History of Art: Gothic Art, stained glass

Gothic Art

Gothic Art Map
Gothic Art
Introduction	Benedetto Antelami	Taddeo Gaddi	Vitale da Bologna
Architecture in France	Giovanni di Balduccio	Giotto di Bondone	Guariento d'Arpo
Architecture in Germany	Jacobello Dalle Masegne	Pietro Lorenzetti	Giusto de' Menabuoi
Architecture in Italy	Corenzo Maitani	Ambrogio Lorenzetti	Barnaba da Modena
Architecture in England	Andrea da Firenze	Giovanni da Milano	Melchior Broederlam
Stained Glass	Filippo Rusiti	Gentile da Fabriano	Nicolas de Bataille
Arnolfo di Cambio	Ferrer Bassa	Pucelle Jean	Bayeux Tapestry
Nicola Pisano	Pietro Cavallini	Altichiera da Zevio	Matthew Paris
Giovanni Pisano	Cimabue	Tomasso da Modena	Master Boucicaut
Tino di Camaino	Duccio di Buonisegna	Traini Francesco	Illuminated Manuscripts
Andrea Pisano	Simone Martini	Giovannino de' Grassi	Master Hohenfurt
Claus Sluter	Maso di Banco	Roberto Oderisi	Henri Belechose

Exploration: Revelations (Art of the Apocalypse)

Exploration: Gothic Era (Gothic and Early Renaissance)

STAINED GLASS

THE SUPREMACY OF DRAWING

Villard d'Honnecourt. a 13th-centurv architect from Picardv, created his compilation treatise "Livre de portraiture" in about 1235 to provide Gothic architects with models and examples in technical drawing. From an ornamental leaf to plans for a nave at Rheims. Villard designed geometric systems, and attempted to unveil, through drawing, the rational spirit that he saw as governing creation. This, he believed, should be adapted in the work of the artist, whether it be in the details of a capital or the span of a bridge. Architectural plans became an important part of Gothic art. Although the drawings for the bell-tower of Strasbourg Cathedral were intended to aid building work, their depiction of details of the decorative fretwork and delicately coloured statues show the pictorial and luminous effects to architecture could also aspire.

Villard d'Honnecourt, copy of the Choir of Rheims. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.

STAINED GLASS

The art of stained glass was an integral part of Gothic culture. At the beginning of the 13th century. Western master masons came together from far and wide to work on the construction site of Chartres Cathedral. This remains one of the few cathedral interiors that retains the original stained glass. Work in glass is an art of many disciplines. As well as its technical evolution, well documented by Theosophus and others, this medium carried rich symbolism and iconography, much of the meaning and impact of which is lost to us today. Organic forms fit well with the compartmentalized sections. For the Tree of Jesse", a popular subject first used by Abbot Suger in the Saint-Denis window, curving sections were used to contain within the branches the Kings, the Virgin, and the hierarchy of heaven. Medallions and lozenge shapes were commonly used to divide the events of the great stories of the Bible, the life of Christ, and. most enduring of all, images glorifying the Virgin, the locus of devotion, especially during the 13th century. Most striking of all was the glorious colour that streamed into places of worship all across Europe, bringing light and meaning to the promise of eternal enlightenment from heaven.

Notre Dame de la Belle Verriere,
detail from a stained-glass window in Chartres Cathedral, early 13th cenury.

Robert Master, Madonna and Child, detail from the stained glass in the west window of York Minster.

Saint-Denis (Notre Dame de Saint-Denis), begun 1137,
-first Gothic cathedral
exterior support structures which take the weight off the walls allowing for more windows, and stained glass windows-colored glass in mosaic style

Saint-Denis (Notre Dame de Saint-Denis), begun 1137,
-first Gothic cathedral
exterior support structures which take the weight off the walls allowing for more windows

Stained glass in Notre Dame Cathedral (1145-1220),
Chartres (France)

Strasburg Workshop
1461
Stained glass, Walburg(Alsace), church

Strasburg Workshop
1461
Stained glass, Walburg(Alsace), church

Milan Cathedral, Italy, 1386-1577

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