GOTHIC

GOTHIC SCULPTURES

The period is generally divided into Early Gothic (1150-1250), High Gothic (1250-1375),
and international Gothic (1375-1450). Primarily a form of Christian art, it flourished initially in
Cathedrals and churches across the Ile de France and surrounding region in the period 1150-
1250, and then spread throughout northern Europe. The chief hallmark of Gothic art was its
unique integration of the arts of sculpture, stained glass and architecture - notably, in the
great cathedrals of Chartres, Amiens, Reims and Notre Dame de Paris. The planar forms of the
previous Romanesque style were replaced by a new focus on line, and its soaring arches and
buttresses permitted the opening up of walls for unprecedently huge windows filled with
beautifully translucent holy images, far surpassing anything that murals or mosaic art  had to
offer. During the late 14th and early 15th centuries, Gothic fused with Italian art to produce a
more secular style, called International Gothic, as it spread across Burgundy, Bohemia and
northern Italy.)

Early Gothic Sculpture

As in the Romanesque period, the best Gothic sculptors were employed on architectural
decoration. The most important examples of figurative sculpture to survive are on portals, as in
the church of Saint-Denis whose western portals (constructed 1137-40), combined features
that remained common throughout the Gothic period: a carved tympanum; carved figures
arranged in the voussoirs, or wedge-shaped pieces, of the arch; and more figurative carvings
attached to the sides of the portal. As it survives, Saint-Denis is rather disappointing; the side
figures have been lost and the remainder heavily restored.

Trend Towards Greater Realism

The general effect is now better appreciated on the west front of Chartres cathedral, whose
portals illustrate the development of the Gothic style. If one compares the portals at Chartres
(c. 1140-50) with those of 13th-century Reims, one can see that the development of sculpture
during this early period of Gothic art is toward increased realism, and away from the rather
wooden feel of early sculptures. As it was, this was achieved not by continuous evolution, but in
a series of stylistic impulses. The first of these impulses can be seen in the sculpture on the west
front of Chartres. The figures, with their stylized gestures and minutely pleated garments, are
barely "real", and their forms are closely aligned with the architectural composition.
Similar examples can be seen at Angers, Le Mans, Bourges, and Senlis cathedrals. The second
creative impulse derived (1181-1210) from the region of the Meuse, in the work of the
goldsmith Nicholas of Verdun, marked by graceful, curving figures and soft Greek-like ridged-
and-troughed drapery (Muldenstil). A restrained version of this style decorated the main
portals of the transepts of Chartres (c.1200-10), and can also be seen in Reims cathedral. A
third impulse towards realism in Gothic sculpture, based on 10th century Byzantine prototypes,
seems to have originated at Notre-Dame, Paris (c.1200). Instead of swirling drapery and curved
figures, this style is characterized by figures with a square, upright appearance, who are quite
restrained in their gestures. A good example of this style is the west front of Amiens cathedral
(c.1220-30).

A fourth style of realism originated at Reims with a craftsman named after his most famous
figure, the Joseph Master. Ignoring both the gestural restraint of Amiens and the drapery of
theMuldenstil, he produced (c.1240) figures with characteristics that endured for the next 150
years: namely, dainty poses and faces and thick drapery hanging in long V-shaped folds that
envelop the figure. Gothic cathedral sculpture had a wide-ranging influence on Late Gothic
painters and illuminators

High Gothic Sculpture

In general, this period saw a decline in architectural sculpture. Due to the focus placed on
geometric patterning by the Rayonnant style, this is not surprising. A few portals, like those on
the west front of Bourges cathedral, were completed, but they have a limited interest.

In contrast, the type of sculpture that was expanding with great rapidity was the more private
one, exemplified by tombs and other funerary monuments. They included the tomb chest,
typically decorated with small figures in niches - figures known as weepers, since they usually
represented members of the family who were in mourning. Later, in the early 14th century,
appeared representations of heavily cloaked professional mourners.

This sculptural trend was initiated by Louis IX in his monuments to his ancestors and next of kin,
mostly located in Saint-Denis (1260-70), though severely damaged during the French
Revolution. Earlier precedents may be found, Louis IX's efforts did much to popularize the idea
of the dynastic mausoleum, and numerous other important people followed suit.

In England, as in France, most of the virtuosity in carving was ploughed into private tombs and
monuments. The best surviving Gothic mausoleum is Westminster Abbey, where monuments
carved in a variety of mediums (notably purbeck, bronze, alabaster, and freestone) are further
enhanced by the floors and tombs executed by Italian mosaic workers employed by Henry III.
The tomb of Edward II (c. 1330-35), in Exeter Cathedral, notable for its elaborate medieval
canopy, is another fine example of English Gothic.

German High Gothic sculpture is exemplified by the elegant draped figures around the choir of
Cologne cathedral (consecrated in 1322), and by the impressive figures on the west front of
Strasbourg cathedral (carved after 1277), which appear to be strongly influenced by the Joseph
Master of Reims. As usual German sculpture tends to be far more expressive than similar
French work.

In Italy, the most important 13th-century sculptors included Nicola Pisano(1206-78) and his
son Giovanni Pisano (1250-1314). Both worked mostly in Tuscany, and both executed pulpits
that rank as their major completed works: Nicola being noted for sculpture in the Pisa
Baptistery (1259-60) and Siena cathedral (1265-68), while Giovanni's pulpit in S. Andrea Pistoia
(commpleted 1301), while technically less refined, is emotionally much more dramatic.
In Milan, a shrine for the body of St. Peter Martyr was carved by Giovanni di Balduccio (c.1290-
1349) in a style derived from the Pisano studio. More famous followers of Pisano
include Arnolfo di Cambio (1240–1300/10), and Tino di Camaino, who worked at the Neapolitan
court (c.1323-37). Arnolfo di Cambio's sculpture is solid and impassive. He excelled at formal
compositions, such as the funerary chapel and the tomb of Pope Boniface VIII. Also he was the
first architect of Florence cathedral (founded 1296). Tino di Camaino achieved fame as a tomb
sculptor, and the largest collection of his work is in Naples.

Another noted Italian Gothic sculptor was Andrea Pisano (1295-1348) (aka Andrea da

Pontedera). His most famous sculptures were executed in Florence, the most important of
which were his three bronze doors for the baptistery of the Cathedral of Florence (completed in
1336). He was highly influenced by the sculpture of Giovanni Pisano, as well as the painting of
the Proto-Renaissance artist Giotto, which caused Andrea to make his figures rather stocky and
solid.

Sculpture

Pisano:

Description: Gilded bronze, height of portion shown cm 55, detail from panels on
South Door. 1330-1336

Description: Gilded bronze, height of portion shown cm 50, detail from panels on
South Door. representing virtue. 1330-1336.
Description: Marble, detail, 1347/48. Unique testimony of his work in Orvieto.
Almost certain intervention by his son, Nino.

   

Description: Marble, detail from about 1419. Angle relief facing the sea, perhaps
by the Lombard Sculptor Matteo Roverti

   

Description: Stone, height of portion shown cm 40. Detail from pilaster relief on
façade before 1330, Anonimo

Marble, detail, 1361. Completed while master builder at Florence Cathedral

working on the second level of bas-relief..Alberto
GOTHIC PAINTINGS

Gothic painting followed the same stylistic evolution as did sculpture; from stiff, simple, hieratic
forms toward more relaxed and natural ones. Its scale grew large only in the early 14th century,
when it began to be used in decorating the retable (ornamental panel behind an altar). Such
paintings usually featured scenes and figures from the New Testament, particularly of the
Passion of Christ and the Virgin Mary. These paintings display an emphasis on flowing, curving
lines, minute detail, and refined decoration, and gold was often applied to the panel as
background colour. Compositions became more complex as time went on, and painters began
to seek means of depicting spatial depth in their pictures, a search that eventually led to the
mastery of perspective in the early years of the Italian Renaissance.

In late Gothic painting of the 14th and 15th centuries secular subjects such as hunting scenes,
chivalric themes, and depictions of historical events also appeared. Both religious and secular
subjects were depicted in manuscript illuminations--i.e., the pictorial embellishment of
handwritten books. This was a major form of artistic production during the Gothic period and
reached its peak in France during the 14th century. The calendar illustrations in the Très Riches
Heures du duc de Berry (c. 1416) by the Limburg brothers, who worked at the court of Jean de
France, duc de Berry, are perhaps the most eloquent statements of the International Gothic
style as well as the best known of all manuscript illuminations

Europe was still not ready for paintings as a major public art form. Tapestry was still popular
(and warmer) as a decorative wall covering, while most Gothic cathedrals, with their lack of
wall-space, had less interest in wall paintings. Instead for color effects Gothic architects relied
on stained-glass windows, which had now become very much larger than in the Romanesque
period.

Manuscript illumination was superseded by printed illustrations in the second half of the 15th
century. Panel and wall painting evolved gradually into the Renaissance style in Italy during the
14th and early 15th centuries but retained many more of its Gothic characteristics until the late
15th and early 16th centuries in Germany, Flanders, and elsewhere in Northern Europe.
Gothic art, most notably paintings, attempted to use perspective. This means that factors such
as distance and the angle of subjects are considered. For the most part, paintings would usually
be in the form of frescoes or murals. They also appeared to be more realistic, seeing that
painters based their subjects on observation. Gothic art provides an additional challenge as it
refers both to a time and a place.

Giotto mastered the use of shading and created realistic figures

Themes

Gothic art displayed scenes from the Bible. In the case of stained glass images, those of saints
would usually show the actions, deeds, or events which they are typically remembered for.
Statues also featured the same.

Later on, artists began to depict studies of real life, specifically in their paintings. They also went
on to use animals and mythical creatures as subjects. In the case of statues, a good example
would be gargoyles on top of buildings.
Prominence and Spread

Since most art had been for religious purposes and the influence of the Church throughout
Europe, Gothic art spread like wildfire. Louis IX of France was an avid supporter of this new
movement as he was very much into art.

King Louie IX, who was very interested in art

Artists and architects from all over Europe, impressed by this new style, began to mimic it in
their respective homelands.

Early Attempts At Perspective

We can see the development of Italian Gothic perspective in two main forms: interior
perspective, providing depth to an enclosed space, and exterior perspective, with a well-
established foreground, midground and background.

We can see the first steps toward interior perspective in a detail from Duccio's Maesta Altar.
Unlike previous artwork, in which the figures stand in front of a flat backdrop, these figures
exist inside an enclosed space. Sort of like a niche in the painting, like the architectural housing
of gothic sculpture.

We can see the development of this trend in The Birth of The Virgin by Pietro Lorenzetti. In this
painting, we see an even greater command of depth, and each figure seems to fully occupy this
three-dimensional space. We also see additional architectural elements finding their way into
painting, like the beautifully executed rendition of a rib vault ceiling above our figures.
The development of interior perspective is impressive, but not nearly so much as the gradual
improvement of exterior perspective.

Gothic Book Painting

Gothic book illustrations includes Books of Hours, Missals, Apocalypses, Psalters, and Bibles. In
these masterpieces the Gothic artist, no longer a mere contributor to the architectural
ensemble, can unleash his fancy and indulge all his whims. The figures are sometimes elongated
to the verge of caricature, like fashion drawings of today. Grotesque creatures, as well as
humorous or macabre touches abound. As the type develops it becomes more restless. The eye
is not given a moment's peace. Intricate decorative backgrounds, borders of ivy leaves made
even more spiky than nature had designed them, later on, landscape backgrounds with clumps
of elaborate flowers in the foreground, scenes from contemporary life, sports and pastimes,
feasting, travelling, cooking can be found everywhere.

EXAMPLES OF GOTHIC ART

The Nativity by Giotto

The Gothic era led to a widespread interest in art. And as a result of campaigns to the
east, those in the west slowly rediscovered what had been lost after the barbarian
invasions, such as pieces of literature, philosophical pieces, and art.

.
The term “Gothic painting” usually means the church painting of the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, with its characteristic flat perspective, bright colors, use of gold leaf,
and the typical religious subject matter (divine figures are often shown sporting a flat
gold circle around their heads, for example). Eighteenth-century Gothic painting could
either imitate this style (especially in the medium of stained glass) or choose as subject
matter a Gothic building or Gothic ruin. In the latter kinds of paintings, there is also
often a gloomy or threatening tone or subject matter that can be called Gothic.

Revival Of Gothic Architecture

University of Chicago

  west palace of westminister

All Saint Church In England

Residence

GOTHIC FURNITURE:

Most Gothic furniture has Gothic architectural details applied to contemporary furniture
forms.
1. Tracery and pointed arches distinguish Gothic Revival furniture.
2. Simplistic, rectangular outline, incised or shallow-relief carvings, painted or inlaid geometric
or naturalistic decor.
3. The furniture matches the architecture it is placed inside.
4. Backs of chairs often resemble rose windows or have pinnacles.
5. Common pieces include: chairs, beds, tables, and storage.
Motifs include pointed arches, pinnacles, battlements, crockets, stained glass, tracery, rose
windows, cluster columns, oak leaves.

Finally, the Decorative Arts – Gothic Revival pervades all decorative arts from ceramics to silver
to clocks to fireplace furniture.