Gothic Art

Notre-Dame de Strasbourg-Central Portal-Western Façade

Gothic Art and the urban spirit

The Gothic Art was a result of changes in the Medieval society. As feudal lords were a permanent problem for the monarchs, a silent alliance was formed between the kings and the cities, the main source of money for the monarchy. The public spirit of the cities evolved based on this alliance.

It was more prominent in the Gothic Art because the relation between public and art was direct, and when the cathedral was built, was seen and used by all the citizens who had helped to pay for its construction. People took a personal pride in it and all felt a personal rivalry with every other city which was boasting its own great building.

Within the walls of the cities, the urban civilization began to flourish, guilds and corporations were formed, the bourgeoisie and workmen started to assert their role in the society, and it was the population of the cities, guided by religion, who erected the cathedrals.

The cathedrals, indissolubly related to the Gothic Art, expressed the municipal pride, the entire town being devoted to the task of building them. In an endless competition between cities, the buildings had to be vast, so that they could shelter the population of an entire city, and the spires were rising higher and higher.

Gothic Art influenced by the Medieval Church

The Gothic Art was greatly influenced by the church and its revered clergy. During the Dark Ages, the convents were centers of instruction, and the clergy were the guardians of treasuries of civilization. In the Middle Ages, the clergy, beside teaching religion, were the masters of science, literature, diplomacy, and even of the art of war. They became the honored masters of their time, and the cathedrals are a proof of the power of the church, built by the efforts of people belonging to all classes, who were driven by religious faith and a huge charitable impulse, the records mentioning donations from rich and poor alike.

Realism in the Gothic Art

With the Gothic Art, the abstract of the Romanesque is replaced with the tendency to observe, and the study of nature was cultivated in sculptures and paintings, thus making the Gothic Art a “realistic” art.

Hunting Scene-Livre de la Chasse de Gaston Phoebus-1380-Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

The realism of the Gothic Art was also determined by the role the cathedrals had in everyday life. They were in the same time civic buildings, used for town meetings, for public festivals, and for the "miracle plays", being always open to the public.

Gothic Art - Reflection of religious faith

The Gothic Art had to reflect the huge importance the religious faith had in the daily life of the people. The lessons and the stories of the Bible had to be taught by paintings, sculptures, and stained glass, the cathedral being an immense visual library, a museum of art.

The Gothic Art was meant to teach by pictures and reliefs the history of the world as then known and comprehended by the traditions of the church, and the lessons of faith and of sacrifice. It had a popular significance, and the message of its art had to be clearly understood by rich and poor alike, who were all gathering under its roof on equal terms.

The Gothic Art, its sculptures, pictures, stained glass, sculpted and painted panels, appeared in a strong relation to the cathedral. The sculptures and the painted windows influenced even the miniature paintings. A new miniature painting style emerged in the 13th Century, employing more vivid colors in trying to emulate the splendor of the stained glass. Many vignettes were recalling the design of the Gothic windows and their mullions.

Local styles in the Gothic Art

The architecture had the main role in establishing the Gothic Art local styles, and, on a larger scale, marked the difference between the North and the South. In the North, wall surfaces became much more limited than in the Romanesque, leaving little room for paintings. Painting on glass became the only form of monumental art able to take the place of the paintings and mosaics of the previous era. In Italy, the character of the local Gothic style was determined by preserving the layout of the “basilica”. As a result, the cathedrals and churches have much larger wall surfaces when compared to the Northern Gothic. The artists abandoned the mosaics, and covered the walls with frescoes, resulting in that unique style, the Italian Gothic, the “frescoed” gothic.

Emancipated from the monastic limitations, the Gothic Art became more human, more opened to nature and beauty. Born in the religious environment, but rapidly adopted by the secular world, the Gothic Art became not only an art movement, but the defining attribute of an entire epoch.

Gothic Sculpture

Gothic Furniture

More Gothic Art resources.