Gothic Phases..............................

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1. GOTHIC
–Phases

2. Phases of Gothic
Three phases of Gothic are as under :
Early Gothic (1120-1200)
High Gothic (1200-80) "Rayonnant"
 Late Gothic (1280-1500) "Flamboyant"

3. St Denis ( begun around c.1140
Notre Dame Paris (c.1163-1345)
Laon (c.1112-1215).
Bourges
Chartres
Reims
Amiens
Beauvais
Major Structures ( early Gothic)

4. Basic Features
Churchs had a wide frontage topped by two
huge towers, whose vertical lines were
counterbalanced by horizontal lines of
monumental doorways (at ground level), above
which were horizontal lines of windows,
galleries, sculpture and other stonework.
The long outside walls of the cathedral were
supported by lines of vertical piers connected to
the upper part of the wall in the form of a semi-
arch known as a flying buttress.
This early style of Gothic architectural design spread across
Europe to Germany, England, the Low Countries, Italy,
Spain and Portugal.

5. Basic Features
A series of four distinct horizontal levels soon evolved: ground-
level, then tribune gallery level, then triforium gallery level, above
which was an upper, windowed level called a clerestory.
. The pattern of columns and arches used to support and frame
these different elevations contributed to the geometry and
harmony of the interior. Window tracery (decorative window
dividers) also evolved, together with a diverse range of stained
glass.
The eastern end of the early Gothic cathedral consisted of a
semicircular projection called an apse/Chevet, which contained the
high altar encircled by the ambulatory.

6. .First Noted example of Gothic Architecture . A large medieval abbey
church in the city of
 Saint-Denis, in a northern suburb of contemporary
Paris. The building is of unique importance historically and
architecturally as its
 choir, completed in 1144, shows the first use of
all of the elements of
 Gothic architecture.
Built as a part of Reformation efforts by Abbot Suger.
Basilica of St. Denis
In the 12th century the
 Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the abbey
church using innovative structural and decorative features. In doing
so, he is said to have created the first truly
 Gothic building.

The basilica's 13th-century nave is the prototype for
the
 Rayonnant /High Gothic style, and provided an architectural
model for many medieval cathedrals and abbeys of northern
France, Germany, England and other countries.

7. Bult over an original Carolingian church.,It was expanded and enlarged
under the direction Abbot Suger. On completion of the west front, Abbot
Suger moved on to the reconstruction of the eastern end, leaving the
Carolingian nave in use. He wanted a
 
choir 
(chancel) that would be
suffused with light.

8. •The major innovation in the façade at St
Denis is the emphasis on the divisions
between the different parts.
•This clear delineation of parts was to
influence subsequent west façade
designs of Gothic architecture and a
show marked departure from the
Romanesque.
•The
 rose window at the centre of the
upper story of the west portal was
probably the first example of a rose
window within a square frame.
•This was to become a dominant feature
of the Gothic facades of northern France
Façade (westwerk)

9. The church is a large cruciform building of
"basilica" form; that is, it has a central nave
with lower aisles and
 clerestory windows. It
has an additional aisle on the northern side
formed of a row of chapels.
The west front has three portals, a rose
window and one tower, on the southern
side.
The eastern end, built over a crypt,
is
 apsidal, surrounded by
an
 ambulatory and a chevet of nine
radiating chapels.
Plan Form

11. Suger's masons drew on the several new
elements which had been introduced to
Romanesque architecture:
the pointed arch,
the ribbed
 vault,
the
 ambulatory with radiating chapels, the
clustered columns supporting ribs springing
in different directions and the
 flying
buttresses
 which enabled the insertion of
large
 clerestory windows.
The Nave as seen today was
after reconstruction in 13th
Cent in the High Gothic Style

12. Laon Cathedral

13. Bourges
Chartres
Reims
Amiens
Beauvais
Major Structures ( High Gothic)

14. Basic Features
cathedral architects and masons shifted their attention away from
the task of optimizing weight distribution and building higher walls,
and concentrated instead on enhancing the 'look and feel' of the
building.
•This approach led to the addition of many different decorative
features including pinnacles (upright structures, typically spired,
that topped piers, buttresses, or other exterior elements),
moldings, and, notably, window tracery (such as mullions).
•Other typical characteristics of Rayonnant architecture include the
slimming-down of interior vertical supports and the merging of the
triforium gallery with the clerestory, until walls are largely
composed of stained glass with vertical bars of tracery dividing
windows into sections.

15. Amiens
Start of the Rayonnant phase of French
gothic.
Characterized by High Nave arcade which
extends fully half the height of a 3 tiered
elevation

16. Bourges

17. A high point of
 French Gothic
art" ,the cathedral has been
well having majority of the
original stained glass windows
surviving intact, while the
architecture has seen only
minor changes since the early
13th century.
The west end is dominated by
two contrasting spires
 – a 105-
metre (349
 ft) plain pyramid
completed around 1160 and a
113-metre (377
 ft) early 16th-
century
 Flamboyant spire on
top of an older tower.
Chartres

18. The building's exterior is dominated by
heavy
 flying buttresses which allowed the
increasing the window sizes significantly,.

19. 407’ long and 135’ in wide soaring to a
height of 122” it is similar in plan to Notre
Dame Paris.Double aisled with a u shaped
chevet at the end the absence of transept
is the most striking Feature in Plan

20. Reims

22. Beauvais

23. Beauvais

24. HIGH GOTHIC

25. Basic Features
A third style of Gothic architectural design
emerged around 1280. Known as
 Flamboyant
Gothic architecture, it was even more decorative
than Rayonnant, and continued until about 1500.
Its equivalent in
 English Gothic architecture is
the "Perpendicular style".

The characteristic feature of Flamboyant
Gothic architecture is the widespread use of a
flame-like (French: flambe) S-shaped curve in
stone window tracery. In addition, walls were
transformed into one continuous expanse of
glass, supported by skeletal uprights and
tracery. Geometrical logic was frequently
obscured by covering the exterior with tracery,
which overlaid masonry as well as windows,
augmented by complex clusters of gables,
pinnacles, lofty porticos, and star patterns of
extra ribs in the vaulting.

27. Kings Cathedral --Cambridge

28. Kings Cathedral --Cambridge