Monuments and Images
Saint-Denis and the Beginning of Gothic
The Players
Abbot Suger: born 1081, abbot 1122-1151, adviser to
Louis VI (the Fat): king of France 1108-37 and son
Louis VII: king of France 1137-80 and his wife
Eleanor of Aquitaine (divorced 1152)St. Denis: patron saint of the abbey and special protector of Frankish kings; composed of 3rd century missionary to Paris (1st bishop)
Dionysius the Areopagite: convert of St.Paul
Pseudo-Dionysius: author of The Celestial Hierarchy
(6th century Syrian theologian)French kings
Merovingians: 5th-8th centuries
Carolingians: 8th-10th centuries
Capetians:assume power in 987
Abbey church of Saint-Denis
"Dagobert's" Abbey Church: early 7th century
Fulrad's church: 754-775Images
West façade: rebuilt 1137-1140
Caen, Saint-Etienne, west façade: ca. 1100: Norman
"Westwork" type façade: German imperial architecture
(cf. Cathedral of Speyer: 11th century)
Roman city gates (Trier, Porta Nigra: 2nd-3rd century C.E.)
Roman triumphal arch: (Rome, Arch of Constantine: 312-315 C.E.)
England and Normandy
Durham Cathedral: 1093-1133, ribbed groin vaultGermany (Holy Roman Empire)
Speyer Cathedral: 1030-1060; vaulted early 12th century, groin vault, Corinthian capitalsFrance
Toulouse, St. Sernin: c. 1075-1120, abbey (monastic church)Perigueux, St. Front: begun c. 1120, cp. Venice, S. Marco: begun 1063
Italy
Rome, S. Maria in Trastevere: begun 1120s basilica
Saint-Denis Choir: 1140-1144
double ambulatory with radiating chapels
compare:
Toulouse, Saint-Sernin (Languedoc): ca. 1100
Paris, Abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Champs (Order of Cluny): 1130sStained glass windows and the metaphysics of light
Suger's chalice (Washington, D.C., National Gallery)
rebuilt 1137-1140
Caen, Saint-Etienne, west facade: ca. 1100: Norman "Westwork" type facade: German imperial architecture (cf. Cathedral Speyer: 11th century)
Roman triumphal arch: (Rome, Arch of Constantine: 312-315 C.E.)
Roman city gates (Trier, Porta Nigra: 2nd-3rd century C.E.)
Technical terms:
tension
compressionpost and lintel system (trabeation)
archVaults
barrel or tunnel vault:
Toulouse, St. Sernin: ca. 1080-1120
groin or cross vault
Church of the Madeleine, Vézelay: 1120s
ribbed vault
Durham Cathedral: 1093-1133
read Stoddard, pp. 20-9, 112-9
Paris, Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres: ca. 1145-1160
burial church of Merovingian kings
flying buttressesSens Cathedral: begun ca. 1135?
Primate of France
Archbishop Henri le Sanglier
sexpartite vaults, alternating pier system
compare priory church of Paray-le-Monial
(Burgundian Romanesque)Vezelay, Abbey of La Madeleine: new choir c. 1180-1200
pilgrimage church and monasteryFontenay Abbey: 1139-1147
Order of Citeaux (Cistercian Order)
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Saint-Denis, west facade: ca. 1135-1140
bronze doors
jamb statues or column figures
Old Testament kings, queens, prophets
tympanum: Last Judgement
archivolts (arches around door, composed of voussoirs):
Elders of the ApocalypseChartres Cathedral
West facade (Royal Portals): ca. 1145-1155
"artists": Headmaster, Master of Saint-Denis, Etampes Master
jamb statues: (kings, queens, and priest)
theme of rex et sacerdos
capital frieze: Infancy of Christ, Passion of Christ
right portal: Virgin portal
Virgin as Throne of Wisdom
Seven Liberal Arts: trivium and quadrivium
contemplative life (vita contemplativa)
left portal: Ascension? Creation?
Signs of the Zodiac and Labors of the Months
active life (vita activa)
central portal: Christ in Majestycomparative monuments:
Toulouse, Cathedral of Saint-Etienne, chapter house apostles: ca. 1130
Vezelay, Abbey of La Madeleine, portal: ca. 1125/30
Verona, Cathedral (Italy), west portal: ca. 1130Chartres Cathedral
Stained glass windows, west facade: ca. 1150-1155
Tree of Jesse
Infancy of Christ
Passion of ChristSenlis Cathedral
west facade: ca. 1170
Coronation of the Virgin