A New Height in the World of Architecture An abundance of light filters through the stained glass windows casting the stories they contain onto the people. The different stories the panes encase are vividly expressed through the words of the priest. Necks ached as they look up to the towering points of the arches above them. The feeling of judgment is cast upon the individual’s soul. Hearts race as the miles and miles of structure stretch toward the sanctuary approach them. Gothic Cathedrals showed an architectural advancement as well as a shift in the Church. The Renaissance was the first era to use the term “Gothic”. Harvey)
Even though the church had an abundance of power into what goes into the cathedrals, the individual voices were still heard through the design. The height of the ceilings showed the Church’s power through how high the architect made them, this often led to an overwhelming feeling. Instead of a rounded arch like the Romans used, architects used a pointed arch. There were many advantages towards the pointed arch, such as not having to figure out the height before the width, making the construction easier. This is how the arches were able to be constructed to tall.
These arches were easier to raise or lower if the vaults, structures holding up the arches, needed to be equal to another part of the church. According to Joseph Costello, the height of the arches was safely achieved. “… the ceilings are very tall, such as in the Cathedral of Amiens; its ceiling rises 140 feet above its nave. ” (Costello and Gould). The tall ceilings symbolize the power of the church” towering” over the regular civilians. When one opened the doors to these cathedrals, they felt an overwhelming feeling of unimportance and insignificance because of how high the arches were, as well as the inner beauty of the cathedrals.
The design of the Church showed how the architects were able to convey the Church’s powerful force and the importance of God onto the people. The design for every cathedral was intended for worshiping. The lives of the people during this era revolved around the Church and going to Church. The focus was brought to upon the sanctuary, the place where the priest had held the mass and taught the clergy about the church’s teachings, with the length of the structure since it was towards the back of the building.
Those who enter the building immediately had their eyes drawn up to the towering ceilings. The inside of these cathedrals are more astonishing than the outside. The length of the Church felt like a judgment walk. The people had a long way to walk to get to the sanctuary and with the towering ceilings, there is no question that people felt weak. “… the Church was a major part of everyday life. The Church served to give people spiritual guidance and it served as their government as well. ” (The Church and the Middle Ages).
The church had all of the power over the people at this point in time. The people went with what the church taught them and obeyed what the church said were the laws. If there were people that did not follow the church’s teachings and laws, they were highly frowned upon and were treated with little to no respect. The Church used beautiful stained glass windows to show stories about the scripture the priests were telling them about and to express how beautiful the works of art are that God enabled the architects to create. Inside the cathedrals, there were many windows made of stained glass.
They were usually made in a rose-like pattern and showed pictures that moved the viewer, metaphorically, to a different world. “… [the] windows themselves served as representations of infinity, unity, perfection, and the central role of Christ and the Virgin Mary in the life of the Church” (Lauer). The windows often told stories of how things came to be and the Church’s teachings. Almost all of the population during this time was illiterate, meaning that they can not read or write, so the windows were a way for them to visualize the stories or teachings that the priest may have been reaching about.
This was a beneficial way to get the Clergy, members of the church, to understand the teachings better and probably gave the church a more trustworthy appeal. Since the clergy was illiterate, the higher powers of the church were able to get the people to believe what they wanted. The builders of the cathedrals used light from the windows as a symbol of God looking, or in this case, shining down on them. Josh Lauer notes, the use of light as a factor in worship and in understanding the mystical paralleled another chief goal of the medieval cathedral builder.
The way that the builders created the pathway of light through different windows and open space added to the overwhelming feeling as one would enter the church. The abundance of light coming into the church could have also symbolized God in a way and there was so much light showing what he is powerful. This was a plus for the leaders of the Church as they had all of the power and were able to control how the people thought since they went with what they were taught or what they saw on the windows.
Although the Church was powerful, individual architects put on the job of building the magnificent cathedrals put their own personal and creative touch on the design. Gothic cathedrals were one of the most beautiful artworks, both in the eyes of the past and of the present generation. Even though the style of the cathedrals were basically the same, no two churches were exactly the same. Eventually, many cathedrals were damaged by revolution, fires, and wars. At the time as well as today, Gothic cathedrals are such a beauty.
This just shows that the creators took good pride and had a big task since they were creating a place of worship. This is remarkable because they had been able to add their own insights and ideas while the Church had so much control. Even though every cathedral was built by a different person and had many unique characteristics and designs, they were all Gothic style. The Gothic time period was being innovative with its advances in the knowledge of architecture. Architecture at this point in time was labeled Gothic for its dvances in the way buildings were established with pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, and flying buttresses that gave way to taller and more stable buildings. (Spanswick)
The Renaissance appreciated beauty, but the time period was focused more on the study of Roman art and history. Although the focus was mainly Roman history, the Renaissance still applauded the innovative ways that the new and dynamic design was being accomplished. Cathedrals are their own individual works of art. The Gothic time period was a time of absolute power with the Church, but the individual was still able to show themselves through the creation of the cathedrals.
It also shows new innovation as architects came up with the pointed arch. The ways of the church were taught by the lovely stained glass which held pictures of stories for those who were unable to read to aid them with the teachings. The cathedrals themselves were a symbol that represented the Church and its power over the people. The work of the individual was shown through all of these different aspects of design that make up the wonderful structure for the powerful church called a Gothic Cathedral.
