Exterior -- General View
See also: Exterior Choir and Transept, Exterior Choir
- Left: Saint-Sernin, Toulouse
- Right: Amiens Cathedral
Saint-Sernin, Toulouse: Romanesque readability. All the architectural components--aisles,
chapels, ambulatory, transept, are clearly defined spatial units, one added to another, to create a pyramidal
structure of clear geometric forms.
Amiens Cathedral: : All the structure and support elements--the
flying
buttresses, the
buttress
uprights, the
pinnacles are
on the outside of the building and create a radial armature that supports and frames large walls of stained glass
(unfortunately the stained glass of Amiens has not survived).
Comparisons:
Pisa Cathedral
Italian Romanesque and Gothic, 1053-1272
Speyer Cathedral
German Romanesque, begun 1030
St. Philibert, Tournus
French Romanesque, c. 950-1020
Westminster Abbey, London
English Gothic, choir begun 1240s
Ste. Chapelle, Paris
French Rayonnant Gothic, after 1239
Salisbury Cathedral
English High Gothic, begun 1220
Bourges Cathedral (St. Etienne)
French High Gothic, begun 1195
Beauvais Cathedral (St. Pierre)
French High Gothic, begun 1226
Florence Cathedral
Italian Gothic, 1296-1436
St. Elizabeth, Marburg
German High Gothic, 1233-1283
