The largest Gothic cathedral in France. Gothic architecture of France

The Gothic style is an artistic style that was the final stage in the development of the Middle Ages of art in Western, Central and partly Eastern Europe (between the middle of the 12th and 16th centuries). The term "Gothic" was introduced during the Renaissance as a pejorative designation for all medieval art, which was considered "barbaric". From the beginning of the 19th century, when the term Romanesque style was adopted for art, the chronological framework of Gothic was limited, it was distinguished: 1. Early Gothic, 2. Mature Gothic (high), 3. Late Gothic, 4. "Perpendicular Gothic".

Gothic developed in countries where the Catholic Church dominated, and under its auspices the feudal-church foundations were preserved in the ideology and culture of the Gothic era. Gothic art remained predominantly cult in purpose and religious in theme: it was correlated with eternity, with "higher" irrational forces.

Gothic is characterized by a symbolic - allegorical type of thinking and the conventions of artistic language. From the Romanesque style, Gothic inherited the primacy of architecture in the system of arts and traditional types of cultures and buildings. A special place in Gothic art was occupied by the cathedral - the highest example of the synthesis of architecture, sculpture and painting (mainly stained glass windows). The space of the cathedral, incommensurable with man, the verticalism of its towers and vaults, the subordination of sculpture to the rhythms of the dynamism of architecture, the multi-colored radiance of stained-glass windows had a strong emotional impact on the faithful.

The development of Gothic art also reflected cardinal changes in the structure of medieval society: the beginning of the formation of centralized states, the growth and strengthening of cities, the advancement of secular forces, trade and crafts, as well as court and knightly circles. With the development of social consciousness, crafts and technology, the foundations of medieval religious and dogmatic worldviews weakened, the possibilities of cognition and aesthetic understanding of the real world expanded; new architectural types and tectonic systems took shape. Urban planning and civil architecture developed intensively.

Urban architectural ensembles included cultural and secular buildings, fortifications, bridges, and wells. home Town Square often built up with houses with arcades, retail and storage facilities in the lower floors. The main streets diverged from the square, the narrow facades of two-, less often three-story houses with high gables lined up along the streets and embankments. The cities were surrounded by powerful walls with richly decorated travel towers. Castles gradually turned into complex complexes of fortresses, palaces and cultural buildings. Usually in the center of the city, dominating its buildings, there was a cathedral, which became the center of city life. In it, along with the divine service, theological disputes were arranged, mysteries were played out, and meetings of the townspeople took place. The cathedral was conceived as a kind of body of knowledge (mainly theological), a symbol of the Universe, and its artistic structure, combining solemn grandeur with passionate dynamics, an abundance of plastic motifs with a strict hierarchical system of their subordination, expressed not only the ideas of medieval social hierarchy and the power of divine forces over man , but also the growing self-consciousness of the townspeople, a frame of pillars (in mature Gothic - a bunch of columns) and lancet arches resting on them. The structure of the building consists of rectangular cells (grasses) bounded by 4 pillars and 4 arches, which, together with rib arches, form the framework of a cross vault filled with lightweight small vaults - formwork.

Plan of the cathedral in Reims (France). 1211-1311

A French witty lover once said that "architecture is the art of writing lines into the sky." This paradox reflects the completely correct observation that the architectural contours and silhouettes of buildings enrich our artistic perception of the sky and airspace. Architecture changes the appearance of the sky and the surrounding outdoor space, just as the architectural design of the walls and furnishings change or, rather, create the artistic appearance of the interior space of the interior. This or that pasting of the walls and the furnishings of the room make the room cramped and so on. Architecture is, as it were, the setting of the space of nature. The style of architecture changes the appearance of cities, the worldview of the people who inhabit them.

The Gothic style is beautiful and original, it literally changed medieval architecture. The purpose of my work is to reflect the development gothic style in Western Europe since its inception in France in the middle of the 12th century. In my research, I focus on French Gothic. The most striking example of which is Notre Dame Cathedral. In this article, I spend a full disclosure of the features of the Gothic style, as well as consider the characteristic features of Gothic, embodied in the main cathedral of France - Notre Dame de Paris.

Download:

Preview:

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

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

1. The emergence of the Gothic style………………………………………..4
2. Distinctive features of the Gothic style……………………...6
3. Gothic Art in France……………………………………11

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

CHAPTER 3. GOTHIC STYLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES OF WESTERN EUROPE…………………………………………………………………………….22

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………….29

LIST OF USED LITERATURE……………………………..31

CHAPTER 1. GOTHIC AS A STYLE OF MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE

1. The emergence of the Gothic style

The name "Gothic art" comes from the Italian gotico - "Gothic", after the name of the Germanic tribe of the 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 ecclesiastical architecture, which was characterized by very tall and ornate buildings. This concept arose during the Renaissance. "Gothic" in those days meant "barbaric". In contrast to the "Roman", Gothic was called art that did not follow ancient traditions, which means that it was not of interest to contemporaries. Such ideas changed only in the 19th century, when the Middle Ages were no longer considered "dark ages" in the history of mankind. However, the name "Gothic" was preserved for European art of the late Middle Ages.

In different European countries, Gothic had its own characteristics 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 (high)
• late ("flaming")

During this historical period, the role of cities increases, and in art, along with knightly elements, 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, the freest sections of society. Craftsmen united in independent unions, workshops. Universities sprang up in many cities.

Cathedrals and town halls were erected by order of city communes, but they were built and completed for a very long time - for decades, and even centuries. In Gothic art, in comparison with Romanesque, realistic tendencies are more pronounced, and rationalistic motives are much more noticeable. At this time, the monasteries ceased to play a fundamental role in creative activity, this role passes 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, so 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, which created a heavy dense volume. This mass was supported by thick, blank walls and balanced by spring arches, pillars and strong architectural details that performed supporting functions. For greater stability of the building, the Romanesque architect increased the thickness and strength of the wall, on which, mainly, his attention was focused. It was the improvement of the support system that was destined to produce a true revolution in the then architecture.

1. Distinctive features of the Gothic style

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

Having lost its Romanesque thickness as unnecessary, fearlessly cut through by huge windows in bright multi-colored stained-glass windows 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 frame that miraculously grew upwards, overcoming earthly gravity and becoming 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 Romanesque temple height of 18-20 meters was the limit, 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 has a length of 130 meters, and the length of the transept is 64 meters long, it takes at least half a kilometer to walk around it, and from every point the cathedral looks different.

Unlike the Romanesque church with its clear, easily visible forms, the Gothic cathedral is boundless, often asymmetrical and even heterogeneous in its parts: each of its facades with its own portal is individual. The walls are not felt, as if they do not exist. Arches, galleries, towers, platforms with arcades, huge windows, and there is an infinitely complex play of openwork forms. And all this space is inhabited - the cathedral is inhabited both inside and outside by a mass of sculptures. So, 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 arches of chapels, on spiral staircases, occurs on drainpipes, on consoles. In a word, a Gothic cathedral is a whole world. It really absorbed the world of a medieval city. Many city cathedrals were so large that the entire population of the city could not fill it. Near the cathedral, as a rule, there were shopping arcades. The needs of urban life prompted the architects to transform the closed, thick-walled Romanesque cathedral resembling a fortress 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 also a change in the architectural style.

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

Medieval artists passionately loved pure, bright, sonorous colors. This was reflected in stained-glass windows, and in miniatures, and in the coloring of sculptures. Sculpture in the middle of the century was inseparable from church building. She has great expressiveness. The ultimate tension of spiritual forces is reflected not in faces but in figures, elongated and broken, which creates the impression of a desire to free oneself from the flesh, to reach the secrets of being. Human suffering, purification and exaltation through them 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 achieve tragic intensity in depicting the suffering of the crucified Christ, God, crushed by his creation and grieving for him. In sculpture, facial features and hands are worked out 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 the saints and God himself looked at the worshipers. Images of the terrible torments of sinners in hell should have led believers to tremble. The high vaults of cathedrals, colored stained-glass windows through which rays of light poured, the solemn sounds of the organ - all this struck the imagination of people, inspired them with the idea of ​​the sanctity of divine power, and turned them to religion.

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

Paintings have been preserved - icons painted on wooden boards using the 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 than the figures standing nearby.

But Gothic masters were able to create quite realistic images that captured a warm human feeling. Softness and lyricism distinguish the figures of Mary Elizabeth, sculpted on the portal of the magnificent Reims Cathedral (Appendix No. 1). The sculptures of the Naumburg Cathedral (Appendix No. 2) in Germany are full of characteristic features, the statue of Margravine Uta is full of lively charms.

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

Gold and silver craftsmen make unique church utensils, decorated with filigree, semi-precious stones, and enamels. Used carvings on ivory. All these different techniques are used to make altar plates, book covers, hand-washing bowls, candlesticks, precessional crosses, chests, and so on.

Changes also affected clothing. In the 12th century, primarily in France, the Romanesque dress, reminiscent of monastic vestments, is gradually replaced by clothes that are close to the figure and more graceful. Rough, uncut in parts clothing of the previous era is replaced by a variety of robes made according to all the laws of tailoring. Gothic fashion, with its close-fitting dress, characteristic posing of the body and 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 looking at the artistic miniatures of medieval artists.

1.3 Gothic art of France

gothic like architectural style, characteristic of a certain era of the entire 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. Based on the ancient heritage, she developed her own expressive means in architecture, sculpture and stained glass windows. French Gothic reflected the highest ideals, aspirations and disappointments of the most diverse layers. medieval France. Harmony and clarity are characteristic of French Gothic, which made researchers talk about its “Attic” character, but this does not exclude internal pathos, the excitement of feeling penetrating the architectural image. It is so rich that its creators managed to simultaneously use the impact of architectural space, line, plasticity and pure play of color. Thanks to these qualities, French Gothic, despite the stratification of centuries, retains a kind of unity, and the monuments that have come down to us do not seem disharmonious.

The Gothic style originated in the middle of the 12th century in the northern part of France, primarily in the Ile-de-France region, the center of which is 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-aisled basilicas. with a transverse nave - a transept and a semicircular bypass of the choir, which is adjoined by radial chapels ("crown of chapels"). Their high and spacious interior is illuminated by the colored flickering of stained-glass windows.

The impression of an unstoppable movement up 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 aisles, a picturesque richness of aspects arises, a feeling of the infinity of space. On the facades of the cathedrals, lancet arches and rich architectural and plastic decorations vary, the details are patterned wimpers, violets , crabs and so on. Statues on consoles in front of the columns of portals and in their upper arched gallery, reliefs on plinths and in tympanums portals, as well as on capitals columns form an integral symbolic plot system, which includes characters and episodes of Scripture, allegorical images. The best works of Gothic plastic art are the facade statues in the Tent, Reims, Amiens, Strasbourg, they are imbued with spiritualized beauty, sincerity and nobility.

On the main square of the cities, town halls were built with rich 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, like 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 de facto capital of the state, but also the universally recognized center of its cultural life, there were about a hundred guild organizations of artisans, among which masons and sculptors occupied not the last place, and the number of inhabitants by the end of the 12th century reached almost one hundred thousand. which was unimaginable then.

Founded in 1215, the University of Paris became the center of medieval scholarship. It was not for nothing that one of the writers of that time called Paris, where scientists, artists and all those who were thirsty for enlightenment gathered from other countries, "a source that irrigates the circle of the earth." Apart from Paris, Chartres, and the Île-de-France region, the most advanced were the northern provinces; Picardy, Champagne and Normandy - with such flourishing cities as Amiens, Reims and Rouen - true treasures of Gothic art.

Reims Cathedral, where the French kings were crowned, and into which Joan of Arc victoriously brought her banner, together with the equally famous Chartres Cathedral, is the pinnacle of French mature Gothic. As in the Paris 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 almost fade away, and the wall unconditionally capitulates before the grandiose frame of the finest, filigree architecture, which rushes up harmoniously, clearly, without any tension. A light openwork mass is a synthesis of architecture and sculpture, a festive symphony of lancet arches, columns and flourishing, fabulous sculptural decoration.

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

This is a kind of preserve of Gothic art. From afar, against the backdrop of the expanses of the sea and close, when you look at its walls rushing to the sky, Mont Saint-Michel gives the impression of a truly wonderful creation of human rivers. It is also called "La Mervey", which means miracle or wonder. cloister 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: “Who wants to build the most perfect cathedral, he must take from Chartres (Appendix No. 4) - a tower, from Paris - a facade, from Amiens (Appendix No. 5) - a longitudinal ship, from Reims - sculpture.

But even in these statements, not all the wonderful cathedrals erected in the Gothic era in France are named.

CHAPTER 2. NOTRE DAME DE PARIS CATHEDRAL AS A SAMPLE OF FRENCH GOTHIC

Undoubtedly, the most impressive and most remarkable monument of the 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. Over the years, the capital of France has grown many times over, adorned with many other monuments famous throughout the world, but Notre Dame de Paris still dominates it, still serves as its symbol. The center of the city has long 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, also in the presence of the pope, Napoleon was crowned in Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral. Like the pyramids of Egypt, the Parthenon in Athens or Sophia of Constantinople, Notre Dame de Paris, not only for centuries, but also for millennia, will testify to the ideals and high artistic culture of the people who created it.

Notre Dame de Paris (Appendix No. 7) towered majestically over 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 seeking to get to the observation deck located on the upper tier of the main facade.

The cathedral impresses with its size - at the same time it can accommodate 9,000 people. The building is 35 meters high, 130 meters long and 108 meters wide. The height of the bell towers is 69 meters. The Emmanuel bell, which is located in the eastern tower, weighs 13 tons, and its tongue is 500 kg. This cathedral has also become not only the soul of the capital, but also the scene 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, the Paris Cathedral is “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 every stone splashes the fantasy of a worker, taking hundreds of forms, guided by the genius of the artist ... ". The cathedral, the creation of human hands, Hugo likens “the creation of God, from whom it seemed to borrow its dual character: diversity and eternity.

In the 4th century, at approximately the same place where Notre Dame Cathedral is now located, there was a beautiful church of St. Stephen. Fragments of thirty of its 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 spot.

In the XII century, both ancient churches - both St. Stephen's and Our Lady - fell into decay. Seeing the deplorable condition 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 large church instead. According to the plan of the bishop, the future cathedral was to surpass in splendor everything that had been built before, and to 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 Pope Alexander III. Construction was completed only in 1330. The consecration of the main altar took place in 1182, and three years later the Jerusalem Patriarch Heracles celebrated the first Mass there.

Notre Dame Cathedral was built over the course of almost two centuries, during the 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 gothic temple directed upwards. Both styles here are combined in harmonious balance.

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

Powerful and majestic, in perfect harmony of style and form, the facade of the cathedral is divided vertically by pilasters. into three parts, and horizontally - by 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 are two huge arched windows.

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

Above is a gallery of narrow arcades intertwining at the top. , which unites two side towers that were never completed, but even without spiers, they fascinate viewers with their lancet twin windows.

Notre Dame de Paris is a basilica with galleries and double side naves. Previously, this 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 Cathedral in Rome. This alone is enough to set Notre Dame apart, especially when you consider that even later Gothic cathedrals with double side naves were built only in exceptional cases. Divided in half by longitudinal rows of gigantic columns, these double naves in the apse move to a double outpatient clinic. Radius ambulatory in his eastern point forcedly turned out to be wider than in places of contact with the side aisles, and this problem was solved by doubling the number of columns and installing triangular vaults close to each other. As a result, the tour of the choirs - the ambulatory of the Notre Dame Cathedral can rightly be proud of its correct form.

A single rhythm throughout the entire space of the interior 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 six-blade vaults were used in the central nave of Notre Dame - in all other cathedrals, to support such vaults, alternation of massive supports with thinner ones was used in accordance with how many ribs converged on a point.

Above the main columns of the central nave of Notre Dame rise equally uniform bunches of thin pilasters. There are three pilasters in each beam, regardless of the profile of the vault at the point of its intersection with the supports. This is undoubtedly masked by the fact that there are two girth ribs per bundle of pilasters, and so on. Only in this way could a series of absolutely uniform arches, galleries and windows be built and achieve the highest elegance of arches, galleries and windows and achieve the highest elegance in proportions.

The huge lobes of the six-chamber vaults - much larger than the too closely adjacent sections of the four-chamber 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 to effectively contrast between the visibly thin and flat wall, on the one hand, and the elegant 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 wider, 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 made a redevelopment of the windows adjacent to the crossroads.

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

The theme of the flat surface of the wall is repeated on the western façade of Notre Dame. Since the towers here are crowned with double side naves, they are wider and more stable. Thanks to this, buttresses do not protrude too much 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, and do not protrude outward. When looking at this facade, it seems as if we are facing a triumphal arch with a royal gallery: statues of all French kings lined up above the portals along the wall, symbolizing the continuity of the dynasty and the strength of the monarchy.

In no other pattern medieval architecture there is no such imposing royal gallery, displaying a succession of monarchs so spectacularly.

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

Scenes from the earthly life of the Virgin Mary are placed in the windows of the side chapels. And the stained-glass windows of a huge, 13 meters in diameter window - roses (Appendix No. 8) include about 80 scenes from the Old Testament.

Unfortunately, there are very few genuine ones among the stained-glass windows of the cathedral. Almost all of them are later works, replacing those that were broken and damaged over many centuries. Only the rose window has survived intact to this day. But not only the stained-glass windows, but the cathedral itself could not reach our days: the leaders of the French revolution and the crowd led by them, the temple of Our Lady caused particular malice, and Notre Dame suffered much more than other churches in France.

Heavily damaged during the years of the revolution, the ancient building fell into decay from the end of the 18th century, and those years when Victor Hugo wrote his famous novel"Notre Dame Cathedral", the temple was threatened with complete destruction. In 1841-1864, a complete restoration of the cathedral was carried out. At the same time, the buildings adjacent to the cathedral were broken, and the square that exists today appeared in front of its facade.

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

Perched on a Gothic pinnacle, hiding 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 down there. Chimeras of the cathedral have an amazing property - you can’t draw, write or photograph near them - next to them people seem to be dead, inexpressive stone sculptures.

CHAPTER 3. GOTHIC STYLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES OF WESTERN EUROPE

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

Without denying the priority of the French, the Germans argue that only in their architecture is the essence of the Gothic style fully revealed and all its possibilities are used, only in their Gothic a breakthrough is really unstoppable, raising the entire mass of the building to the sky, it creates both in its external appearance and under its vaults the impression of something inexplicable and incomprehensible. No wonder the German architects replaced the French rose with an lancet window above the main entrance and violated the side horizontals with buttresses. In French Gothic, though very harmonious, the general measured rhythm restrains the impulse, introduces some kind of framework of reason, 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 temples the impulse is not restrained, but ordered, which gives the buildings greater clarity and completeness, and at the same time great elegance.

There are two views here, as if incompatible, but those Germans who truly love art admire Reims Cathedral, just like the French who love art just as much - Cologne Cathedral (Appendix No. 9).

"... Cologne smoky bulks" - Alexander Blok wrote. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol considered this cathedral to be the crowning achievement of Gothic art. The pride of Germany - the 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 a prototype for Cologne. However, the truly dizzying vertical rush of a grandiose stone mass in Cologne Cathedral gives inspiration to the skill of German architects.

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

Its only tower, as it were, encloses the entire cathedral, its base merges with its facade, from which it draws great strength, which breathes in the openwork tent, victoriously rushing to the sky. No wonder it is believed that this tower is "the highest and clearest revelation of Gothic thought."

French and German cultural traditions have long been intertwined in Alsace. Strasbourg Cathedral, to this day not finished, and, unlike the Freiburg Cathedral, only because it has one tower, reflects the mutual influence of two cultures.

Other traditions developed in England. The conditions that determined the historical development of the English state also determined the nature of English Gothic. Like the countries of mainland Europe, England experienced at the same time an economic boom. However, unlike these countries, the development of the trade industry in England was determined primarily not by the city, but by the countryside, where raw materials intended for export were produced and processed. Not the burghers, but the nobility played the main role in the English economy, which means that urban interests were not of decisive importance in the country. That is why temple construction remained predominantly monastic there, 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 dominated with all its bulk over the low dwellings of the townspeople. In England, the cathedral harmoniously fit into the landscape, which served as its picturesque frame, and therefore grew, first of all, not in height, but in length, freely located in the bosom 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 supplied them with lancet arches, repeated many times in the windows, and with the same abundance of vertical wall sashes, with the addition of a third tower, no longer a front one, but located above the crossroads. The stretching of the temple building, its legitimized place among an even 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), completely dressed in an uncountable number of vertical details, skillfully combined into a single whole.

But, perhaps, the grandiose interiors of English Gothic temples are even more bizarre - star-shaped, mesh, fan-shaped. Fantastically overgrown bunches of columns, the thinnest ribs, hanging openwork funnels, vertically alternating lattice bindings - such a general take-off and such a lacy symphony that, really, the impression of complete weightlessness of the vaulted ceiling is born. Here, the majestic spirituality of Gothic architecture, as it were, recedes under the most unrestrained, truly inexhaustible decorative effect. And how not to dizzy in Gloucester Cathedral or under the arches of the chapel of King's College in Cambridge,

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

The Gothic art of Italy has its own distinctive features. Beautiful churches, magnificent palaces, palazzos, open galleries - loggias with arcades and capitals and picturesque fountains, in which elements of the Gothic style can be recognized, adorned the cities of Italy. Designed for 40,000 worshipers, 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 Milan Cathedral: it was built by French, German, and Italian masters. As a result, excessive splendor prevails in his decorative decoration, especially in the sculptural attire. Be that as it may, a specifically Italian variant of Gothic architecture was not revealed 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 foundation. The frame system, in which the wall seemed to disappear, would not be to their liking, and the wall retained its specific meaning for them: clearly dissected, not tearing upwards, voluminous, by no means openwork, beautiful in its harmony and balance. It was not the vertical, but the regularity that fascinated Italian architects, even when they built buildings with pointed towers, lancet windows and window frames. Gables, horizontal stripes of multi-colored marble, rich inlays give the Italian facades of that time an iridescent elegance. And in the temple interior, despite the lancet vaults and ribs, as, for example, in the famous Florentine church of Santa Maria Novella (XIII-XIV centuries),

so liked by Michelangelo that he called her his “bride”, one can feel, first of all, a clear balance of architectural forms. Even such masterpieces of the late Middle Ages as the Doge's Palace (Appendix No. 13) the usual architectural principles are decisively violated. A massive block of a 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, as it were, loses its weight under multi-colored marble facing from diagonally placed square slabs.

On the Scandinavian peninsula, the harsh climate has always influenced architecture. Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland were adorned with imposing Gothic cathedrals and castles. But perhaps the Norwegian wooden architecture- the most original contribution of Scandinavia to medieval art, both Romanesque and Gothic. The wooded mountains of the country supplied in abundance the material from which the intricate, slender churches with steep gable roofs and a turret in two or three tiers were created, which all of Norway was proud of. About 30 Norwegian wooden churches, built at the end of the 11th century, have come down to us.

Vertical poles and beams determine the construction of the walls of Norwegian wooden temples. The general movement upwards, emphasized on the roofs by different skates in the form of dragons, gives a unique originality to the silhouette of such buildings. And the wonderful carving of portals with intertwining fantastic monsters clearly testifies to the continuity from those not far off times when the formidable Vikings plowed the seas on their dracars. .

Eastern Europe has its own remarkable monuments of Gothic art. Polish Gothic is peculiar with its strong, laconic construction, picturesque church facades made of red brick, market squares, where everything around is the town hall , pointed residential buildings, was created as part of a single architectural ensemble.

Krakow, the village of 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 their artistic treasures of the late Middle Ages.

In the eastern regions of Europe, Gothic buildings are often characterized by fortress features, laconicism, and even the 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, which is exemplified by the town halls in the Polish cities of Gdansk and Torun. Churches were built mainly of brick (the Church of the Virgin Mary in Krakow) and often decorated with frescoes.

In the XIII-XV centuries, Gothic spread in Hungary (St. Michael's Church in Sopron), the Czech Republic (St. Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge, the Old Town Hall and the royal castle of 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 church of Oleviste.

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 peculiar 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 era of the Reconquista, traces Arab culture almost permeate Spanish culture. The Moorish openwork eight-pointed star reigns on the vaults of Christian cathedrals over the Gothic ribs. The frame does not always triumph over the wall. Luxurious facades famous cathedrals XIII century in Burgos and Toledo.

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, which has grown more in width than in height, itself very much resembles a mosque. A special style "Mudehar" is born, which combines both Gothic and the art of the Arab East.

In the Netherlands, where, thanks to its favorable geographical position, urban trade flourished already in the Roman era. The growth of the burghers caused a 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, 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, is a remarkable achievement of Dutch architecture (a tower, like a pillar, towering over the shopping malls in Bruges, towers in Ypres, Ghent.

CONCLUSION

The Gothic style gradually developed a kind of absolutely logical system of structures and decor, which was most fully revealed in the architecture of the large urban cathedrals of France. This is clearly seen in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. The transition from Romanesque architecture to Gothic architecture made it possible to build buildings whose stability and dimensions 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, significantly enriched the 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 has also transformed everyday culture. The fortifications of castles were improved, and at the same time, living quarters began to be furnished with ever-growing luxury, especially in the late Gothic period, which manifested itself in lush decorativeness, tall lancet windows with bizarre bindings, full-wall triple fireplaces, and so on.

The dwellings of ordinary townspeople - tightly pressed to each other Gothic houses with pointed gable roofs, narrow windows, lancet doorways, arcades, corner turrets created a special, unique flavor. Temple buildings acquired a Gothic vertical. The bulk of the cathedral got rid of its heaviness, and all of it was filled with air and sparkled. The rooms began to seem brighter and more spacious, the walls became less visible. Cathedrals ceased to suppress people, they appeared rather as the embodiment of the active life of the medieval city, which was in full swing 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 the fact that there has been a shift towards more realistic art. Gradually, it moves away from the conventionality of forms, the ascetic severity of the early Gothic, is filled with vital content, and in many countries is coming close to a new stage - the Renaissance.

I would like to finish this term paper on the Gothic style with the lines of N.V. Gogol: “There was an unusual architecture ... - we left it, forgot it, as if it were someone else's, neglected it as clumsy and barbaric. Is it not surprising that three centuries have passed, and Europe, which greedily rushed at everything, greedily adopted everything alien, marveled at ancient miracles, Roman and Byzantine, or dressed them according to its own forms - Europe did not know that among it were miracles ... what in in its depths are the Milan and Cologne cathedrals, and even to this day “the bricks of the unfinished tower of the Strasbourg Münster are flying. Gothic architecture, that Gothic architecture that was formed before the end of the Middle Ages, is a phenomenon such as has never been tormented by the taste and imagination of man.

LIST OF LITERATURE USED

1. Vorontsov A.I. "Excursion of world sights". - Moscow, 1983.
2. Gurevich A.Ya. "Categories of Medieval Culture". - Moscow, 1972.
3. Kryzhanovskaya M.Ya. "The Art of the Western Middle Ages". - Moscow, 1963.
4. Lyaskovskaya O.A. "French Gothic of the 12th–14th Centuries". - Moscow, 1973.
5. Soviet encyclopedia. - Moscow, 1986.
6. Soviet encyclopedic dictionary. - Moscow, 1988.

Northern France is the birthplace of the Gothic, where this architectural style was called "ogival", i.e. pointed arch style. The main building material of Gothic is stone. From it, not only massive racks and thin strong ribs (ribs) of vaults were laid out, but also the richest sculptural decoration of facades, thin openwork window bindings and “roses” (large light hole) were cut out. In the north, brick was also used. Wide window openings are filled with colored stained-glass windows. The main decoration of the interiors of Gothic cathedrals is a complex, sometimes bizarre pattern of vault ribs.

The system of rib vaults made it possible to abandon massive walls, moving to a system of flying buttresses (outer ribs) and buttresses (supports protruding near the wall) that were carried outside the building. Gothic cathedrals in the close building of the city most often opened the gaze to only one entrance facade, the western one, most magnificently decorated. His tall towers served as a guide pointing the way to the cathedral in the cramped narrow streets. Gothic cathedrals were built for a long time. Therefore, some of them have towers of different heights and even different shapes. The most striking monuments of early Gothic are the cathedrals in Paris, Chartres and Bourges, and the cathedrals in Reims and Amiens became the best examples of classical Gothic.

One of largest structures early Gothic of France is (Notre Dame), built in the XII-XIV centuries. The towers of the cathedral have a height of about 70 m, but have remained unfinished. The facades of the cathedral abound with numerous sculptures - from the Fall to the Last Judgment. A huge rose window with a diameter of 13 m is decorated with colored stained-glass windows with scenes from the Old Testament. The famous decorative elements of the cathedral are sculptures of chimeras at the base of the towers. The cathedral is known in the Christian world for its unique relic - the crown of thorns of Jesus Christ.

City Chartres(Center), located southwest of Paris, is famous for its cathedral - a "wonder of the Gothic", rebuilt in the 13th century. from a burnt Romanesque church. The cathedral in Chartres is famous for its stained-glass windows, which show not only scenes from the Old and New Testaments, but also everyday scenes from the life of kings, knights, artisans and even peasants. The southern tower of the cathedral (height 106 m) is considered one of the most beautiful church towers in Europe. The north tower (height 113.5 m) is decorated with an elegant spire in the style of "flaming gothic".

(Center) was built on the site old church at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries. The side chapels were added already in the late Gothic era. The sculptures and stained-glass windows of the cathedral depicting Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Last Judgment and the Apocalypse, angels, Saint Etienne and other saints make a strong impression.

(Champagne-Ardenne) - one of the masterpieces of Gothic, built from the XIII to the XV centuries. The graceful architecture of the cathedral, its bewitching stained-glass windows and lancet arches merge into a single harmonious ensemble. The interior of the cathedral is well lit through the stained-glass windows, the architectural details are decorated with floral ornaments. Reims Cathedral is the traditional place for the coronation of French kings.

(Picardy) in northern France is considered one of the largest "classical" Gothic buildings of the XIII century. However, the tent over the south tower was completed already in the 14th century, and north tower was completed only at the beginning of the 15th century. The cathedral houses the head of John the Baptist, which, after the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204, ended up in Amiens by the "province of God". Thanks to successful architectural solutions, the cathedral seems to be directed upwards. Its facades are richly decorated with bas-reliefs with scenes from the Old Testament and from the life of the Middle Ages - a total of 4.5 thousand figures! The interior of the cathedral, on the contrary, is characterized by modesty and unpretentiousness.

City of Avignon(Provence-Côte d'Azur), located on the Rhone River, was in the XIV century. The papal residence, for which it is often called the "city of popes." During the reign of the French Popes, the Papal Palace was built - huge, asymmetrical and gloomy. This building dominates the city and clearly contrasts with the houses inside the medieval walls. High walls with hidden narrow windows, powerful lancet arches and wide loopholes make the Papal Palace an impregnable fortress. In old Avignon, the Petit Palace and the Romanesque cathedral Notre-Dame-de-Dome have been preserved.

In the era of mature Gothic, decoration begins to dominate. Vertical articulations become the main ones, the pattern of vaults becomes more complicated. There is an increasing desire for external effects. Gothic cathedrals begin to resemble "frozen rain" or "petrified flames." In the XIII-XV centuries. the chapel of the royal palace was built on the island of Cité in Paris Sainte Chapelle("Holy Chapel"). It was conceived as a repository of relics taken from Constantinople in 1239. The lancet windows of the chapel display a unique collection of stained-glass windows, consisting of 1134 biblical scenes. The openwork "rose" on the facade (XV century) is made in the style of "flaming Gothic". The spire of Sainte-Chapelle is 75 meters high.

Located on a rocky island, Gothic (Lower Normandy), dedicated to the Archangel Michael, is often called one of the "wonders of the world." Benedictian monks founded an abbey here in the 11th century, the construction of which was completed only in the 16th century. The eastern altar part of the abbey was built in the style of "flaming gothic". The vertical walls of the monastery, more like a fortress, look like a natural continuation of the rocky cliffs in the center of the island. The central part, 78 m high, resembles fairytale castle. Around the abbey formed small town, the only street of which rises in a serpentine to the gates of the monastery. Actually, Mont Saint-Michel becomes an island only during high tides, one of the highest on the planet. At low tide, the waters of the Gulf of Saint-Malo can only be seen from viewing platforms monastery.

City Carcassonne(Languedoc-Roussillon) - the largest Gothic fortress in Europe, located at the crossroads of trade routes between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and Central. The city is surrounded by two rows of mighty fortress walls with 52 observation towers. In the city of Carcassonne, the narrow medieval streets and the Saint-Nazaire Cathedral with its impressive chimeras on the façade and stunning stained-glass windows.

City Strasbourg(Alsace) has medieval center located on the island grand isle the Ile River, which has preserved the architecture and color of the Gothic period. Here, at a height of 142 m, rises the tower of the Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame, built in the XII-XV centuries. pink sandstone. Nearby are four ancient churches and the Roan Palace (the former residence of the bishops). In the western part of the island, a picturesque historic quarter tanners of Petit-France (“Little France”) with cozy half-timbered houses decorated with fresh flowers. Houses built in a special "Alsatian style" have peaked roofs with many dormer windows.

Saint Emilion wine region(Aquitaine) is located on the banks of the Dordogne River, 50 km east of the city of Bordeaux. The name of this area is associated with the name of the monk Emilion, who lived in one of the surrounding caves. When, after his death, he was recognized as a saint, the cave was turned into a church carved into the rock. During the heyday of winemaking in the XI-XIV centuries. Numerous churches and monasteries were built in Saint-Emilion. It is one of the main red wine producing areas in France. Local varieties of wines are characterized by a mild taste and can be stored for a long time.

The birth of the gothic

Gothic originated in Northern France in the middle 12th century. And flourished in the first half of the thirteenth 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 unification of the country that had begun.

Stone Gothic cathedrals became symbols of the centralized kingdom and the independence of growing cities, which received their classical form in France. The interior is unusually high and spacious, illuminated by the colored light of stained-glass windows: rows of slender pillars, a powerful rise of pointed lancet arches, an accelerated rhythm of the arches of the upper gallery (triforium) give rise to a feeling of unstoppable movement up 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 constructive basis of the cathedral is a frame of pillars (in the mature Gothic, taking the form of a beam of columns) and lancet arches resting on them. The structure of the building consists of rectangular cells (grass) bounded 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 in the gaps between the pillars were cut through by arched windows.

The removal of structural elements to the 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 inter-tier articulations. In turn, the exposed structures surrounding the cathedral from the south, east and north (and not visible either in the interior or from the facade) impress with a clear expression of the action of tectonic forces, the power of their rhythm. The double-towered western facades of French cathedrals with three deep "perspective" portals and a patterned round window ("rose") in the center combine aspiration upwards with clarity and balance of articulations.

Lancet arches and architectural and plastic motifs endlessly vary on the facades - openwork pediments (wimpergi), turrets (phials), curls (crabbs), etc. Rows of statues on consoles in front of the portal columns and in the upper arched gallery, reliefs on the tympanums of the portals form an integral symbolic system, which includes characters and episodes of the Holy Scriptures, allegorical images. The whole decor is rhythmically organized, strictly subordinated to architectural articulations. This is the reason for the tectonics and proportions of the statues, the solemnity of their postures, the restraint of their gestures.

The best statues on the facades of cathedrals (Reims, Amiens, Strasbourg, the portals of the transept in Chartres) are imbued with spiritualized beauty, sincerity and humanity of feeling. Other parts of the building were also decorated with reliefs, statues, floral ornaments, images of fantastic animals ("chimeras"); an abundance of secular motifs is characteristic (scenes of labor of artisans and peasants, grotesque and satirical images). The theme of the stained-glass windows is also varied, in the range of which red, blue and yellow tones predominated.

France. Gothic in France

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

From the 14th century city ​​and monastery churches of the hall type (with equal height of the naves), castle and palace chapels acquired increasing importance. All of them are small, simple in plan, but along their vaults ("mesh", "honeycomb", "star-shaped", etc.) complex, sometimes curvilinear patterns of ribs creep. Characteristic of the late ("flaming") Gothic and whimsical, reminiscent of flames, the pattern of window frames (Saint-Maclou church in Rouen, 1434-70).

Pierre Robin, 1434-1470) is the standard of late, or "flaming Gothic". The western façade of the church is distinguished by carved doors by Jean Goujon depicting biblical scenes. Immediately 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 French Basilica of Saint-Denis (Basilique Saint-Denis) is a real work of architectural art, the pearl of France among the cathedrals and the spiritual stronghold of the entire nation

The largest temple of the early Gothic period was Cathedral of Notre Dame- the five-aisled temple accommodated up to 9,000 people. In the design of Notre Dame Cathedral, the basic principles of Gothic are clearly traced: the ribbed lancet vault of the central nave, whose height is 35 m, lancet windows, flying buttresses. But from the ponderous Romanesque architecture there remained a massive expanse of walls, squat pillars of the central nave, the predominance of horizontal articulations, heavy towers, and restrained sculptural decoration.

Chartres Cathedral(1194-1260) is an example of the transition to mature Gothic and the connection of facades of different times. 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, in the XIV century - the northern one, the interior is Gothic.

A brilliant example of mature French Gothic - Cathedral in Reims(1212-1311). In the guise of the Reims Cathedral, a tendency to verticalism of all lines is visible, which literally enhances the whole “forest” of pinnacles and wimpergs (even the “rose” on the facade has an ogival end). The entire western façade is completely decorated with sculpture, the stone has acquired an openwork, truly it resembles 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 stands out for the integrity of its plan, the beauty of the three-tiered interior space and, in particular, the wonderful collection of sculptures on the main facade and in the south transept.

By the middle of the XIII century. the scope of construction in France is weakening. At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV centuries. the construction of cathedrals was in crisis: the architectural forms became drier, the decor became more abundant, the statues acquired the same accentuated curve and standard sweetness. At the same time, new diverse and non-universal artistic forms emerge; they reflected the growth of self-awareness of the burghers, who sought to create their own culture, and the aristocratization of the feudal nobility, the increasing sophistication of court life. The last remarkable creation of Gothic in this period is the chapel of Louis IX (in the heart of Paris, on the island of 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, on the upper storey there is a reliquary with the crown of thorns of Christ.

From 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 is taking shape: mannered stylization and expression, exalted drama, addiction to scenes of suffering depicted with cruel naturalness. At the same time, secular paintings appeared (the palace of the popes in Avignon, XIV-XV centuries), a portrait ("John the Good", about 1360), and in miniatures of liturgical books and especially the books of hours of noble persons ("The Small Book of Hours of the Duke of Berry", about 1380-85) there is a desire for the spiritualized humanity of images, for the transfer of life observations, space and volume. The finest examples of French Gothic art include small ivory sculpture, silver reliquaries, Limoges champlevé enamel, tapestries and carved furniture. Late Gothic structures are overloaded with decor, intricate 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 high rock like an impenetrable fortress.

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

But urban construction (town halls, workshop buildings, residential buildings) does not decrease. A private house (XV century) has been preserved - this is the 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 plasticity increases, although the figures are not free from the background of the wall. Increasingly, there is a staging of the figure according to the so-called "gothic curve"(S-prominent pose, from the Latin letter "S"): Medieval art gives its paraphrase to the Greek chiasm. In the relief, there is a craving for high relief - high relief. A certain canon of composition is developed, certain plots are intended for certain places in the building. So, scenes from the life of Christ are depicted in the altar part, on the south facade of the transept - the New Testament, on the north - the Old Testament, 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 history of Mary, "The Passion of the Christ", "The Last Judgment". The facades of the transept were already decorated in the High Gothic period.

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

From the second half of the XIII century. the plasticity of cathedrals becomes more dynamic, the figures become more mobile, the folds of clothing are transmitted in a complex play of chiaroscuro. Images are sometimes executed with genuine perfection, with delight in front of the beauty of a person. It is no accident, for example, blessing Christ on the western facade Amiens Cathedral called the beautiful God. In scenes such 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 decor Reims Cathedral. Joseph from the scene "Bringing to the Temple" and the angel from the "Annunciation" resemble secular people, full of earthly joys. In the images of Mary and Elizabeth ("The Meeting of Mary with Elizabeth", 1225-1240), echoes of ancient art are clear. Late Gothic sculpture, as well as the architecture of that time, is characterized by fragmentation, fragmentation of forms (for example, the so-called "Gilded Madonna" of the Amiens Cathedral, around 1270), but it shows an undoubted interest in portraiture, which is generally not characteristic of French medieval art.

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

"Stone lace", "flaming", "barbaric" - all these are epithets that reflect appearance and the essence of gothic. If we talk about the style as such, then it originated in the middle of the XII century in the north modern France- in the province of Ile de France, capturing the territory of modern Belgium and Switzerland.

France at one time became the cradle of not just a new style. Gothic is a centuries-old epoch that determines the entire urban design of Europe. A Gothic building is not just an architectural unit, it is a work of art, a living organism, a frozen dynamic.

Historical background

With varying degrees of success, it spread throughout Europe. In the 13th century, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Spain and England fell under the influence of Gothic. Later, it came to Italy, where it was not so widespread, but still managed to adapt, becoming "Italian Gothic" after a significant transformation. At the end of the XIV century, Europe was captured by the so-called international Gothic, the crown of which was the late, or "flaming" Gothic. It penetrated the countries of Eastern Europe later and stayed there a little longer - until the 16th century.

The cathedral became the quintessence of Gothic art - it was a synthesis of architecture, sculpture and painting. Here everything tends to rise, each element emphasizes the vertical - arches with a pointed top, narrow and high towers and columns, a facade with carved details and lancet windows with multi-colored stained-glass windows. And if we take into account the fact that the cathedral was the center of life in almost any European city, towering and dominating over it, it will not surprise you and the ease with which the minds of Christian sovereigns accepted a new style. Moreover, Gothic was presented as a symbol of monarchical power and divine providence.

The main difference between the Gothic cathedral and the Romanesque predecessors is a stable frame system, in which the cross-rib lancet vaults, lancet arches, which largely determine the internal and external appearance of the building, play a constructive role. The structure of the building consists of rectangular cells (grass) bounded by 4 pillars and 4 arches, which, together with the rib arches, form the framework of the cross vault. The lateral thrust of the main nave is transmitted with the help of flying buttresses to the outer pillars - buttresses. The walls freed from the load in the gaps between the pillars are cut through by arched windows.

In Gothic cathedrals, an example of complex interaction, interpenetration of the internal space and the external natural environment is given. This is facilitated by huge window openings, through carvings of tower tents, a forest of buttresses topped with pinnacles. Carved stone decorations were also of great importance: cruciferous fleurons, stone thorns that grow like flowers and leaves on the branches. stone forest buttresses, flying buttresses and tower spiers. And don't let the lavish embellishment fool you - there is no concept of "overly decorative" in Gothic.

Following the cathedral, the city itself stretched upwards. On the central squares they began to build town halls with rich decoration, often with a tower (town hall in Saint-Quentin, 1351-1509).

Castles turned into majestic palaces with rich interior decoration (the complex of the papal palace in Avignon), mansions-hotels of wealthy citizens were built.

We have plunged into theory enough - it's time to move on to practice. I propose to turn your attention to the most striking monuments of Gothic architecture in France, widely known in narrow circles.

Chapel Sainte-Chapelle

The lower chapel was intended for courtiers, palace guards and servants. At the top prayed the royal family, close associates. This is where the relics were kept. The nave of the upper chapel is famous for its completely preserved stained-glass windows, mostly from the 13th century, which have no analogues.

Abbey Church of Saint-Denis

Cathedral in Chartres

The central part of the façade retained the heavy Romanesque wall, into which three portals were cut; the rose window appeared later. The southern tower, the so-called "old bell tower" (1145-65) is closer to the main ideas of Gothic: the vertical buttresses are picked up by the powerful rise of the octagonal tent. After a fire in 1194, the building was rebuilt. The architects managed to give the vertical rods a feeling of free and spiritual rise. Notre Dame in Chartres is rightfully considered one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe. Chartres is one of the few Gothic churches in France that has retained its glazing almost unchanged. This is the largest ensemble of stained-glass windows of the 12th-13th centuries that has come down to us.

The stained-glass windows, blind and almost colorless on the outside, revealed all their magic in the interior, when the sun's rays, penetrating through the colored glass, gave each color the greatest sonority.

The complexity of the development of the architectural theme is inherent in the western facade of the temple: individual motifs intertwine, contrast, and complement each other. It is permeated not only with vertical movement, but also in a complex and dynamic interaction with the environment. Fantastically beautiful and high-quality pov blowjob from the first person performed by young beauties and mature mothers. Here is the best and high quality compilation of pov blowjob videos from the first person. Here you can regularly enjoy fresh portions of pov blowjobs.

As well as in Reims, the cathedral in Chartres served as an example for architects, but the model was noticeably modified. The cathedral in Amiens is the largest among the Gothic churches in France and one of the largest in Europe.

The width of its naves reaches 33 m, the transept is stretched for 59 m, the vaults of the central nave are raised to a height of 42.3 m.

Centuries later, in the era of the development of eclecticism, Gothic returned updated. Hence the name - Neo-Gothic. Representatives of European countries in the 19th century challenged each other for the right to be called an ancestor. But historical justice happened like this - neo-Gothic arose in England in the 40s of the 18th century. In Russia, it was called pseudo-Gothic, since the Gothic in the territory Ancient Rus' didn't exist at all. The demand for a new variation of the style was extremely insignificant - it was in demand only during the construction of churches of the Catholic community.

In Saratov, the most prominent representative of the Neo-Gothic is the building of the Saratov State Conservatory named after. L.V.Sobinova.

It was erected in 1902 by the architect Alexander Yulievich Yagn and pleases the eyes of residents and guests of the city to this day.