I. GOTHIC VS. ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE.

Modernity vs. Historicism. Origin of term "Gothic". Scholasticism and New Learning. New interest in light and verticality. Cathedral as "New Jerusalem". 

Compare Amiens Cathedral, begun 1220 and St.-Sernin, Toulouse, begun c. 1077; vocabulary of Gothic 

II. ROMANESQUE ANTECEDENTS FOR TECHNICAL BASIS OF EARLY GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. Chief features include the ribbed vault, the pointed arch, a skeletal system of construction, and an emphasis on verticality. All these features exist in Romanesque architecture.

A. the ribbed vault
Durham Cathedral, England
begun 1093 in choir (oldest rib vaults), main span of choir completed 1104, north transept vaulted 1115
Saint-Etienne, Caen
begun 1064 by Duke William of Normandy (William the Conqueror), Lanfranc became abbot in 1066, church consecrated in 1073 or 1077 or 1081, choir rebuilt in the Gothic period. Ribbed vaults added c. 1115

B. the pointed arch
Cluny III, Burgundy
begun c. 1088 under Abbot Hugh of Semur
see Paray-le-Monial, constructed 1100-1120
Fontenay Abbey, Burgundy

C. verticality
Cluny III
Jumieges, Notre Dame, Normandy
transept begun 1040-1050, nave 1050-1067

D. skeletal system
Saint-Etienne, Caen
(see above)

III. THE BEGINNINGS. Abbey of Saint-Denis. Abbot Suger of St. Denis, born 1081, abbot of St. Denis 1122-1151. Two aims of Suger were to strengthen Capetian crown and aggrandize the abbey. (St. Denis was first bishop of Paris, martyred in 3rd century; church founded by Dagobert I, 775 dedicated in presence of Charlemagne, 867 became royal abbey under Charles the Bald, 996 became royal burial abbey) 

A. West Façade, begun c. 1135, consecrated June 9, 1140; cf. twin towers--St. Etienne, Caen; westwork--Palatine Chapel, Aachen; triple portal--Arch of Constantine, Torhall at Lorsch; crenelations--military architecture. West end as an embodiment of temporal authority. 

B. Choir, begun 1144, consecrated June 14, 1144; only ambulatory and chapels survive; cf. plan--St. Martin des Champs, Paris. Suger and the light metaphysics of Dionysius the Pseudo Areopagite. 

C. Suger and Dionysian Light Metaphysics 

Inscription on lintel of central portal, recorded in De Administratione, XXVII 

"Receive, O stern Judge, the prayers of Thy Suger,
Grant that I be mercifully numbered among Thy own sheep."

For bright is that which is brightly coupled with the bright,
And bright is the noble edifice which is pervaded by the new light,
Which stands enlarged in our time,
I, who was Suger, being the leader while it was being accomplished.
Suger, De Administratione, XXIX

Marvel not at the gold and the expense but at the craftsmanship of the work. Bright is the noble work, but, being nobly bright, the work should brighten the minds, so that they may travel, through the true lights, to the True Light where Christ is the true door. In what manner it be inherent in this world the golden door defines, the dull mind rises to truth through that which is material. And, in seeing this light, is resurrected from its former submersion.
Suger, inscription on golden doors of west
façade, De Administratione, XXVII

Thus, when--out of my delight in the beauty of the house of God--the loveliness of the many-colored gems has called me away from external cares, and worthy meditation has induced me to reflect, transferring that which is material to that which is immaterial, on the diversity the sacred virtues, then it seems to me that I see myself dwelling, it were, in some strange region of the universe which neither exists entirely in the slime of the earth nor entirely in the purity of Heaven, and that, by the grace of God, I can be transported from this inferior world to that higher world in an anagogical manner.
Suger, De Administratione, XXXIII
 

IV. EARLY GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE (1140s-1194). The four-story elevation and experimentation in Gothic Structure.

A. General Considerations. Period of experimentation in plan, structure and elevation. Preoccupation with light, more unified space, larger openings and spaciousness. Mastering and exploitation of the potential of the rib vault and pointed arch, development of the skeletal system. Two distinct schools (identified by Jean Bony): the Northern School (Laon Cathedral) and the Parisian School (Notre-Dame, Paris). Four- story and three-story elevations, thick wall (with passages) and thin wall (without passages) structures.

B. Laon Cathedral, begun in the late 1150's by Bishop Gautier de Montagne in south transept and choir, first appearance of wall passages at triforium level in Gothic architecture, four-story elevation (arcade, tribune gallery, triforium with passage and clerestory). Pier alternation only in first four bays of nave, sexpartite vaults.

C. Notre-Dame, Paris, 1163--foundation stone of choir laid under Bishop Maurice de Sully on the occasion of Pope Alexander II's visit to Paris in that year. Work began in the choir and a second architect began the nave after 1178. He widened the nave by three feet, introduced a new form of tribune gallery and developed the flying buttress. The four-story elevation was altered in the 1220's when a single enlarged clerestory widow replaced the triforium oculus and smaller clerestory window. The original elevation of the early gothic period was partially restored by Viollet-le-Duc in the nineteenth century. The church had sexpartitle vaulting but alternation occurs only in the side aisle piers. A five-aisled basilica with a nonprojecting transept in the original plan.

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