arches, galleries, towers, platforms with arcades, huge windows, and an endlessly complex play of openwork forms appears. And all this space is inhabited - the cathedral, both inside and outside, is inhabited by a mass of sculptures. For example, there are about 10,000 statues in Chartres Cathedral. They occupy not only portals and galleries, but they can also be found on the roof, cornices, under the vaults of chapels, on spiral staircases, appearing on drainpipes, on consoles. In a word, a Gothic cathedral is the whole world. It truly absorbed the world of a medieval city. Many city cathedrals were so large that the entire population of the city could not help but fill it. Near the cathedral, as a rule, there were shopping arcades. The needs of city life prompted architects to transform the closed, thick-walled, fortress-like Romanesque cathedral into a more spacious one, open to the outside. But for this it was necessary to change the entire structure of the building. And after the change in design, there was a change in the architectural style.

The turn to Gothic began with architecture, and later spread to sculpture and painting. Architecture invariably remained the basis of the medieval synthesis of arts.

Medieval artists passionately loved pure, bright, sonorous colors. This was reflected in the stained glass windows, miniatures, and coloring of the sculptures. Sculpture in the middle of the century was inseparable from church construction. She has great expressiveness. The utmost tension of spiritual forces is reflected in the faces and in the figures, elongated and broken, which creates the impression of a desire to free oneself from the flesh and achieve the secrets of existence. Human suffering, purification and elevation through it into the hidden nerve of Gothic art. There is no peace and tranquility in it, it is permeated with confusion, a high spiritual impulse.

Artists reach a tragic intensity in depicting the suffering of the crucified Christ, God, suppressed by his creation and grieving for it. The sculpture details the facial features and hands very subtly. According to the clergy, art should serve as a “bible for the illiterate.” The walls of the temples were painted with paintings from which the stern faces of saints and God himself looked at the worshipers. Images of the terrible torment of sinners in hell were supposed to thrill believers. The high vaults of the cathedrals, the colored stained glass windows through which rays of light poured, the solemn sounds of the organ - all this captured the imagination of people, instilled in them the idea of the sanctity of divine power, and turned them to religion.

Often statues and paintings were excessively elongated or greatly shortened. At that time, artists did not yet know the laws of perspective, so the figures in the paintings seem flat. Medieval artists often gave figures unnatural poses in order to more strongly convey religious feelings such as faith in God or repentance for sins.

Preserved paintings - icons, painted on wooden boards using tempera technique , they are distinguished by bright colors and an abundance of gold. Usually the main character of the picture is in the center, and is larger in size than the figures standing next to it.

But the Gothic masters knew how to create completely realistic images that captured warm human feeling. Softness and lyricism are distinguished by the figures of Mary Elizabeth, sculptured on the portal of the magnificent Reims Cathedral (Appendix No. 1). The sculptures of Naumburg Cathedral (Appendix No. 2) in Germany are full of characteristic features, and the statue of Margravess Uta is full of living charm.

In many cases, unique examples of Gothic art were created by medieval masters whose names have not reached us. The church-religious nature of the culture of medieval society was reflected in the style and purpose of things.

Gold and silversmiths make unique church utensils decorated with filigree, semi-precious stones, and enamels. Ivory carvings were used. These various techniques are used to make altar plates, book covers, hand basins, candlesticks, precession crosses, caskets, and so on.

Changes also affected clothing. In the 12th century, primarily in France, Romanesque dress, which was more reminiscent of monastic vestments, was gradually replaced by clothes that fit closely to the figure and were more graceful. The rough, piecemeal clothing of the previous era is replaced by a variety of garments made according to all the laws of tailoring. Gothic fashion with its close-fitting dress, the characteristic body position and the way of wearing clothes can be observed by looking at the monumental figures of saints and kings on the facades and portals of cathedrals, as well as by looking at artistic miniatures of medieval artists.

1.3 Gothic art of France

Gothic, as an architectural style, is characteristic of a certain era throughout Western Europe, but the leading role in its creation, development and implementation belongs to France.

French Gothic, due to special historical conditions, was an expression of the high rise of medieval culture as a whole. Relying on ancient heritage, she developed her own means of expression in architecture, sculpture and stained glass. French Gothic reflected the highest ideals, aspirations and disappointments of the most diverse layers of medieval France. French Gothic is characterized by harmony and clarity, which forced researchers to talk about its “Attic” character, but this does not exclude internal pathos, an emotional feeling permeating the architectural image. It is so rich that its creators were able to simultaneously use the influence of architectural space, line, plasticity and pure game colors. Thanks to these qualities, French Gothic, despite the layers of centuries, retains a unique unity, and the monuments that have come down to us do not seem disharmonious.

The Gothic style originated in the mid-12th century in northern France, primarily in the Ile-de-France region centered on Paris, and reached its peak in the first half of the 13th century. Stone Gothic cathedrals received their classical form in France. As a rule, these are 3- and 5-nave basilicas with a transverse nave - transept and a semicircular choir, to which radial chapels are adjacent (the “crown of chapels”). Their high and spacious interior is illuminated by the colorful shimmer of stained glass windows.

The impression of uncontrollable movement upward and towards the altar is created by rows of slender pillars, the powerful rise of pointed pointed arches, and the accelerated rhythm of the arcades of the upper gallery. Thanks to the contrast of the high main and semi-dark side naves, a picturesque richness of aspects and a feeling of the infinity of space arises. On the facades of the cathedrals there are varied pointed arches and rich architectural and plastic decorations, details - patterned vimpergi, phials, crabs and so on. Statues on consoles in front of the columns of the portals and in their upper arched gallery, reliefs on plinths and tympanums portals, as well as on capitals columns form an integral symbolic plot system, which includes characters and episodes of the Holy Scriptures, allegorical images. The best works of Gothic sculpture - statues of facades in the tent, Reims, Amiens, Strasbourg - are imbued with spiritual beauty, sincerity and nobility.

On the main square of cities, town halls were built with lavish decoration, often with a tower, such as the town hall in Saint-Quentin, built in 1351-1509.

Castles turned into majestic palaces with rich interior decoration similar to the Papal Palace in Avignon. Mansions of wealthy citizens were built in cities.

In Paris, which in the late Middle Ages became not only the actual capital of the state, but also the generally recognized center of its cultural life, there were about a hundred guild organizations of artisans, among which masons and sculptors occupied not the least place, and the number of inhabitants by the end of the 12th century reached almost one hundred thousand, which was then unprecedented.

Founded in 1215, the University of Paris became a center of medieval learning. It is not for nothing that one of the writers of that time called Paris, where scientists, artists and everyone thirsting for enlightenment came from other countries, “a source that irrigates the circle of the earth.” Apart from Paris, Chartres, and the Ile-de-France region, the northern provinces were the most advanced; Picardy, Champagne and Normandy - with such flourishing cities, like Amiens, Reims and Rouen, are true treasure troves of Gothic art.

Reims Cathedral, where French kings were crowned and into which Joan of Arc triumphantly carried her banner, together with the equally famous Chartres Cathedral, is the pinnacle of French mature Gothic. As in the Parisian Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, the main facade is three-tiered, with an openwork rose in the middle and two powerful towers.

But here the vertical easily and at the same time solemnly dominates the horizontal, the tiers are almost blurred, and the wall unconditionally capitulates to the grandiose skeleton of the finest, filigree architecture, which rushes upward harmoniously, clearly, without any tension. The light openwork bulk is a synthesis of architecture and sculpture, a festive symphony of pointed arches, columns and blooming, fabulous sculptural decoration.

The Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel (Appendix No. 3) in Normandy rises on a rock, which at high tide is surrounded on all sides by the sea.

This is a kind of preserve of Gothic art. From a distance against the backdrop of the sea and up close, when you look at its walls rushing towards the sky, Mont Saint-Michel gives the impression of a truly miraculous creation of human rivers. It is also called “La Merveille”, which means miracle or wonder. Cloister The abbey of Mont Saint-Michel is one of the pinnacles of Gothic art.

From the architects of the late French Gothic one could hear the following judgment: “Whoever wants to build the most perfect cathedral must take from Chartres (Appendix No. 4) - towers, from Paris - a facade, from Amiens (Appendix No. 5) - a longitudinal ship, from Reims - sculpture.

But even these statements do not name all the wonderful cathedrals erected during the Gothic period in France.

CHAPTER 2. NOTRE DAME DE PARIS CATHEDRAL AS AN EXAMPLE OF FRENCH GOTHIC

Undoubtedly, the most impressive and most remarkable monument of early Gothic, which opens a new era in the history of Western European architecture, is the famous Notre Dame Cathedral or Notre Dame de Paris (Appendix No. 6).

Almost six centuries have passed since it was erected, and Paris has been transformed thanks to its slender bulk that reigned over the city. The capital of France has increased many times over the years and has been decorated with many other world-famous monuments, but Notre-Dame de Paris still dominates it and still serves as its symbol. The center of the city has long since moved from here, the cathedral has long been no longer the center of its social and political life, and we forget that it was once called upon to personify the idea of a monarchy that triumphed under the patronage of the church.

The first stone of the cathedral was laid in 1163 by the French king and the pope who specially arrived in Paris, and many centuries later, Napoleon was crowned in the presence of the pope in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. Like the pyramids of Egypt, the Parthenon in Athens or Sophia of Constantinople, Notre Dame de Paris will testify not only for centuries, but also for millennia, to the ideals and high artistic culture of the people who created it.

Notre-Dame de Paris (Appendix No. 7) towered majestically above Paris on the banks of the Seine not far from the Louvre. The huge square in front of the cathedral is always filled with tourists. Particularly impressive is the queue consisting of tourists trying to get to the observation deck, located on the upper tier of the main facade.

The cathedral is striking in its size - it can accommodate 9,000 people at the same time. The height of the building is 35 meters, length 130 meters, width 108 meters. The height of the bell towers is 69 meters. The Emmannuel Bell, which is located in the eastern tower, weighs 13 tons, and its tongue weighs 500 kg. This cathedral has also become not only the soul of the capital, but also the arena of famous events in French history. The square in front of the cathedral is the geographical center of France, and on road signs the distance to any point in France is calculated from the slab near Notre Dame Cathedral. According to the definition of the great writer Victor Hugo, Parisian Cathedral- “a huge stone symphony, a colossal creation of both man and people... A wonderful result of the combination of all the forces of an entire era, where from each stone splashes the imagination of a worker taking hundreds of forms, guided by the genius of the artist...”. Hugo likens the cathedral, the creation of human hands, “to the creation of God, from whom it seemed to borrow its dual character: diversity and eternity.

In the 4th century, approximately in the same place where Notre Dame Cathedral is now located, there was a beautiful church of St. Stephen. Fragments of thirty of her marble columns are kept in the Cluny Museum. Two centuries later, another church was erected near this place, dedicating it to the Mother of God. But this temple was destroyed by the Normans who invaded France. Soon a second church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin was erected on the same site.

In the 12th century, both ancient churches - St. Stephen's and Our Lady - fell into decay. Seeing the deplorable state of the two main churches on the Ile de la Cité, in the center of the city, the Bishop of Paris, Maurice de Sully, decided to erect one instead. big temple. According to the bishop's plan, the future cathedral was to surpass in splendor everything that had been built before, and be worthy of its high purpose - to become the main cathedral dedicated to the Mother of God.

The first stone was laid in 1163 by the Pope Alexander III. Construction was completed only in 1330. The consecration of the main altar took place in 1182, and three years later the Patriarch of Jerusalem Heraclius celebrated the first mass there.

Notre Dame Cathedral was built over almost two centuries, during a transitional era when the Romanesque style was gradually replaced by the Gothic style. This is no longer a Romanesque, somewhat squat church, but it is also not a skyward Gothic temple. Both styles are combined here in harmonious balance.

History has preserved the names of several architects who completed the construction of the temple. In 1257-1270, Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montreuil worked here. In 1280-1330, construction was led by Pierre de Chelles and Jean Ravi. The king, bishops and ordinary citizens generously donated funds for the construction of the main cathedral of Paris.

Powerful and majestic, in perfect harmony of style and form, the façade of the cathedral is divided vertically by pilasters into three parts, and horizontally into galleries into three tiers, of which the lower one has three deep portals. Above them is an arcade called the Gallery of the Kings, with 28 statues representing the kings of Israel and Judah.

In the central tier there is a rose window with a diameter of about 10 meters. On both sides of it there are two huge arched windows.

The sculptural decor of the central tier is formed by statues of the Madonna and Child surrounded by angels in the center, Adam and Eve at the edges.

Above is a gallery of narrow arcatures intertwined at the top , uniting two side towers that were never completed, but even without spiers they captivate viewers with their lancet paired windows.

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris is a basilica with galleries and double side naves. Previously, such a design was used very rarely, - only in the most important examples of temple architecture, such as the Abbey Church of Cluny and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. This alone is enough to set Notre Dame apart, especially when you consider that later Gothic cathedrals with double side naves were built only in exceptional cases. Divided in half by longitudinal rows of giant columns, these double aisles in the apse move to a double outpatient clinic. Radius deambulatory in his eastern point was forced to be wider than in places of contact with the side naves, and this problem was solved by doubling the number of columns and installing triangular vaults close to each other. As a result, the walk around the choir - the de-ambulatory of Notre Dame Cathedral can rightfully be proud of its correct form.

The uniform rhythm throughout the interior space and the harmony between the straight and rounded lines of the choir are also preserved due to the fact that the arcades of the central nave are equipped with uniform columns.

This is all the more striking because in the central nave of Notre Dame six-lobed vaults were used - in all other cathedrals, alternating massive supports with thinner ones was used to support such vaults in accordance with the number of ribs converged at a point.

Equally uniform clusters of thin pilasters rise above the main columns of the central nave of Notre-Dame. Each beam has three pilasters, regardless of the profile of the vault at the point of its intersection with the supports. This is undoubtedly masked by the fact that for one bunch of pilasters there are two girth ribs, and so on. Only in this way was it possible to build a series of absolutely uniform arches, galleries and windows and achieve the highest elegance of arches, galleries and windows and achieve the highest elegance in proportions.

The huge blades of the six-part vaults - much larger than the too closely adjacent sections of the four-lobed vault - are in harmony with the vast planes of the walls. In other words, the creators of Notre Dame did not try to completely open the surface of the wall, but sought an effective contrast between the visibly thin and flat wall, on the one hand, and the graceful pilasters and ribs of the vaults, on the other. Initially, this technique made an even stronger impression, since the plane of the walls above the galleries was more extensive, and it was interrupted only by rose windows with rather modest openings. However, this design did not survive because the cathedral was too dark. Already in the 13th century, he redesigned the windows adjacent to the middle cross.

During one of the reconstructions, some changes were made to the contrasting system of walls and supports of the central nave of Notre Dame.

Now the gallery bays are divided into three parts, and the side walls of the galleries are supported not by round columns, but by flat pilasters. These supports contrast with the pilasters of the central nave (thinner even than the choir pilasters) - high monolithic posts that no longer merge with the wall as originally.

The theme of a flat wall surface is repeated on the west façade of Notre Dame. Since the towers here are crowned by double side naves, they are wider and more stable. Thanks to this, the buttresses do not protrude too far forward; Moreover, at the level of the first floor they almost “sink” into the wall, which, on the contrary, protrudes so far forward that the portals go deep into the facade, rather than protruding outward. When looking at this façade, it seems as if in front of us is a triumphal arch with a royal gallery: above the portals along the wall, statues of all the French kings are lined up, symbolizing the continuity of the dynasty and the strength of the monarchy.

No other example of medieval architecture has such an imposing royal gallery, displaying a succession of monarchs so spectacularly.

Inside the cathedral, the amazing ensemble of stained glass windows amazes. The images on the stained glass windows are made in accordance with medieval canons. The choir windows depict scenes from the earthly life of the Savior, and the stained glass windows of the side walls depict fragments from the lives of saints. The stained glass windows of the high windows of the central nave depict patriarchs, biblical kings, and apostles.

In the windows of the side chapels there are scenes from the earthly life of the Virgin Mary. And the stained glass windows of the huge rose window (13 meters in diameter) (Appendix No. 8) include about 80 scenes from the Old Testament.

Unfortunately, among the stained glass windows of the cathedral, very few are authentic. Almost all of them are later works that replaced those that had been broken and damaged over the centuries. Only the rose window has survived intact to this day. But not only the stained glass windows, but also the cathedral itself may not have survived to this day: the leaders of the French Revolution and the crowd they led aroused particular anger at the Church of Our Lady, and Notre Dame suffered much more than other churches in France.

Heavily damaged during the revolution, ancient building from the end of the 18th century it fell into decay, and in those years when Victor Hugo wrote his famous novel “Notre Dame Cathedral”, the temple was threatened with complete destruction. In 1841-1864, the cathedral was completely restored. At the same time, the buildings adjacent to the cathedral were demolished, and the current square appeared in front of its façade.

One of the most important elements of the cathedral are the chimeras. The architect Viollet-le-Duc gave free rein to his imagination and created an unreal world of chimeras - demons looking ironically and thoughtfully at the city stretching far below, fantastic and monstrous birds, grotesque figures of evil monsters peeking out from the most unexpected points.

Perched on a Gothic pinnacle, hidden behind a spire or hanging over a wall ledge, these stone chimeras seem to exist here for centuries - motionless, immersed in thoughts about the fate of humanity swarming there below. The chimeras of the cathedral have an amazing property - you cannot draw, write or photograph around them - next to them people seem dead, expressionless stone sculptures.

CHAPTER 3. GOTHIC STYLE IN OTHER WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Gothic art in different countries had its own characteristics. The greatest flowering of Gothic was in France and Germany, but both in Italy and England there are temples and secular buildings that amaze with their splendor and perfection. In Germany, the Gothic style developed later than in France. In northeastern Germany, which was poor in stone suitable for the construction of large buildings, a special brick Gothic style arose, sometimes somewhat ponderous, but sometimes very impressive, with remarkable decorative effects.

Without denying the priority of the French, the Germans claim that only in their architecture the essence of the Gothic style was fully revealed and all its possibilities were used, only in their Gothic a breakthrough is truly unstoppable, lifting the entire mass of the building to the sky, it creates both in its external appearance and under its arches the impression of something inexplicable and incomprehensible. No wonder the German architects replaced the French rose with a lancet window above the main entrance and disrupted the side horizontal lines with buttresses. In French Gothic, albeit very harmonious, the general measured rhythm restrains the impulse, introduces some kind of framework of reason and logic, and this is to the detriment of the element that is inherent in Gothic architecture.

But the French will say in response that in their Gothic churches the impulse is not restrained, but ordered, which gives the buildings greater clarity and completeness, and at the same time great grace.

There are two views here that seem to be incompatible, but those Germans who truly love art admire the Reims Cathedral, just like the equally art-loving French admire the Cologne Cathedral (Appendix No. 9).

“...Cologne is a smoky mass,” wrote Alexander Blok. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol considered this cathedral the crown of Gothic art. The pride of Germany, Cologne Cathedral, was completed only at the end of the last century according to the discovered original plans and working drawings. The pride of France, Amiens Cathedral, served as the prototype for Cologne. However, the truly dizzying vertical rush of the grandiose stone mass reveals in the Cologne Cathedral the inspiration of the skill of German architects.

The impulse is just as powerful, but at the same time more concentrated, and therefore more subjugating, in the Freiburg Cathedral (Appendix No. 10), an incomparable masterpiece of German Gothic.

Its single tower, as it were, encloses the entire cathedral, its base merges with its facade, from which it draws great strength, which also breathes in the openwork tent, victoriously rushing to the sky. It is not without reason that this tower is considered to be “the highest and clearest revelation of Gothic thought.”

French and German cultural traditions have long been intertwined in Alsace. The Strasbourg Cathedral, which is still unfinished and, unlike the Freiburg Cathedral, has only one tower, reflects the mutual influence of two cultures.

Other traditions have developed in England. Conditions that determined historical development of the English state, determined the character of English Gothic. Like the countries of mainland Europe, England was experiencing an economic boom at the same time. However, unlike these countries, the development of trade industry in England was determined primarily not by the city, but by the village, where raw materials intended for export were produced and processed. It was not the burghers, but the nobility that played a role in the English economy main role, and this means that urban interests were not of decisive importance in the country. That is why temple construction there remained predominantly monastic, as in Roman times.

The cathedral was erected not in the center of the city, as a symbol of its wealth and glory, but outside the city, where the monastery was located. In France or Germany, the cathedral in all its enormity reigned over the low dwellings of the townspeople. In England, the cathedral fit harmoniously into the landscape that served as its picturesque frame, and therefore grew primarily not in height, but in length, freely located in the lap of nature. And yet the Gothic style required aspiration to the sky. English architects tried to reveal this aspiration in their own way. Erecting cathedrals more and more elongated in length, they provided them with pointed arches, repeated many times in the windows, and the same abundance of wall vertical bindings, with the addition of a third tower, no longer a façade, but located above the middle crossroads. The sprawl of the temple building, its legalized place among the flat picturesque landscape with an emphasis on the verticality of not the architectural whole, but the architectural and decorative details of the facade and interior - these are the distinctive features of English Gothic architecture. This is confirmed by the facades of the cathedrals in Salisbury (Appendix No. 11) or in Lincoln (Appendix No. 12), entirely dressed in a countless number of vertical details, skillfully combined into a single whole.

But perhaps even more bizarre are the grandiose interiors of English Gothic churches - star-shaped, reticulated, fan-shaped. Fantastically overgrown bunches of columns, the thinnest ribs, hanging openwork funnels, vertically alternating lattice bindings - such a general takeoff and such a lacy symphony that, truly, one gets the impression of complete weightlessness of the vaulted ceiling. Here the majestic spirituality of Gothic architecture seems to recede under the most unrestrained, truly inexhaustible decorativeness. And how can you not get dizzy in Gloucester Cathedral or under the vaults of King's College Chapel in Cambridge?

where everywhere above them arise the most bizarre architectural patterns, reminiscent of the ornamental wonders of ancient Northmbrian miniature.

Gothic art in Italy has its own distinctive features. The cities of Italy are decorated with beautiful churches, magnificent palazzos, open galleries - loggias with arcades and capitals and picturesque fountains in which elements of the Gothic style can be recognized. Designed to accommodate 40,000 worshipers, the Milan Cathedral, whose construction began at the end of the 16th century and ended in the 19th century, is the largest of all Gothic cathedrals.

The proximity of France and Germany affected the Milan Cathedral: it was built by French, German, and Italian masters. As a result, excessive pomp prevails in its decorative decoration, especially in the sculptural attire. Be that as it may, a specifically Italian version of Gothic architecture did not appear in the grandiose Milanese temple building.

Borrowing some elements of the Gothic style that reigned in neighboring countries, the Italian masters remained alien to its very basis. A frame system in which the wall seemed to disappear was not to their liking, and the wall retained its specific meaning for them: clearly divided, not rushing upward, three-dimensional, not at all lacy, beautiful in its harmony and balance. It was not verticality, but regularity that fascinated Italian architects, even when they built buildings with pointed towers, lancet windows and window sashes. Pediments, horizontal stripes of multi-colored marble, and rich inlays give the Italian facades of that time an iridescent elegance. And in the temple interior, despite the pointed vaults and ribs, as, for example, in the famous Florentine church of Santa Maria Novella (XIII-XIV centuries),

Michelangelo liked it so much that he called her his “bride”; first of all, one can feel the clear balance of architectural forms. Even such masterpieces late Middle Ages, like the Doge's Palace (Appendix No. 13) the usual architectural principles are decisively violated. Massive block huge wall rests on arcades and loggias, wonderful in their slender lightness. But this does not seem unnatural, because the horizontal mass of the wall seems to lose its heaviness under the multi-colored marble cladding made of diagonally placed square slabs.

On the Scandinavian Peninsula, the harsh climate has always had its influence on Architecture. Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland were decorated with impressive Gothic cathedrals and locks. But perhaps Norwegian timber architecture is Scandinavia's most original contribution to medieval art, both Romanesque and Gothic. The wooded mountains of the country provided an abundance of material from which intricate, slender churches with steep gable roofs and a turret of two or three tiers were created, of which all of Norway was proud. About 30 Norwegian ones have reached us wooden churches, built at the end of the 11th century.

Vertical posts and beams define the structure of the walls of Norwegian wooden temples. The general upward movement, emphasized on the roofs by various ridges in the form of dragons, gives a unique originality to the silhouette of such buildings. And the wonderful carvings of portals with intertwining fantastic monsters clearly testify to the continuity from those not-so-distant times when the formidable Vikings plied the seas on their longships .

Eastern Europe has its own wonderful monuments of Gothic art. Polish Gothic is unique with its strong, laconic construction, picturesque red brick church facades, market squares, where everything around is town halls , pointed residential buildings, were created as part of a single architectural ensemble.

Krakow, the magnificent capital of the Kingdom of Poland, with its numerous monuments of Gothic art, occupies a place of honor among the cities famous for its artistic treasures of the late Middle Ages.

In the eastern regions of Europe, Gothic buildings are often characterized by fortress-like features, laconicism and even severity of forms. Wars with the Teutonic Order stimulated the development of fortress architecture, and the rise of cities led to the flourishing of secular architecture, as exemplified by the town hall in Polish cities Gdańsk and Toruń. Churches were built mainly of brick (Church of the Virgin Mary in Krakow) and were often decorated with frescoes.

In the 13th-15th centuries, Gothic spread in Hungary (St. Michael's Church in Sopron), Czech Republic (St. Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge, Old Town Hall and Royal Castle Karlstejn), Slovakia (Cathedral in Kosice), Slovenia (Church in Ptuj), Transylvania ( black church in Bashov). In Latvia, the transition to Gothic falls on the XIII-XIV centuries (Dome Cathedral in Riga). The Gothic appearance of Tillin is determined with the construction of a fortified center - Vyshgorod, and the burgher part of the city with the town hall and the Oleviste church.

In some European countries, Gothic combined the features of its inherent artistic system with traditions and features born of local historical conditions.

This combination gave rise to a unique style in medieval Spain. Almost all of Spain was conquered by the Muslim Moors. The Moors had their own artistic system, very high and refined. After the Reconquista, traces of Arab culture practically permeate Spanish culture. A Moorish openwork eight-pointed star reigns on the vaults of Christian cathedrals over Gothic ribs. The frame does not always triumph over the wall. The facades of the famous 13th century cathedrals in Burgos and Toledo are magnificent.

The grandiose five-nave Seville Cathedral, erected at the beginning of the 16th century on the site of an Arab mosque, with a bell tower rebuilt from a minaret, has grown more in width than in height, itself very much reminiscent of a mosque. A special “Mudejar” style is born, which combines both Gothic and the art of the Arab East.

In the Netherlands, where thanks to favorable geographical location city trade flourished already in the Romanesque period. The growth of the burghers caused rapid secular construction. In the last period of the Middle Ages, it was in the Netherlands that the construction of public buildings - town halls, shopping arcades and warehouses, and houses of guild organizations - gained the greatest scope.

The majestic city belfries - veche towers (befroy ), which played an important role in the uprisings of the urban population and served, along with the cathedral, as a symbol of the power and wealth of the city - a remarkable achievement of Dutch architecture (the tower rises like a pillar above shopping arcades in Bruges, towers in Ypres, Ghent.

CONCLUSION

The Gothic style gradually developed a unique absolutely logical system of structures and decoration, most fully revealed in the architecture of large city cathedrals in France. This is clearly visible in the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral. The transition from Romanesque architecture to Gothic architecture made it possible to build buildings, the stability and size of which depended not on the massiveness of the walls, but on the correct distribution of the center of gravity and the expansion of the vault. This innovation led to the development and improvement of construction equipment and significantly enriched architecture. Gothic architecture changed the appearance of medieval cities, which were surrounded by battlements with triple gates and towers.

The creation of a unified system of decorative decoration also transformed everyday culture. The fortifications of castles were improved, and at the same time, living quarters began to be furnished with ever-increasing luxury, especially in the late Gothic period, which manifested itself in lush decorativeness, tall lancet windows with fancy frames, triple fireplaces covering the entire wall, and so on.

The dwellings of ordinary townspeople - tightly pressed Gothic houses with peaked gable roofs, narrow windows, pointed doorways, arcades, corner turrets - created a special, unique flavor. Temple buildings acquired a Gothic verticality. The bulk of the cathedral got rid of its heaviness, and it was all filled with air and sparkled. The rooms began to seem lighter and more spacious, the walls became less noticeable. Cathedrals no longer suppressed people; they appeared rather as the embodiment of the active life of the medieval city, which was boiling around them.

The widespread use of decorative sculpture in the decoration of cathedrals and public buildings contributed to the development of sculpture, and the art of stained glass helped the development of painting. General trends in the development of culture and society have led to a shift towards more realistic art. It gradually moves away from the conventionality of forms, the ascetic severity of early Gothic, is filled with vital content, and in many countries is closely approaching a new stage - the Renaissance.

This coursework According to the Gothic style, I would like to end with the lines of N.V. Gogol: “There was extraordinary architecture... - we left it, forgot it, as if it was alien, neglected it as clumsy and barbaric. Isn’t it surprising that three centuries passed, and Europe, which greedily rushed at everything, greedily adopted everything that was foreign, marveled at ancient, Roman and Byzantine miracles or dressed them in its own forms - Europe did not know that there were miracles among it... that in in its depths are the Milan and Cologne cathedrals, and to this day “the bricks of the unfinished tower of the Strasbourg Munster are roaring. Gothic architecture, that Gothic architecture that emerged before the end of the Middle Ages, is a phenomenon that has never before plagued the taste and imagination of man.”

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Gurevich A.Ya. "Categories of medieval culture." – Moscow, 1972.
Kryzhanovskaya M.Ya. "The Art of the Western Middle Ages". – Moscow, 1963.
Lyaskovskaya O.A. "French Gothic XII - XIV centuries." – Moscow, 1973.
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Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary. – Moscow, 1988.

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