Gothic Cathedral

Cathedral

During the middle of the twelfth century, in the region surrounding Paris, several innovative art and craft forms began to coalesce within the renovations of existing church structures. Initially consisting of hybrid elements within earlier buildings, primarily the Romanesque abbeys, the new style soon accentuated its own merits. Before passing from favor, the expression we know today as Gothic Art would dominate European architectural development for the nearly four hundred years.

The churches and cathedrals of the Gothic era are currently enjoying a renewed interest and reverence. It is a great understatement to say that this was not always true. Throughout the centuries Gothic structures have suffered far more than disinterest and neglect. Periodic turns of popular taste have at times inspired movements for the outright annihilation of these grand structures.

Architecture is what we think of most as the expression of the Gothic age. Its first forms arise within the 12th century, seemingly from the very heart of their Romanesque forebears. As the paramount builder of the Middle Age centuries, the church provided this new creative/technical form with its greatest avenue of manifestation. It would not be until the 'Neo-Gothic' era of the nineteenth century that the style would make an expression through secular structures on any broad scale.

Contrary to popular perception, Gothic style refers to more than cathedral structures. The label applies to art, sculpture, glass works, decorative pieces and illuminated manuscripts from the mid 12th through the early 16th century.

Gothic Cathedrals

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