Table of contentsImportant figures and historical contextContext of the siteStructure of Notre-Dame de Paris and typical Gothic structuresMaterials and lightGothic elementsConclusionImportant figures and historical contextDuring the Middle Ages, the he architecture has evolved dynamically. However, the French Gothic architecture movement introduced elaborate and ornate structures that had never been seen before. These cathedrals were usually built by the majority of locals and took hundreds of years to complete in most cases. Skilled craftsmen of this era pushed the limits of the structures' capabilities by building tall walls with as little stone as possible, thereby creating more space within the walls. Our modern society today looks at these old structures and wonders what "magic" they tapped into to build massive, elaborate high stone ceilings above enormous glass windows without our advanced tools and technology. 'Today. These were limits that Romanesque architecture did not try to push back. With thick, sturdy walls that resembled a fortress, Romanesque architecture was overshadowed by Gothic style and design. Romanesque architecture evolved toward a form closer to perfection in which gravity was better able to keep it supported. Besides the structural elements, French Gothic architecture stands out from other styles because of the spectacular amount of ornamentation and other novel elements that have never been attempted before in our time. The first to introduce and be recognized for renowned Gothic elements in a cathedral was Abbot Suger. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayAbbot Suger was the abbot of the French abbey church of Saint-Denis from 1122 to 1151. The Basilica of Saint -Denis was built for the first time in 636 under the order of King Dagobert I in order to build a place to house the remains of Saint-Denis and then the King of France in a sacred place. In the 12th century, Abbot Suger had parts of the church rebuilt using decorative elements and an innovative strategy for its structure. Multiple texts speak of Suger's influence on Gothic architecture. In the text, Gothic Art 1140c-1450:Sources and Documents by Teresa Grace Frisch, states: "The man who commissioned and personally directed the construction of the first Gothic structure was Suger, abbot of Saint-Denis, man of the Church, diplomat and man of confidence. advisor to the two kings of France. His passionate interest in each phase of the reconstruction of the ancient abbey church, his rare intelligence and his intuitive ability to evaluate the artistic experiments of his time made him a great patron of the arts” (Frisch 4). Lindy Grant, author of Abbot Suger of St-Denis, supports this same idea that Suger is a significant figure who introduced the first works of the Gothic architecture movement. His text states: “As the builder of a large part of the new abbey church of Saint-Denis, he has been identified as the single-handed creator of the Gothic architectural style” (Grant XI). With the basilica of Saint-Denis, Suger introduced; pointed and tall arches, thin and tall walls, abundant and colorful windows, ribbed vaulted ceilings, spandrels and thinner columns with more details, layers and foundations that sit on a pedestal, opposite the ground. Later, ornate and exaggerated details are applied to elaborate web-like flying buttresses and creepy, menacing gargoyles.Another special creation that Suger built in our first Gothic abbey church was the ambulatory, the aisle behind the altar. The ambulatory would allow pilgrims to stop in the small chapels, small rooms housing important religious objects. Usually these rooms were isolated with walls and barriers around them until Suger. Suger decided he wanted to try to make the walls disappear by hiding them behind colorful windows and opening up the space and letting light in. Lindy Grant again supports this idea, writing: "What was new about the west facade, as I said, was the arrangement of its architectural elements. The same goes for the bright and elegant ambulatory... It initiates a long and fruitful series of variations on its architectural themes: the west facade with two towers, the triple portal, the column figure, the rose window; the level of the radiating chapels, the double ambulatory, the pillar in columns and the large window” (Grant 28). Suger introduced and started an artistic and architectural movement that motivated and changed the style and structure of buildings seen at that time and forever. At a time when buildings did not have much light, color and decoration, this change in architectural design initiated in the Saint-Denis Basilica was breathtaking. Suger, just as honoring King Dagobert I wished years later, decided that it was best to give the remains of Saint Denis a respectable and honorary place to stay that exudes the feeling of being a passage to God, the almighty and heaven. To some extent he achieved this through light, color, space, style and elegance.Site BackgroundIn a time like this, Saint Denis, a legendary Christian saint and bishop beheaded because of his love and dedication to his faith, played an important role in the evolution of Paris (Lutetia). The legend of his death is as follows; after the beheading, Saint Denis raised his head which spoke in sermons and walked several kilometers to the chapel where his body was buried. At this time, Paris began as a regional colony and the capital of the Parisii, a Gallic tribe. At that time, Julius Caesar called it Lutetia. Today, researchers and historians fail to find a definitive answer as to why he called the Gallo-Roman city Lutetia. However, there are theories about what this term could mean, based on Celtic root words. For example, the root luto- or luteuo- means “marsh, swamp” and perhaps even “dirty”. Other Celtic roots lead individuals to assume the name is related to "mice." Lutetia was founded between 400 and 300 BCE. This colony was divided into two parts; part of the north and south; but was mainly built on the south bank of the Seine, called Montagne Sainte-Geneviève. Around 51 to 53 BCE, Julius Caesar invaded and obtained the territory of the said fishing village, Gaul and Lutetia. After losing control of their colony, Lutetia was one of the few settlements in Northern Europe that converted to Christianity around the third century AD. Then, in 360 AD, the name "Lutetia" was changed to "Paris", named after the Gallic tribe of Parisii. The beautiful Basilica of Saint-Denis, like many other things, is located in Île de France, which is defined as "the Île de France", although it should not be confused with the actual island which s 'extends on the other side of the Seine. called Île de la Cité. The Île de France includes eight different regions: Essonne, Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-d'Oise, Val-de-Marne and Yvelines. This set of regions, includingParis is home to approximately eighteen percent of France's total population. The current island, Ile de la Cité, also shows French Gothic architecture through the construction of Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral.Structure of Notre Dame de Paris and typical Gothic structuresNotre Dame de Paris means "Our Lady of Paris" and was built in the fourth arrondissements of Paris, France around 1163. Maurice de Sully ordered the demolition of the original cathedral in 1160 and from there generations built it until 1345. The structure of Its origin and glory remained until the French Revolution, when it was demolished and destroyed. However, in 1845, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc undertook a vast restoration project. Today, it is our best example of French Gothic architecture and holds valuable relics like the Crown of Thorns. The structure of this cathedral, as well as many others, is geometrically as perfect as possible, creating a structure with less stone but just as much support. In Otto von Simson's book, The Gothic Cathedral: Origins of Gothic Architecture and Medieval Conception of the Order, he states: "With few exceptions, Gothic builders were discreet about the symbolic significance of their projects , but they are unanimous in paying homage to geometry as the basis of art. This is revealed even by a glance at Gothic architectural drawings…” (Simson 13). The craftsmen of this era were incredibly skilled. Before all the tools and technology we have to make everything easier, these cathedrals were created with such perfection. It is stated that they took a hidden mathematical code taken from the pages of the Bible and used it as a model which they justified as "using the proportions in which God created the universe". Starting with the flying buttresses since Notre-Dame is known to be one of the first to have them, these flying buttresses have a precise shape and placement so that they are effective, also considering them geometric. If the stress points of the buttresses are too high, the buttresses will serve no purpose. However, when properly placed, the extra wings of the buttress will prevent the arch stones from growing outward. Then, Gothic architecture introduced a new style and strategy when constructing arches. Unlike round arches, pointed arches are more robust. Because of the stress lines, the round arc puts too much downward pressure on the arc shape and it will want to flatten out, like a piece of paper. However, the stress lines of Gothic pointed arches are directed towards the ground, following the natural force of gravity. These are therefore arches which tend to be more stable. Another new idea that allowed builders to overcome the constraints of Notre-Dame was the new concept of a ribbed vaulted ceiling. In the text Universe of Stone, by Philip Ball states: “In the first half of the 11th century, churches tended to have wooden ceilings and roofs. But the Clunianc began to equip their buildings with stone vaults built on a framework of arches… The introduction of the vault created the concept of span…” (Ball 27). In the Gothic era, it became difficult and dangerous to build a dome or ceiling without a more secure and guaranteed plan. So they used this method called "centering" and built a wooden frame in which they then laid the masonry blocks on top of the frame, waited for the mortar to dry, then moved the frame to the next span . This strategy became more effective and structurally sound when they understood the righttechnical. In Robert A Scott's book, The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral, lime mortar is explained: "The courses of stone which form the walls and pillars of Salisbury Cathedral are bonded together with mortar of lime. This mortar was produced by adding water to a mixture of sand and quicklime, which was a by-product of ordinary chalk” (Scott 23). Materials and light Another material mainly used is Lutetian limestone or Paris limestone. This limestone from Paris is impeccably beautiful with its color and gives more life to Gothic structures. This stone is said to illuminate “the city of light,” as well as being economically efficient and versatile as a building substance. Using this unique stone from Paris, many Gothic structures can be associated with a fairy tale quality as this limestone is almost iridescent and shimmers, as stone and concrete are simple and do not show such majesty. With the emergence of Gothic architecture came the revolution in light, particularly colored light. Light became so important that architects and builders toyed with the idea that a window would not pierce the wall, but would make the wall disappear by passing through it entirely. It was an architectural movement in which great importance was given to windows and all its details such as tracery. These details created a mystical and enchanting atmosphere in his cathedrals that individuals at the time could only associate with castles. This majesty, with its beauty and power, was an evolving force in which individuals like Saint Denis and Abbot Suger believed must be encompassed for This religious atmosphere as visitors to the cathedral seek to reach God and to connect with God. Supporting this idea, Abbot Suger had an inscription on the bronze doors of Saint-Denis Cathedral stating: “Marvel not at gold and expense but at skill. of the work...Should enlighten the minds, that they may travel, through the true lights, to the True Light where Christ is the true door...The dull mind rises to the truth through that which is material , and seeing this light, is resurrected from his former submersion. Building an open space into which considerable amounts of colored light penetrates and building windows that tell the stories of Christ's life is believed to help one connect and transport oneself to a state of divinity. Light is also believed to promote reflection and help people "move from contemplation to the light of God." Churches and cathedrals are associated with heaven on earth, so the idea is to transport guests to a sacred, spiritual and heavenly place. Overall, the colorful light reflecting in the church gives off a magnificent aura that elicits a heightened spiritual experience. Structurally, the colored light would unify the interior of the building and minimize the structure, hiding otherwise obvious elements of the cathedral. A supporting example would be the stained glass windows which depict scenes from the life of God. Typical scenes to see would be images of revelation, the birth of Christ, the Virgin Mary and Mystic Mill. However, one predominant feature that seems to stand out is the beauty and commonality of the use of the Virgin Mary's life. For example, there is a superb stained glass window that was assembled at Notre-Dame de Chartres and which represents Mary, called “Notre Dame de la Belle Vernère”. This translates to “Our Lady at the Beautiful Window”. As it is the only one and the Gothic stained glass windows are not reproduced, individuals appreciate moreits unique character. As this scene is quite simple, other stained glass windows have more complicated stories or scenes. However, all are important, today because of their expertise and back then, because they helped educate the illiterate guests who came to be fascinated by the house of God. Structurally, these windows virtually created the wall since only thin sections of wall were constructed between the windows. It should be remembered that Gothic structures are known for being built vertically and extremely tall. This height gives the predominance to these stained glass windows. A central element of a Gothic cathedral is a rose window. A rose window is a wheel of stained glass that encompasses patterned tracery in a petal-like formation and sometimes depicts images of God and his saints and reflects immense amounts of light, similar to other Gothic windows. The rose window is considered a symbol of Gothic perfection. When creating the elements of the rosette, everything measures equally, perfectly parallel and symmetrical. They constructed and ensured that the window was symmetrically perfect using the equilateral triangle, square and circle. Examples of this are shown when breaking down the process of creating these several famous shapes seen in the rose window. Five of these shapes are called clover, quatrefoil, cinquefoil, six-leaf and fish bladder, all symmetrically perfect. It was an idea that no architect had really seen before the Gothic Middle Ages. Not only did Gothic architecture put a new spin on the wheel window, but it also introduced a whole new idea and perception of what a cathedral should enclose. Allowing a little more creative freedom, while remaining very precise, Gothic tracery tended to be in a flamboyant style. Tracery is the masonry elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. Flamboyant refers to wavy, flame-like tracery and ornate decoration. Moving from Romanesque to Gothic, the tracery became much more elaborate and decorative. Unlike tracery which resembled the spokes of a wheel, tracery gained elegance and became more eye-catching as it became much more detailed. Gothic Elements Starting with gargoyles and decorative grotesques, gargoyles were created to serve a very practical purpose. As these buildings became more and more ornate, it was not possible to have a regular drainage system on the roof. They decided they wanted a waterspout that would follow the decorative pattern of the rest of the structure. Besides being practical, gargoyles and their grotesque pals were spiritually important. The illiterate individuals who pass by the cathedral, who live in a world of superstition and belief, might have thought that they had to attend this church, because otherwise they would find themselves being chased by these flying creatures that fly freely at full speed . at night. Another decorative aspect of Gothic architecture are the stories and sculptures carved into the facade and doors of a cathedral. The front facade is practically a library with all the knowledge and advice represented in pictures so that even people who cannot read can admire the facade. For example, Notre Dame de Paris has a very eccentric west facade. Going from left to right, Notre-Dame has three main doors, called portals, the left being the “Portal of the Virgin, the middle one being the “Portal of the last judgment” and the right the “Portal of Saint-Pierre” . Anne. » Starting with the most.