GOTHIC ART

Teacher Ms. Isabel 1

Gothic Art:Features

The Gothic style first appeared in the12th century in the area around Paris.In architecture, Gothic buildingsemployed a variety of new techniquesto pierce walls with larger windows,known as stained glass windows, andto build loftier spaces.

In sculpture and the other figurativearts, the style combined the detailedobservation of nature with anexpressive elegance. Gothic quicklyspread throughout Europe, andversions of the style were still in useas late as the 1550s.

Teacher Ms. Isabel 2

Gothic Art:Features

• Pointed arches

Pointed arches were an importantcharacteristic of Gothic architecture.They were used in arcades, vaults,doors, windows and niches. Whenused row on row in churches andcathedrals, pointed arches gave animpression of soaring height.

They could also bear heavier loadsthan the earlier round arches(Romanesque). Pointed arches andother architectural motifs are alsofound on Gothic objects. In sculptureand paintings they often served asframes for the figures or thenarrative scenes.

Teacher Ms. Isabel 3

Gothic Art:Features

• Curving figuresFigures in Gothic art often curve orsway in an ‘S’ shape. The pose of thefigures is enhanced by the hangingfolds of their clothes. This gives thema sense of life and movement. Curvingfigures could be large or small, maleor female.• NaturalismArtists who worked in the Gothic stylepaid close attention to natural formsand were able to reproduce themwith remarkable accuracy. Leaf formswere especially popular and churcheswere often decorated with a varietyof recognizable species. Animals,although rendered realistically, wouldrarely have been drawn from life.Instead, artists took them frompattern books.

Teacher Ms. Isabel 4

Gothic Art:Features

• Emotion

Gothic artists made figures full oftender feeling and strong emotion.Viewers were more likely to identifywith the stories in a work of art whenthe figures expressed human emotion.With sacred images this helped toinspire religious devotion. Images ofthe Virgin and Child, for example, oftenemphasized the close relationshipbetween mother and infant.

Teacher Ms. Isabel 5

Gothic Art:Features

Gothic painting followed two verydifferent paths in Northern andSouthern Europe. In the South,painting remained an important formof interior decoration. Great ItalianGothic masters, like Duccio, Giotto andsiblings Lorenzetti, were commissionedto paint murals and altarpieces ofexquisite quality.

In the North, stained glass windowswere the main form of interiordecoration. Painting was relegated toilluminations of books. Despite theirdifferent paths, both Northern andSouthern Gothic painters eventuallyworked their way toward greaterrealism and a slow, but steady, masteryof perspective.

Teacher Ms. Isabel 6

Gothic Art: Architecture

Floor plan: different parts

Teacher Ms. Isabel 7

Gothic Art: Architecture

Main French Gothic cathedrals: floor plans

Teacher Ms. Isabel 8

Notre Dame

Gothic Art: Architecture

Cross section: different parts

/Triforium

/Tribune

Teacher Ms. Isabel 9

Gothic Art: Architecture

The apse of Notre DameTeacher Ms. Isabel 10

Gothic Art: Architecture

Teacher Ms. Isabel 11

Four common types of vault. A barrel vault (also called tunnel vault, or wagon vault) has a semicircular crosssection. A groin (or cross) vault is formed by the perpendicular intersection of two barrel vaults. A rib (orribbed) vault is supported by a series of arched diagonal ribs that divide the vault’s surface into panels. A fanvault is composed of concave sections with ribs spreading out like a fan.

Types of vaults

Gothic Art: Architecture

Differences between the Romanesque groin vaults and the Gothic ribbed vaults.

Teacher Ms. Isabel 12

Gothic Art: Architecture

Façade: different elementsTeacher Ms. Isabel 13

Gothic Art: Architecture

Notre Dame façade Chartres façadeTeacher Ms. Isabel 14