PrimeLuck ArtsGothic art
Gothic art began in the architecture of French churches. Pointed arches, ribbed vaults and large stained-glass windows made tall buildings filled with coloured light.
- Period
- Medieval art and global traditions
- Approximate dates
- c. 1140 to c. 1500
- Place of origin
- Ile-de-France, near Paris
- Key regions
- France, England, Germany, Italy, Spain
- Art forms
- Cathedral architecture, stained glass, sculpture, manuscript illumination
- Major artists
- Abbot Suger (patron); many master builders and glaziers were unnamed
Visual introduction
Chartres Cathedral
Unknown master builders · Rebuilt mainly 1194 to c. 1220 · Stone and stained glass · Chartres, France
Keeps much of its original glass and sculpture, and shows the High Gothic style clearly.
Image: Photo: Jörg Bittner Unna, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Notre-Dame de Paris
Unknown master builders · Begun 1163 · Stone and stained glass · Paris, France
An early great Gothic cathedral where flying buttresses were developed.
Image: Photo: Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sainte-Chapelle
Attributed to Pierre de Montreuil · Consecrated 1248 · Stone and stained glass · Paris, France
Walls of glass fill the upper chapel with coloured light, showing the Gothic aim at its fullest.
Historical context
The Gothic style is usually dated from the rebuilding of the abbey church at Saint-Denis near Paris in the 1140s. Growing towns and trade paid for great cathedrals that showed civic pride as well as faith.
New building methods, especially the pointed arch, the rib vault and the flying buttress, let walls carry less weight, so large windows could be opened. Stained glass told Bible stories to people who could not read. Gothic sculpture and illuminated manuscripts also became more natural and expressive over time.
Visual characteristics
Architecture: height and vertical lines, pointed arches, rib vaults and flying buttresses.
Light and colour: stained glass fills the building with jewel-coloured light, as a way of showing heaven.
Sculpture and painting: figures slowly become more lifelike and emotional, and later Gothic painting uses fine detail and gold.
Related movements
Sources and further reading
Further reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Tate, Art Terms. Smarthistory.