[Gothic Art (2)(continued (16)):] High Gothic [14th March 1991]

[Redbook8:326-327][19910314:1020j][Gothic Art (2)(continued (16)):] High Gothic [14th March 1991]

19910314.1020

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‘High Gothic. During the period c[irca] 1250-1300 European art was dominated for the first time by the art and architecture of France. The reasons for this are not clear, although it seems certain that they are connected with the influence of the court of King Louis IX* (1226-70).

‘By c[irca] 1220-1230it must have been clear that engineering expertise had pushed building sizes to limits beyond which it was unsafe to go. The last of these gigantic buildings, Beauvais, had a disastrous history, which included the collapse of its vaults, and it was never completed. Around 1230 architects became less interested in size and more interested in decoration. The result was the birth of what is known as the Rayonnant style (from the radiating style of the rose windows, which were one of its most prominent features), The earliest moves in this direction were at Amiens cathedral, where the choir triforium and clerestory were begun after 1236[ce] (Figure 38), and at Saint-Denis, where transepts and nave were begun after 1231[ce]. Architects opened up as much of the wall surface as possible, producing areas of glazing that run from the top of the main arcade to the apex of the vault (Figure 39). The combination of the triforium gallery and clerestory into one large glazed area had, of course, a unifying effect on the elevations. It produced an intricate play of tracery patterns and instantly unleashed an era of intense experiment into the form that these patterns should take. Many of the achievements of the Rayonnant architects are extremely fine – for instance, the two transept facades, begun during the 1250’s, of Notre dame, Paris. The decorative effect of this architecture depends not only on the tracery of the windows but also the spread of tracery patterns over areas of stonework and on architectural features such as gables.

**

***

*’Saint’ Louis --

{See VI.[[Redbook6:3-6][19881008:1400b]{Raymond}[8th October 1988] ] 3ff ‘Raymond’

& [[Redbook8:332][19910315:1000g][Gothic Art (2)(continued (26))][15th March 1991],] 332,

[[Redbook8:338][19910315:1000y]{[Gothic Art (3)] Saintly Kings}[15th March 1991],] 338}

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**-- ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 13:] 992

***(& see following para[graph] in E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] on Louis IX’s Sainte-Chapelle.

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