The Gothic style developed through the extensive use of the Islamic pointed arch
which allowed the full weight of the walls and ceilings to be distributed to thin but very strong columns ...
in turn permitting the walls to reach to ever greater heights and
allowing vastly more wall space for the insertion of delecate stained glass windows


The Abbey of Saint Denis and the Cathedral

The Royal Cathedral of Saint Denis - the Western facade (early 1100s)
Designed by the Abbot Suger (c. 1081-1151) -- who was the first to create the early prototype of the 'Gothic' cathedral
(departing from the 'Romanesque' style prevalent in Europe)
All but three of the French kings who ruled from the 900s to 1789 are buried here --
as well as most of the famous kings dating back to Clovis (d.511)

The Royal Cathedral of Saint Denis - the Choir

The Royal Cathedral of Saint Denis - the Nave

The Royal Cathedral of Saint Denis - the Rose Window

The chalice of the Abbot Suger (early 1100s)
Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art


Chartres

The Chartres Cathedral - the Western facade
The cathdral was built mostly during the period 1193 to 1250; the spire on the left was added in the 1500s

Stained glass window, Chartres Cathedral (c. 1220-1230)

The Chartres Cathedral and town of Chartres


The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris (1163 - early 1300s)

The Cathedral of Burgos (1221-1260; upper portion and bell tower, 1400s)

Nave, Cathedral of Amiens (c. 1220-1250)

Central nave, Cathedral of Tournai, Belgium (early-mid 1100s)

The Dormition of the Virgin (1220-1230) Tympanium, Strasbourg Cathedral, portal of the south transept

Vaults, Cologne Cathedral (1248-1322)

Vaults of the nave, Exeter Cathedral (c. 1280-1290)

Detail of a stained-glass window, Canterbury Cathedral (c. 1180-1220)

Mostly located in Italy, Romanesque 'Medieval' cathedrals were built largely along the lines
of the traditional Roman basilica (such as at those at Ravenna and Trier) ...
although gradually (1200s) they borrowed some of the features of the Gothic structures of Northern Europe

The Campo of Pisa
(in the foreground, the baptistery, 1153-1300s; cathedral, 1063-1200s; campanile, 1173-1350)

Niccola Pisano d'Apulia (architect) – Dome of the baptistery of Pisa
Georges Jansoone

Niccola Pisano d'Apulia – Pulpit in the baptistery of Pisa

Pulpit in the baptistery of Pisa - details

View of the apse, Church of Saints Mary and Donatus, Murano (Veneto, Italy) 1100s

The Papal Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi - Assisi, Italy
(building started up in 1228)

Interior of the Church of Santa Croce, Florence (1295-1413)

Duccio di Buoninsegna – Madonna and Child with Saints
Obverse of the reredos for the main altar, Cathedral of Siena (1298-1311) tempera on panel
Siena, Museo della Metropolitana

Interior, Baptistery of Parma, 1196-1260

Eastern apse of the Cathedral of Spire, Germany (c. 1100)

Facade, Church of Santiago de Compostela (the Porch of Glory) 1188-1200

 Westminster Abbey (constructed by English King Henry III during the period 1245 - 1269)

Westminster Abbey – North Entrance
Wikipedia - "Westminster Abbey"


Sénanque Abbey – Vaucluse, France (1100s)


Cloister of the abbey church Saint-Pierre de Moissac – Tarn-et-Garonne, France (late 1100s)

The Mystic Mill (Moses emptying a sack of grain and St. Paul gathering the flour)
Capital, central nave – Church of the Madeleine, Vézelay, France (c. 1120 - 1140)

Scene from the Apocalypse (c. 1100) – fresco in the porch of
the abbey church of St. Savin-sur-Gartempe (Vienne, France

Claus Sluter – The Well of Moses (c.1400)
Dado, Way of the Cross, cloister, Charterhouse of Champmol, near Dijon


The Old University of Bologna buildings - founded in 1088

's Gravensteen – castle in Ghent of the counts of Flanders (c. 1180)

Bodiam Castle, England, 1300s

The Pope's Palace at Avignon (Southern France) where they stayed during their 'Babylonian Captivity' (early 1300s)

House of Jacques Coeur (financial advisor to Charles VII) Bourges (1443-1451)

Hôtel-Dieu, Beaune (Côte d'Or, France)
Hospital founded by Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor of the Duke of Burgundy(c. 1443)

Krak des Chevaliers - Fortress of the Knights Hospitallers in Syria
Built by the Knights Hospitallers beginning in 1140s and held by them until the castle fell to the Mamluks in 1271


Giunta Pisano – Crucifix (c. 1250) tempera on wood
Bologna, Basilica of Saint Dominic

Giunta Pisano – Saint Francis (1260-1270) oil on canvas
Rome, Vatican Pinacoteca


The tomb of Richard I of England 'the Lionheart' (died 1199)
Fontevraud Abbey, Anjou - France

Richard III (1377) tempera on panel
London, Westminster Abbey

Bonn Pietà (c. 1300) wood
Cologne, Rheinisches Landesmuseum

Hildegard receiving a vision and dictating to her scribe and secretary Volmar
and sketching on a wax tablet
Illumination from the Liber Scivias (c. 1150)

For more of Hildegard's work

Joisting at a tournament

Late Medieval carpenter

Late Medieval butcher

Late Medieval dyer

Continue on to the Next Section: Early Renaissance Art

Miles H. Hodges - 2018