1.
Rose window
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The name “rose window” was not used before the 17th century and according to the Oxford English Dictionary, among other authorities, comes from the English flower name rose. Rose windows are also called Natalie windows after Saint Natalie of Lu who was sentenced to be executed on a spiked wheel, a circular window without tracery such as are found in many Italian churches, is referred to as an ocular window or oculus. Rose windows are particularly characteristic of Gothic architecture and may be seen in all the major Gothic Cathedrals of Northern France and their origins are much earlier and rose windows may be seen in various forms throughout the Medieval period. Their popularity was revived, with other features, during the Gothic revival of the 19th century so that they are seen in Christian churches all over the world. The origin of the window may be found in the Roman oculus. These large circular openings let in light and air, the best known being that at the top of the dome of the Pantheon. Windows with stone tracery make their emergence in Antiquity, but they arrived to us. Geometrical patterns of roses are very developed and common in Roman mosaic, in Early Christian and Byzantine architecture, there are examples of the use of circular oculi. A window of the 8th century, now located in Venice, many semicircular windows with pierced tracery exist from the 6th to the 8th century, and later in Greece. This theory suggests that crusaders brought the design of this window to Europe. But also of the halves editing roses are known, as with the church of San Juan Bautista in Baños de Cerrato, the scarcity and the brittleness of the vestiges of this time does not make it possible to say that complet rose window in tracery did not exist before. In another of these churches, San Miguel de Lillo, is the earliest known example of an axially placed oculus with tracery, several such windows of different sizes exist, and decoration of both Greek Cross and scalloped petal-like form occur, prefiguring both wheel and rose windows. In Germany, Worms Cathedral, has windows in the pedimental ends of its nave and gables. The apsidal western end has a wheel window with smaller oculi in each face. The Church of the Apostles, Cologne has an array of both ocular and lobed windows forming decorative features in the gables and beneath the Rhenish helm spire, the octagonal dome has a ring of oculi with two in each of the curved faces. Oculi were also used in the drums supporting domes and as upper lights in octagonal baptisteries such as that at Cremona. Romanesque facades with oculi include San Miniato al Monte, Florence, 11th century, San Michele, Pavia, c. As the windows increased in size in the later Romanesque period, wheel windows became a feature of which there are fine examples at San Zeno Maggiore, Verona
2.
Notre-Dame de Paris
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Notre-Dame de Paris, also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The cathedral is considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. The naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture, as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame contains the cathedra of the Archbishop of Paris, currently Cardinal André Vingt-Trois. The cathedral treasury contains a reliquary, which some of Catholicisms most important relics, including the purported Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the True Cross. In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration in the phase of the French Revolution when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. An extensive restoration supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc began in 1845, a project of further restoration and maintenance began in 1991. The Notre-Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress, in response, the cathedrals architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. The total surface area is 5,500 m², many small individually crafted statues were placed around the outside to serve as column supports and water spouts. Among these are the famous gargoyles, designed for water run-off, the statues were originally colored as was most of the exterior. The cathedral was complete by 1345. It is possible therefore that the faults with the structure were exaggerated by the Bishop to help justify the rebuilding in a newer style. According to legend, Sully had a vision of a new cathedral for Paris. To begin the construction, the bishop had several houses demolished and had a new road built to transport materials for the rest of the cathedral. Construction began in 1163 during the reign of Louis VII, however, both were at the ceremony. Bishop de Sully went on to devote most of his life, construction of the choir took from 1163 until around 1177 and the new High Altar was consecrated in 1182. By this stage, the facade had also been laid out. Numerous architects worked on the site over the period of construction, between 1210 and 1220, the fourth architect oversaw the construction of the level with the rose window and the great halls beneath the towers. Shortly afterwards Pierre de Montreuil executed a similar scheme on the southern transept,1160 Maurice de Sully orders the original cathedral demolished
3.
Cologne Cathedral
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Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne and it is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It is Germanys most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day, construction of Cologne Cathedral commenced in 1248 and was halted in 1473, leaving it unfinished. Work restarted in the 19th century and was completed, to the original plan, the cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and has the second-tallest spires. The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world, the choir has the largest height to width ratio,3.6,1, of any medieval church. Colognes medieval builders had planned a structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings. When construction began on the present Cologne Cathedral in 1248, the site had already occupied by several previous structures. The earliest may have been for storage, and possibly was succeeded by a Roman temple built by Mercurius Augustus. A free-standing baptistery dating the 6th century was located at the east end of the present cathedral, only ruins of the baptistery and the octagonal baptismal font remain today. The second church, called the Old Cathedral, was completed in 818 and it was destroyed by fire on 30 April 1248, during demolition work to prepare for a new cathedral. The relics have great significance and drew pilgrims from all over Christendom. It was important to church officials that they be properly housed, the foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1248, by Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden. The eastern arm was completed under the direction of Master Gerhard, was consecrated in 1322, eighty four misericords in the choir date from this building phase. In the mid 14th century work on the west front commenced under Master Michael and this work halted in 1473, leaving the south tower complete up to the belfry level and crowned with a huge crane that remained in place as a landmark of the Cologne skyline for 400 years. Some work proceeded intermittently on the structure of the nave between the west front and the arm, but during the 16th century this ceased. It was achieved by effort, the Central-Dombauverein, founded in 1842, raised two-thirds of the enormous costs. The state saw this as a way to improve its relations with the number of Catholic subjects it had gained in 1815. Work resumed in 1842 to the design of the surviving medieval plans and drawings
4.
High Gothic
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Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture and its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the cathedrals, abbeys. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings, for this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches. A series of Gothic revivals began in mid-18th-century England, spread through 19th-century Europe and continued, largely for ecclesiastical and university structures, the term Gothic architecture originated as a pejorative description. Hence, François Rabelais, also of the 16th century, imagines an inscription over the door of his utopian Abbey of Thélème, Here enter no hypocrites, slipping in a slighting reference to Gotz and Ostrogotz. Authorities such as Christopher Wren lent their aid in deprecating the old medieval style, the Company disapproved of several of these new manners, which are defective and which belong for the most part to the Gothic. Gothic architecture is the architecture of the medieval period, characterised by use of the pointed arch. As an architectural style, Gothic developed primarily in ecclesiastical architecture, the greatest number of surviving Gothic buildings are churches. The Gothic style is most particularly associated with the cathedrals of Northern France. At the end of the 12th century, Europe was divided into a multitude of city states, norway came under the influence of England, while the other Scandinavian countries and Poland were influenced by trading contacts with the Hanseatic League. Angevin kings brought the Gothic tradition from France to Southern Italy, throughout Europe at this time there was a rapid growth in trade and an associated growth in towns. Germany and the Lowlands had large flourishing towns that grew in comparative peace, in trade and competition with other, or united for mutual weal. Civic building was of importance to these towns as a sign of wealth. England and France remained largely feudal and produced grand domestic architecture for their kings, dukes and bishops, the Catholic Church prevailed across Europe at this time, influencing not only faith but also wealth and power. Bishops were appointed by the lords and they often ruled as virtual princes over large estates. The early Medieval periods had seen a growth in monasticism, with several different orders being prevalent. Foremost were the Benedictines whose great abbey churches vastly outnumbered any others in France, a part of their influence was that towns developed around them and they became centers of culture, learning and commerce
5.
Chartres Cathedral
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Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres, is a Gothic Catholic cathedral of the Latin Church located in Chartres, France, about 80 kilometres southwest of Paris. The current cathedral, mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220, is the last of at least five which have occupied the site since the town became a bishopric in the 4th century. It is designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which calls it the point of French Gothic art. The cathedral has been well preserved, the majority of the original stained glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century. Equally notable are the three great façades, each adorned with hundreds of sculpted figures illustrating key theological themes and narratives, in the Middle Ages, the cathedral functioned as a kind of marketplace, with different commercial activities centred on the different portals, particularly during the regular fairs. Textiles were sold around the transept, while meat, vegetable. Money-changers had their benches, or banques, near the west portals, wine sellers plied their trade in the nave, although occasional 13th-century ordinances survive which record their being temporarily banished to the crypt to minimise disturbances. Workers of various professions gathered in particular locations around the cathedral awaiting offers of work. In 1258, after a series of bloody riots instigated by the counts officials, even before the Gothic cathedral was built, Chartres was a place of pilgrimage, albeit on a much smaller scale. The widespread belief that the cathedral was also the site of a pre-Christian druidical sect who worshipped a Virgin who will give birth is purely a late-medieval invention. This is one view, however scholars have written about the Cult of the Virgin Mary. Before the Christian church was built, the used to be dedicated to a fertility goddess. When the Catholic church took over the site, they made a nod to the cult by depicting the life of Mary on the tympana. However, the Church also reminded the women that, as women and they did this by placing Mary in the far right tympanum, holding the baby Christ on her lap. By doing this, they reminded the women that they existed only to serve Christ, just as, in biblical stories, around 876 the cathedral acquired the Sancta Camisa, believed to be the tunic worn by the Blessed Virgin Mary at the time of Christs birth. According to legend, the relic was given to the cathedral by Charlemagne who received it as a gift from Emperor Constantine VI during a crusade to Jerusalem. This legend, however, was pure fiction – probably invented in the 11th century to authenticate some relics at the Abbey of St Denis. In fact, the relic was a gift to the cathedral from Charles the Bald, by the end of the 12th century, however, the church had become one of the most important popular pilgrimage destinations in Europe
6.
Amiens Cathedral
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The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Amiens, or simply Amiens Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral and seat of the Bishop of Amiens. It is situated on a ridge overlooking the River Somme in Amiens. It is the 19th largest church in the world, medieval cathedral builders were trying to maximize the internal dimensions in order to reach for the heavens and bring in more light. In that regard, the Amiens cathedral is the tallest complete cathedral in France and it also has the greatest interior volume of any French cathedral, estimated at 200,000 cubic metres. The cathedral was built between 1220 and c.1270 and has listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981. Bishop Evrard de Fouilly initiated work on the cathedral in 1220, robert de Luzarches was the architect until 1228, and was followed by Thomas de Cormont until 1258. His son, Renaud de Cormont, acted as the architect until 1288, the chronicle of Corbie gives a completion date for the cathedral of 1266. Its floors are covered with a number of designs, such as the bent cross, the labyrinth was installed in 1288. The cathedral contains the head of John the Baptist, a relic brought from Constantinople by Wallon de Sarton as he was returning from the Fourth Crusade. The construction of the cathedral at this period can be seen as resulting from a coming together of necessity and opportunity. The destruction of buildings by fire, and failed attempts at rebuilding forced the fairly rapid construction of a building that. The long and relatively peaceful reign of Louis IX of France brought a prosperity to the region, based on thriving agriculture and a booming cloth trade, the great cathedrals of Reims and Chartres are roughly contemporary. The structure was saved when, centuries later, masons placed a second row of more robust flying buttresses that connected lower down on the outer wall. This fix failed to counteract similar issues with the wall which began to develop large cracks around the late Middle Ages. This was solved by another patch that consisted of an iron bar chain being installed around the mezzanine level to resist the forces pushing the stone columns outward. The chain was installed red hot to act as a cinch, above the rose window there is an open arcade, the galerie des sonneurs. Flanking the nave, the two towers were built without regard to the former design, the south tower being finished in 1366. The western portals of the cathedral are famous for their sculpture, featuring a gallery of locally-important saints
7.
International Gothic
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International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which initially developed in Burgundy, France and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period. The main influences were northern France, the Duchy of Burgundy, the Imperial court in Prague, royal marriages such as that between Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia helped to spread the style. It was initially a style of courtly sophistication, but somewhat more robust versions spread to art commissioned by the mercantile classes. Usage of the terms by art historians varies somewhat, with using the term more restrictively than others. Some art historians feel the term is in many ways, since it tends to skate over both differences and details of transmission. The important Bohemian version of the style developed in the court of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in Prague, which for a brief period became a leading force in the development of European art. Charles came from the Luxembourg dynasty, was tutored by the future Pope Clement VI, the Bohemian style initially lacked the elongated figures of other centres, but had a richness and sweetness in female figures that were very influential. Charles had at least one Italian altarpiece, apparently made in Italy and sent to Prague, for St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, he first used a French architect, and then the German Peter Parler. As the style developed in Northern Europe, Italian artists were in turn influenced by it, from this period come the earliest surviving panel portraits of monarchs, and royal manuscripts show a greatly increased number of realistic portraits of the monarch who commissioned them. In painting and sculpture, the style is known in German as the Schöne Stil or Weicher Stil. Stylistic features are a dignified elegance, which replaces monumentality, along with rich decorative colouring, elongated figures and it also makes a more practised use of perspective, modelling, and setting. Figures begin to be more space in their settings, and interest is taken in realistically depicted plants. In some works, above all the calendar scenes of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Decoration became increasingly ornate as the style developed in Northern Europe, claus Sluter was the leading sculptor in Burgundy, and was one artist able to use the style with a strongly monumental effect. Most sculptors are unknown, and the style tended to survive longer in Northern sculpture than painting, smaller painted wood figures, most often of the Madonna, were significant, and being relatively portable, probably helped to disseminate the style across Europe. In Burgundy Jean Malouel, Melchior Broederlam and Henri Bellechose were succeeded by Robert Campin, master Bertram and Conrad von Soest were leading regional masters in Germany, working largely for city burghers. Surviving panel paintings of the best quality from before 1390 are very rare except from Italy, many of these artists moved between countries or regions during their careers, exposing them to the styles of other centres
8.
Flamboyant
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The term is sometimes used of the early period of English Gothic architecture usually called the Decorated Style, the historian Edward Augustus Freeman proposed this in a work of 1851. A version of the spread to Spain and Portugal during the 15th century. It evolved from the Rayonnant style and the English Decorated Style and was marked by greater attention to decoration. In England the later part of the period is known as Perpendicular architecture, in Germany Sondergotik is the more usual term. The name derives from the windings of its tracery and the dramatic lengthening of gables. A possible point of connection between the early English work and the development in France is the church at Chaumont. The Manueline in Portugal, and the Isabelline in Spain were even more extravagant continuations of the style in the late 15th, in the past the Flamboyant style, along with its antecedent Rayonnant, has frequently been disparaged by critics. More recently some have sought to rehabilitate it, the time has come to discard old conceptions and look anew at Late Gothic architecture. Abbeville, St. Beaune, hospices Beauvais, former episcopal palace Bourges, palace of Jacques-Cœur Paris, Hôtel de Cluny Paris, Hôtel de Sens Rouen, Palais de Justice St. Paris, Picard,2001. Ethan Matt Kavaler, Renaissance Gothic, Architecture and the Arts in Northern Europe, new Haven, Yale University Press,2012. Linda Elaine Neagley, Disciplined Exuberance, The Parish Church of Saint-Maclou, University Park, Penn, The Pennsylvania State University Press,1998. Roland Sanfaçon, Larchitecture Flamboyante en France, quebec, Les Presses de lUniversité Laval,1971
9.
Apse
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In architecture, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an Exedra. Smaller apses may also be in other locations, especially shrines, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault. Commonly, the apse of a church, cathedral or basilica is the semicircular or polygonal termination to the choir or sanctuary, in relation to church architecture it is generally the name given to where the altar is placed or where the clergy are seated. An apse is occasionally found in a synagogue, e. g. Maoz Haim Synagogue, the apse is separated from the main part of the church by the transept. Smaller apses are sometimes built in other than the east end. The domed apse became a part of the church plan in the early Christian era. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the apse is known as diaconicon. Various ecclesiastical features of which the apse may form part are drawn here, The chancel, directly to the east beyond the choir contains the High Altar. This area is reserved for the clergy, and was formerly called the presbytery. Hemi-cyclic choirs, first developed in the East, came to use in France in 470, famous northern French examples of chevets are in the Gothic cathedrals of Amiens, Beauvais and Reims. The word ambulatory refers to an aisle in the apse that passes behind the altar and choir. An ambulatory may refer to the passages that enclose a cloister in a monastery, or to other types of aisles round the edge of a church building
