Building Projects

• In Egypt, China, Greece, Rome show the power of a strong central government
• Organization, Management, People, Money, [Professional skills?]

• But Europe, up to 1200s, had not had a strong central government

• May building projects also show community priorities?

• Philip Augustus seeks to establish Paris as a northern urban center

• Ile-de-France
  

• Gothic cathedrals would "crystallize" expressions of community effort (people), religious exaltation, intellectual capability (organization and management).

Abbey Church at St. Denis

• Prototype of Gothic cathedral
• Abbot Suger regards the Church as symbolic of the kingdom of God (light, height, majesty)

• Must we be content with mere symbols of the kingdom of God?

• -Giving up on the ideal of establishing a real kingdom of God on earth?

• Visual art style that emerged from Ile-de-France around the middle of the 12^th century
• Originally called "French style"
• The Italians thought the Gothic barbaric and identified it with the barbarian Goths
• So, like the term ‘Romanesque’ –‘Gothic’ was originally a derogatory term

• Romanesque
• 1) Structurally broad and massive
• 2) Semi-circular arches
• 3) relatively closely spaced columns and supports- security in an insecure world?
• 4) Weight is supported by walls and columns
• 5) Small windows

• Gothic
• 1) Emphasis on the vertical
• 2) Thin walls
• 3) Generally, Gothic cathedrals may be taller because pointed arches exert less lateral thrust
• 4) Flying buttresses support the weight of the arches and vaults
• 5) Large stained glass windows; one could not see the massive weight bearing buttresses from the inside of the church

• History
• Said to contain a piece of cloth worn by Mary during the birth of Christ

• Fire destroys cathedral in 1020; cloth was undamaged
• Rebuilding begins in 1024 leading to a Romanesque cathedral
• That cathedral is destroyed damaged in fire in 1034
• 1194; yet another fire greatly damages structure; Mary’s cloth remains intact

• A sign from Mary?

• How should we evaluate miracles?

• Skeptical view: David Hume- 18^th century Scottish philosopher says that we should evaluate miracles according to matters of testimony (who experienced it? Who reported it? Were they of sound character and judgment? Do other witnesses contradict the witnesses?)

• Another view: miracles must not be evaluated according to whether they can be "proven." They occur so infrequently that they cannot possibly be subject to empirical confirmation.

• All tiers of social hierarchy commit time and money for new cathedral
  

• 1260- new cathedral is dedicated

• Architecture at Chartres
• First cathedral planned with flying buttresses

• Interior
• Romanesque weight-bearing walls function now, in Gothic Chartres, to hold glass
• transverse section of nave

• Exterior

• From round arch to pointed arch
  
• Flying buttresses, buttresses

• Thinner walls, thinner columns, more space for interior

• Sculpture at Chartres

• Where was the sculpture found?
• Life of the Virgin Mary

• North porch- dedicated to in depth, detailed sculpture of 1) Mary’s life, 2) Mary’s death and assumption, 3) Coronation as queen of heaven

• South porch- architecturally different: portal arches are more pointed

• Stained Glass at Chartres

GOTHIC STYLE II

• Soul vs. body dualism of early monastic movement is transformed into a host of different conflicts
• 1) traditional Church authority vs. rising secular nationalism
• 2) internationalism of Church vs. secular nationalism
• 3) aristocrats vs. urban peasants
• 4) monastic orders vs. secular clergy
• 5) Church extravagance vs. common person’s poverty
• 6) The idealism of Paradise vs. the realities of this life

• Scholasticism: resolution of Gothic dualisms?

• God is approachable through reason

• Peter Abelard- his Sic et Non reflected Gothic dualism

• Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
• Summa Theologiae
• A sophisticated attempt to reconcile Aristotle, Christianity, Scriptural truth, rational learning, and faith.

• Traini (1345): Altar-piece

• E.g., -The famous "Five Ways" to prove God’s existence (Thomas Aquinas)

• Contemporary Church catechism
• Francis Schaeffer’s criticism of Aquinas (Humanism in the Church)

• Aesthetics and Number Theory

• Human reason can ascertain order
• Numbers are reflected in architecture and music
• Male number was considered odd
• Female number was considered even
• Thus, three was their unity
• Three is also the 1 + 2 (octave) combination
• 3 at Chartres: 3 entrance portals, three levels of interior (nave arcade, triforium gallery, clerestory windows)
• Three divisions of ground space (nave, transept, choir)
• Three semi-circular apsidal chapels
• 3 stands for spirit; 4 stands for matter:
• As you might imagine, their sum,7, is significant for it stands for the union of spirit and body
• And their product, 12, represents 12 tribes, 12 apostles, …

• Can one find order in anything?
• The Bible Code

• The concept of chivalry
• Derived from respect for Mary and Church ladies?
• Reconciliation of idealistic love and sensual gratification?
• Is idealization true respect?
• Establishment of a standard so that the strong may not oppress the weak?

• Matter and spirit; mass and void; natural and supernatural; inspiration and aspiration; finite and infinite

• No Gothic cathedral is completed

• Salisbury Cathedral