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History

French Gothic
Architecture
P R E PA R E D B Y

A D N A N – A M A D – D I R H AT – F O U A D - S I V E R

S A H A N D – K AW D A N – M O H A M M E D

Supervisereed by : Mr.Naram
Origins
French Gothic architecture was the result of the emergence in the 12th century of powerful •
French state centered in the Île-de-France. During the reign of Louis VI of France (1081–1137),
Paris was the principal residence of the Kings of France, Reims the place of coronation, and the 
Abbey of Saint-Denis became their ceremonial burial place. The Abbot of Saint-Denis, Suger, was
a counselor of Louis VI and Louis VII, as well as a historian. He oversaw the reconstruction of the
ambulatory of Saint-Denis, making it the first and most influential example of Gothic architecture
.in France.[2] The first complete Gothic cathedral, Sens Cathedral, was finished shortly afterwards
[3][4]

Over the later course of the Capetian dynasty (1180 to 1328), three Kings: Philip Augustus (1180– •
1223), Louis IX of France (1226–1270), and Philip le Bel (1285–1314), established France as the
major economic and political power on the Continent. The period also saw the founding of the
University of Paris or Sorbonne. It produced the High Gothic and the Flamboyant Gothic styles,
and the construction of some of the most famous cathedrals, including Chartres Cathedral, 
[5]
.Amiens Cathedral Reims Cathedral, and
Norman Gothic
Angevine Gothic

Religious architecture in Maine Gothic

the French regions Burgundian Gothic

Meridional Gothic

 
Characteristics
Rib vaults
The birthplace of the new style was the Basilica of
Saint-Denis in the Île-de-France, not far north of Paris
where, in 1137, the Abbé Suger began the
reconstruction of the Carolingian-era abbey church. Just
to the west of the original church, he began building a
new structure with two towers, and then, from 1140 to
1144, he began to reconstruct the old church. Most of
his modifications were traditional, but he made one
remarkable innovation; he decided to create a new choir
at the east end of the building, using the pointed arch
and the rib vault in the construction of the choir and the
ambulatory with radiating chapels. The use of rib vaults,
and buttresses outside supporting the walls, allowed the
elimination of the traditional walls between the chapels,
and the installation of large stained glass windows. This
gave the ambulatory a striking openness, light, and
greater height
Rib Vaults
The builders then constructed the nave of the church, •
also using rib vaults. It was constructed in four levels;
the arcades on the ground floor whose two rows of
columns received the ribs of the ceiling vaults; the
tribune above it, a gallery which concealed the
massive contreforts or buttresses which pressed against
the walls; the triforium, another, narrower gallery; and,
just below the ceiling, the claire-voie or clerestorey,
where the windows were located. The resulting greater
height and light differed dramatically from the
heaviness of Romanesque architecture. On the facade
of the church, Suger introduced another innovation; he
used columns in the form of statues of saints to
decorate the portal of the church, adding a new
element of verticality to the facade. This idea too was
soon copied in new cathedrals.[7]
The first cathedral constructed in the new style was
Sens Cathedral, begun between 1135 and 1140 and
consecrated in 1160.[3][4] It featured a Gothic choir,
and six-part rib vaults over the nave and collateral
aisles, alternating pillars and doubled columns to
support the vaults, and flying buttresses.[3] One of the
builders believed to have worked on that Cathedral,
William of Sens, later traveled to England and became
the architect who reconstructed the choir of
Six Rib Vaults Canterbury Cathedral in the Gothic style. Sens
Cathedral was soon was soon followed by Senlis
Cathedral (begun 1160), and the most prominent of
all, Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris (begun 1160).
Their builders abandoned the traditional plans and
introduced the new Gothic elements. The builders of
Notre Dame went further by introducing the flying
buttress, heavy columns of support outside the walls
connected by arches to the walls, which received and
counterbalanced the thrust from the rib vaults of the
roof. This allowed the builders to construct higher
walls and larger windows.
The flying buttress

The second major innovation of the Gothic style was the  •


flying buttress, which was first used at Notre-Dame Cathedral.
This transferred the thrust of the weight of the roof outside the
walls, where it was countered by the weight of the buttress.
Heavy stone pinnacles were added to the top of the
buttresses, to precisely counterbalance the thrust from inside
the walls. The buttress allowed a significant reduction in the
thickness of the cathedral walls, and permitted the use of
larger windows in the interior of the church. In churches such
as Sainte Chapelle, thanks to buttresses, the walls were
[25]
.made almost entirely of stained glass
The portal and tympanum

A N O T H E R I N N O VAT I V E F E AT U R E O F T H E F R E N C H G O T H I C C AT H E D R A L
W A S T H E D E S I G N O F T H E   P O R T A L  O R E N T R Y, W H I C H B Y L O N G
C H R I S T I A N T R A D I T I O N F A C E D W E S T . T H E   B A S I L I C A O F S T D E N I S  H A D
A T R I P L E P O R TA L , D E C O R AT E D W I T H C O L U M N S I N T H E F O R M O F
S TAT U E S O F A P O S T L E S A N D S A I N T S A R O U N D T H E D O O R W AY S , A N D
B I B L I C A L S C E N E S C R O W D E D W I T H S TAT U A R Y O V E R T H E D O O R W AY S .
T H I S T R I P L E P O R TA L WA S A D O P T E D B Y A L L T H E M A J O R C AT H E D R A L S .
A   T Y M P A N U M  O V E R T H E P O R T A L , C R O W D E D W I T H S C U L P T U R A L
F I G U R E S I L L U S T R AT I N G A B I B L I C A L S T O R Y B E C A M E A F E AT U R E O F
G O T H I C C AT H E D R A L S . F O L L O W I N G T H E E X A M P L E O F A M I E N S , T H E
T Y M PA N U M O V E R T H E C E N T R A L P O R TA L T R A D I T I O N A L LY D E P I C T E D
T H E   L A S T J U D G E M E N T, T H E R I G H T P O R T A L S H O W E D T H E
C O R O N A T I O N O F T H E V I R G I N M A R Y, A N D T H E L E F T P O R T A L S H O W E D
T H E L I V E S O F S A I N T S W H O W E R E I M P O R TA N T I N T H E D I O C E S E
Stained glass and the
rose window
Large stained glass windows and rose windows were
another defining feature of the Gothic style. Some
Gothic windows, like those at Chartres, were cut into
the stone walls. Other windows, such as those in the
chapels of Notre-Dame and Reims, were in stone
frames installed into the walls. The most common form
was an oculus, a small round window with two lancets,
or windows with pointed arches, just below it. The rose
window was the most famous type of the Gothic style.
They were placed in the transepts and the portals to
provide light to the nave. The largest rose windows
were ten meters in diameter. They had a framework of
stone armatures often in an ornate floral pattern, to help
them resist the wind. Gothic windows were in a stone
.frame separate from the wall, not cut into the wall
Stained glass and
the rose window
The early windows were made of pieces of tinted •
glass, touched up with grisaille painting, and held in
place by pieces of lead that outlined the figures. As
the windows grew larger, more intense colors were
used. After 1260, the colors became lighter, and the
combination of grisaille and pale shades of yellow
became more common. Chartres Cathedral and 
Le Mans Cathedral have some of the finest surviving
original windows
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Reims Cathedral
Amiens Cathedral
Conclusion
Conclusion Gothic architecture was the type of construction technique adopted by many
architects and engineers after the Romanesque period. It was mainly characterized by
the arches which transmitted most of their loads via the vertical components as opposed to
the horizontal ones.

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