Notre Dame de Paris is a medieval cathedral and one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. It is well-known for its fascinating architecture, paintings, sculptures, furniture and the treasury. Perhaps, the most appealing and mysterious elements of this magnificent structure are gargoyles. Gargoyles are frightening grotesquely-shaped waterspouts that look down from above, watching. According to Morain “Some historians believe demonic carvings were added to churches as a kind of "sacred scarecrow" to ward off evil spirits and protect the valuables inside. Others think the gargoyles and grotesques were designed as reminders of the evil outside the church and the holy sanctuary within.” Most people visiting the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris think …show more content…
These creations are not medieval Gothic, but rather contemporary creations. Restored gargoyles were inspired by the ideas of Victor Hugo’s novel, racism and politics.
Victor Hugo’s novel ‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’ (1831) stimulated widespread interest in Notre-Dame de Paris, influenced the initial decision to restore the cathedral and inspired the appearance of chimeras and gargoyles. According to Camille, who wrote a book on these gargoyles, “One could argue that, beyond the chimeras, which are the direct descendants of Quasimodo and his stone friends, the west façade of the cathedral as we see it today is more a monument to a great fiction that was Victor Hugo’s than to anything originating in the Middle Ages.” (Camille, 72) Hugo gives a detailed description to gargoyles in the novel mentioning them “with necks outstretched and jaws agape” which was considered in their restoration. Furthermore, the main character of the novel, ugly hunchback Quasimodo, served as their prototype: “And now he turned his face towards men only reluctantly.
Thesis: Both St. John the Baptist Cathedral and Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Chartres are constructed in French Gothic style which means that architecturally they have many similarities. However, the 700 year gap between their construction offers St. John the Baptist more flexibility in design and style. Still, their likeness and variations extend far beyond the realm of their design.
I chose two cathedrals for my post, the Durham Cathedral and the Chartres Cathedral. The Durham Cathedral, my example of Romanesque architecture, was built from local sandstone in 1087-1133 CE (the east wing was replaced in 1242) and is currently located in Nothern England. The Gothic style structure, the Chartres Cathedral (also known as the Cathedral of Notre-Dame), was mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220 CE due to a fire causing it to be rebuilt. Assembled utilizing limestone, this colossal structure is currently located in France and is known for it’s strikingly beautiful stained-glass windows. These structures share a few similarities, like their ribbed groin vaults (the crossing segments on the ceiling of the hallways), the high-placed windows as well as their huge circular window that were added to provide light and a
Ronald Joseph Dominique was born in Thibodaux , Louisiana,( Between New Orleans and Baton Rouge), on January 9, 1964. Thibodaux was a relatively well-sized city of about 14, 567 people. Ronald had attended Thibodaux High School and was involved in their glee club and choir, and unfortunately was a victim of sexual discrimination; Ronald was a victim of bullying where the students had accused him of homosexuality. Due to the event, as he aged he developed a sense of split- personality. One side of him would be a gentle, calm, mild -natured and friendly neighbor, and the other side of him was a cross-dressing drag queen attending homosexual bars. In fact, Ron was in the Lions Club just a few months before his arrest and his confession to the
Gothic literature just continues to get better and better! Since the first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto in 1764, gothic literature has persistently flourished and has been altered over time. The changes are prominent in the excerpts from Vathek, The Italian, Frankenstein, and Wuthering Heights. Over many years, the expansion of gothic literature has displayed an increase in the amount of modern vocabulary, the literature itself has become darker and more unnatural, and the literature has incorporated further character development. All of these factors have transformed gothic literature in a way that has both complimented The Castle of Otranto and progressed away from it as well.
This work is typical for this era because the architectural style Gothic is known for its height being tall and made from stone and tall flying buttress...
The term “gothic” comes from the name of the Germanic tribes “the Goths”, who were seen as barbarians, uncivilized, savage human beings. Later, the term was used to describe an architectural style that appeared in the Twelfth Century in Western Europe , and also to illustrate a new type of novel issued in Romanticism, in the second part of the Eighteenth Century.
The carvings and sculptures on the front of Westminster Palace consist of many beautiful aspects of life, such as birds, flowers, and trees. These beauty-related carvings are contrasted by the gargoyles adorning the top of the walls (Foley 185-186). Gargoyles are ugly, vicious looking creatures viewed as a representation of evil among the church and society. The stone carvings on the facade of Westminster Palace are indicative of the contradictions present between values, morals and actions of the Victorian upper class citizens.
The Basilica of St. Denis was originally built in 500-599 AD, but was later reconstructed by Abbot Suger in c.1135-1144. Although its original architect is unknown, it is most famous for its reconstruction that was overseen by Abbot Suger (Panofsky). This basilica is also well known for its representation of Europe’s architectural shift from the Romanesque style to Gothic. The Gothic style brought new designs and was dubbed the “transformat...
In the end of the 12th century and the start of the 13th century the Gothic and Naturalism movement was moving across Europe. Originally a derogatory term Gothic was used to describe the art of Northern Europe. Despite the resistance to the abandonment of traditional architecture the beauty of stained glass and flamboyant architecture of the gothic style quickly gained popularity. The churches were built by the common people and for the common people. Stained glass was used to depict biblical passages in an intriguing way for those who were illiterate which at the time was a large part of the population. Cathedrals were beacons that could be seen for miles with their pointed spires and from the country side they appeared to be the center of
The term ‘Gothic’ conjures a range of possible meanings, definitions and associations. It explicitly denotes certain historical and cultural phenomena. Gothicism was part of the Romantic Movement that started in the eighteenth century and lasted about three decades into the nineteenth century. For this essay, the definition of Gothic that is applicable is: An 18th century literary style characterized by gloom and the supernatural. In the Gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a wide range of issues are explored. Frankenstein represents an entirely new vision of the female Gothic, along with many other traditional themes such as religion, science, colonialism and myth.
The church in the Middle Ages was a place that all people, regardless of class, could belong to. As a source of unity, its influence on art and architecture was great during this time. As society drew away from the feudal system of the Romanesque period, a new spirit of human individualism began to take hold; alas, the birth of Gothic. Here, the Church became a place where humanity became more acceptable, alas becoming the ideal place to visual such new ideals. The beauty and elegance of Gothic architecture is depicted most in the great cathedrals of the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries—St. Denis, Notre Dame, Chartres, Salisbury, Durham, Amiens, and more. The experience of looking at one of the great gothic cathedrals is to look up towards God. Indeed, most Gothic structures emphasize the vertical, drawing one’s eyes upwards toward the heavens with the awesomeness of God. These cathedrals were built with towering spires, pointed arches and flying buttresses giving impressions of harmony and luminosity. One of the major accomplishments of the 12th and 13th centuries was to develop the engineering mastery of the ribbed vault, pointed arch and flying buttress to create a great cathedral that is at once taller, lighter, wider, and more elegant than the ones before. Even though the pointed arch could support more weight than its predecessors, there was still the problem of finding a way to support the heavy masonry ceiling vaults over wide spans. In order to support the outward thrust of barrel vaults, vertical support walls have to be very thick and heavy. What makes possible the extensive use of ribbed vaulting and pointed arches to “open” and “lighten” the walls and space of the cathedral is the flying buttress—“an arched bridge above the aisle roof that extends from the upper nave wall, where the lateral thrust of the main vault is greatest, down to a solid pier.”
Print. The. Mike. The Evolution of Gothic Architecture. Aquinas Multimedia.
of the church's architecture, for example the "exceptional" prominent" a gargoyles. Included in the church's decoration, as they had. become fashionable during the Gothic revival. Also via figurative language such as "like ingredients in a cauldron" which adds to the gothic theme running through the passage creating an air of the supernatural. Gargoyles' uses were two-fold: firstly they acted as a drainage system, however more importantly their design was "grotesque" as this was believed to frighten malevolent spirits, thus acting as a guardian of the people.
The utilisation of gargoyles in Gothic architecture was for two reasons. On a practical level, they were spouts that moved drain water off the roof. On a spiritual level, they scared people into going to church. Finally, the height of Gothic cathedrals was meant to symbolise reaching up to the heavens and strengthening the inhabitants relationships with God. [Swaan, Wim. 1969. The Gothic Cathedral. Garden City, NY:
Lame and deaf, the one-eyed, misshapen curiosity of Paris, Quasimodo, dwells as a hermit in the Cathedral of Notre Dame during the 15th century. Taken under the care of Jean-Claude Frollo when only an infant, Quasimodo receives the occupation of bell ringer, and thus spends his life in constant devotion to the cold, exacting and insensate Archdeacon, extracting all earthly pleasure from his haven&emdash;the cathedral&emdash;and imparting all his passion to the ringing...