| Gothic Architecture, Origin and Development |
From the mid-12th century to the 16th century northern European architecture was characterized by the use of flying buttresses, pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and traceried windows. The thin walls, slender columns, and the very large areas of glass in Gothic buildings gave an impression of lightness that contrasted markedly with the Romanesque. Gothic architecture originated at the royal abbey church of St. Denis, built by Abbot Suger between 1137 and 1144. It was refined in the great churches of northern and central France, such as Amiens Cathedral (1220-70), notable for its great height and the slenderness of its columns, and the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris (1247-48), in which exceptionally large wall areas were filled with glass and tracery. Indeed, Gothic architecture was most fully developed in France and England, where the style spread in the late 12th century. The spread of Gothic to Germany was delayed until the mid-13th century, and in this country only a few cathedrals, such as the one in Cologne (begun 1248), approached the size and quality of the northern French prototypes. The most thorough application of northern Gothic to Italy was in the Milan Cathedral, built at the end of the 14th century by French and German masons. In general, the Italians tended to use Gothic as a decorative feature rather than as a total building system. Many Gothic secular buildings survive, some of the finest examples being the Bruges Town Hall (1376-1420) in Belgium, the Palazzo Pubblico (begun 1298) in Siena, Italy, and the Pont Valentre (early 14th century) in Cahors, France. The greatest concentration of Gothic secular buildings is in Belgium, in what was then the most prosperous part of northwest Europe. |
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