Traveler's Guide to Art & Architecture: Architecture

Gothic

1150-1550--The French Gothic style invaded England in the late 12th century, trading rounded arches for pointy ones--an engineering discovery that freed church architecture from the heavy, thick walls of Norman structures and allowed ceilings to soar, walls to thin, and windows to proliferate. Instead of dark, somber, relatively unadorned Norman interiors that forced the eyes of the faithful toward the altar where the priest stood droning on in unintelligible Latin, the Gothic interior enticed the churchgoers' gaze upward to high ceilings filled with light. While the priests conducted Mass in Latin, the peasants could "read" the Gothic comic books of stained-glass windows. The squat, brooding exteriors of the Norman fortresses of God were replaced by graceful buttresses and soaring spires, which rose from town centers like beacons of religion. The Gothic proper in Britain can be divided into three overlapping periods or styles: Early English (1150-1300), Decorated (1250-1370), and Perpendicular (1350-1550). While they all share some identifiable features, others are characteristic of the individual periods. Gothic style proved hard to kill in Britain. It would make comebacks in the 17th century as Laudian Gothic in some Oxford and Cambridge buildings, in the late 18th century as rococo or Strawberry Hill Gotick at Lacock Abbey, and in the 19th-century Victorian Gothic Revival, discussed later. Identifiable Features Pointed arches (all periods). The most significant development of the Gothic era was the discovery that pointed arches could carry far more weight than rounded ones. Cross vaults (all periods). Instead of being flat, the square patch of ceiling between four columns arches up to a point in the center, creating four sail shapes, sort of like the underside of a pyramid. The "X" separating these four sails is often reinforced with ridges called ribbing. As the Gothic progressed, four-sided cross vaults became fan vaults, and the spaces between the structural ribbing spanned with decorative tracery. Flying buttresses (all periods). These free-standing exterior pillars connected by graceful, thin arms of stone help channel the weight of the building and its roof out and down into the ground. Not every Gothic church has evident buttresses. Dogtooth molding (Early English). Bands of a repeated decoration of four triangle-shaped petals placed around a raised center. Lancet windows (Early English). Tall, thin pointy windows, often in pairs or multiples, all set into a larger, elliptical pointy arch. Tracery (Decorated and Perpendicular). These delicate, lacy spider webs of carved stone grace the pointy end of windows and the acute lower intersections of cross vaults. Fan vaults (Perpendicular). Lots of side-by-side, cone-shaped, concave vaults springing from the same point, fan vaults are usually covered in tracery. An emphasis on horizontal and vertical lines (Perpendicular). What defines the Perpendicular is its broad and rectilinear fashion, especially in the windows. Mullioned, transomed windows (Perpendicular). Perpendicular windows tend to be wide, under flattened arches, with their bulk divided into dozens of tiny pointed panes by mullions (vertical bars) and transoms (horizontals bars). This cage-like motif often carries over to the decoration on the walls as well. Stained glass (all periods but more common later). The multitude and size of Gothic windows allowed them to be filled with Bible stories and symbolism writ in the colorful patterns of stained glass. The use of stained glass was more common in the later Gothic periods. Rose windows (all periods). These huge circular windows, often appearing as the centerpieces of facades, are filled with elegant tracery and "petals" of stained glass. Spires (all periods). These pinnacles of masonry seem to defy gravity and reach toward heaven itself. Gargoyles (all periods). Disguised as wide-mouthed creatures or human heads, gargoyles are actually drain spouts. Choir screen (all periods). Serving as the inner wall of the ambulatory and outer wall of the choir section, the choir screen is often decorated with carvings or tombs. Best Examples Early English: Salisbury Cathedral (1220-65) is unique in Europe for the speed with which it was built and the uniformity of its architecture (even if the spire was added 100 years later, they kept it Early English). The first to use pointy arches was Wells Cathedral (1180-1321), which has 300 statues on its original facade and some early stained glass. Decorated: The facade, nave, and chapter house of York Minster (1220-1480), which preserves the most medieval stained glass in Britain, are Decorated, though the chancel is Perpendicular and the transepts are Early English. Exeter Cathedral (1112-1206) has an elaborate Decorated facade and fantastic nave vaulting. Perpendicular: King's College Chapel at Cambridge (1446-1515) has England's most magnificent fan vaulting, along with some fine stained glass. Henry VII's Chapel (1503-19) in London's Westminster Abbey is textbook Perpendicular.

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