Gothic Cathedral Essay

chivalric architecture was developed from a Christian perspective, and therefore come through its most meaningful expression in churches. Clerics began to demand t eitherer churches with more windows than had been feed in the dark, but sturdy Romanesque churches. This desire was derived from new intellectual and spectral concepts that took a more rational view of God, and saw God encompassed umpteen things, such as light, reason and proportion. The Gothic church displayed a optic attempt to leave behind the mysterious world of the Romanesque, and create a setting that was drawn toward light and purity that could be an image of heaven.The substance class also had a great invite on the Gothic style as they desired churches that could reflect their economic power and affable status. The most magnificent characteristics of Gothic style were the use of light and affinity between structure and appearance. Other defining characteristics were that the massive thickness of the wall s from Romanesque architecture were replaced with membrane-thin frameworks use for enclosure which could support nothing but their own weight. rib vaults were used to allow lighter materials to be placed between tilt ribs, thus reducing weight.The weight of the walls and roof were no longer back up by columns, but by external flying buttresses. They also used pointed arches and slender columns to lift the ceiling, which created an overwhelming height. Wall paintings, which had been common in the Romanesque, were at a time replaced with beautiful and enormous varnished glass windows that allowed more light into the structures, imbuing all with a sense of warmth and color.Chartres Cathedral-InteriorChartres CathedralInteriorThe cathedral at Chartres was built during the Gothic period, and it showed an ideal of harmony within its structure and contents. knead on the cathedral started in 1194, and was mostly completed in 1220. It emphasizes hale vertical lines in its structure. Th e stained glass windows that are used in this cathedral, (it has 176), are recognized as the finest example from the gothic style. Today, 94% of the stained glass is original, and it is the largest, most extensive collection of medieval glass in the world. Rose windows were used.The primary subject of the great roses is the Virgin and the Child. The rose windows created unity and completeness. Indeed, ithas a special relationship to the Virgin Mary in that it pictured more realistic and humane qualities of the Virgin Mary. The cathedral reflects the strong influence that God held over the people at that time. It shows an expression of piety and local anaesthetic identity to those that were proud to live in the vicinity of the cathedral itself. It enhance civic pride, and was the focus of the town itself.