Editing Gothic architecture (section)

==Windows and stained glass==
[[File:Sainte Chapelle Interior Stained Glass.jpg|thumb|Windows of [[Sainte-Chapelle]] (13th century)]]
{{see also|Tracery}}
Increasing the amount of light in the interior was a primary objective of the founders of the Gothic movement. Abbot Suger described the new kind of architecture he had created in the east end of the [[Basilica of Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis]]: "a circular ring of chapels, by virtue of which the whole church would shine with the wonderful and uninterrupted light of most luminous windows, pervading the interior beauty."{{sfn|Watkin|1986|p=128}}

Religious teachings in the Middle Ages, particularly the writings of [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]], a 6th-century mystic whose book, ''[[De Coelesti Hierarchia]]'', was popular among monks in France, taught that all light was divine.{{sfn|Mignon|2015|p=9}} When the Abbot Suger ordered the reconstruction of choir of the abbey church at Saint-Denis, he had the builders create seventy windows, admitting as much light as possible, as the means by which the faithful could be elevated from the material world to the immaterial world.{{Sfn|Mignon|2015|p=9}}

The placement of the windows was also determined by religious doctrine. The windows on the north side, frequently in the shade, had windows depicting the Old Testament. The windows of the east, corresponding to the direction of the sunrise, had images of Christ and scenes from the New Testament.{{Sfn|McNamara|2017|p=229}}

In the [[Early Gothic architecture|Early Gothic]] period, the glass was particularly thick and was deeply coloured with metal oxides; cobalt for blue, copper for a ruby red, iron for green, and antimony for yellow. The process of making the windows was described in detail by the 12th-century monk known as [[Theophilus Presbyter]]. The glass of each colour was melted with the oxide, [[Glassblowing|blown]], shaped into small sheets, cracked with a hot iron into small pieces, and assembled on a large table. The details were painted onto the glass in [[vitreous enamel]], then baked in a [[kiln]] to fuse the enamel on the glass. The pieces were fit into a framework of thin lead strips, and then put into a more solid frame or iron armatures between the panels.<ref name="EBSG">{{Britannica |562530 |stained glass}}</ref> The finished window was set into the stone opening. Thin vertical and horizontal bars of iron, called ''vergettes'' or ''barlotierres'', were placed inside the window to reinforce the glass against the wind.{{sfn|Mignon|2015|p=22}}

The use of iron rods between the panels of glass and a framework of stone mullions, or ribs, made it possible to create much larger windows. The three rose windows at Chartres (1203–1240) each were more than {{cvt|12|m|-1}} in diameter.<ref name="EBSG" /> Larger windows also appeared at [[York Minster]] (1140–1160) and Canterbury Cathedral (1178–1200)

The stained glass windows were extremely complex and expensive to create. [[King Louis IX]] paid for the rose windows in the transept of Notre-Dame de Paris, but other windows were financed by the contributions of the professions or [[guilds]] of the city.{{Sfn|McNamara|2017|p=228}} These windows usually had a panel which illustrated the work of the guild which funded it, such as the [[drapers]], [[stonemasons]], or [[Cooper (profession)|coopers]].{{sfn|Wenzler|2018|p=28}}

<gallery widths="200" heights="150" perrow="4">
File:Vitraux Saint-Denis 190110 19.jpg|[[Abbey of Saint-Denis]], Abbot [[Suger]] represented at feet of Virgin Mary (12th century)
File:Cathédrale de Bourges - Détail du vitrail de l'Apocalypse (début XIIIème siècle).JPG|Detail of the Apocalypse window, [[Bourges Cathedral]], early 13th century
File:Canterbury Cathedral 011 Medieval glass Thomas a Becket.JPG|Thomas Becket figure from [[Canterbury Cathedral]] (13th century)
File:Baptism Sainte-Chapelle MNMA Cl23717.jpg|Glass of [[Sainte-Chapelle]] depicting a baptism (13th century), now in [[Cluny Museum]]
File:Interior of Sainte Chapelle, Vincennes 140308 1.jpg|[[Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes]] (14th century)
File:Cambridge - King's Chapel - vitraux.jpg|Windows of [[King's College Chapel, Cambridge]] (1446–1451)
</gallery>

The 13th century saw the introduction of a new kind of window, with [[grisaille]], or white glass, with a geometric pattern, usually joined with medallions of stained glass. These windows allowed much more light into the cathedral, but diminished the vividness of the stained glass, since there was less contrast between the dark interior and bright exterior. The most remarkable and influential work of stained glass in the 13th century was the royal chapel, Sainte-Chapelle (1243–1248), where the windows of the upper chapel, {{cvt|15|m|ft}} high, occupied all of the walls on the three sides, with 1,134 individual scenes. Sainte-Chapelle became the model for other chapels across Europe.<ref name="EBSG" />

The 14th century brought a variety of new colours, and the use of more realistic shading and half-toning. This was done by the development of [[flashed glass]]. Clear glass was dipped into coloured glass, then portions of the coloured glass were ground away to give exactly the right shade.<ref name="EBSG" /> In the 15th century, artists began painting directly onto the glass with enamel colours. Gradually the art of glass came closer and closer to traditional painting.<ref name="EBSG" />
 
<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="3">
File:Ulm-Muenster-KramerFensterDetail-061209.jpg|The Visitation window (1480) from [[Ulm Minster]], by [[Peter Hemmel of Andlau]]. Late Gothic with fine shading and painted details.
File:Tondo St Peter MNMA Cl23759.jpg|Late Gothic [[grisaille]] glass and painted figures, depicting Saint Nicholas (France, 1500–1510), [[Cluny Museum]]
File:King's College Chapel, Cambridge, vetrate 02.JPG|Detail of the Late Gothic stained glass of [[King's College Chapel, Cambridge]], (1531) 
</gallery>

One of the most celebrated Flamboyant buildings was the [[Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes]] (1370s), with walls of glass from floor to ceiling. The original glass was destroyed, and is replaced by grisaille glass.{{sfn|Renault|Lazé|2006|p=37}} [[King's College Chapel]] (15th century), also followed the model of walls entirely filled with glass.

The stained glass windows were extremely complex and expensive to create. [[King Louis IX]] paid for the rose windows in the transept of Notre-Dame de Paris, while other windows were often financed by the contributions of the professions or [[guilds]] of the city.{{Sfn|McNamara|2017|p=228}} These windows usually incorporated a panel which illustrates the work of the guild which funded it, such as the drapers, stonemasons, or barrel-makers.{{sfn|Wenzler|2018|p=28}}

In England, the stained glass windows also grew in size and importance; major examples were the Becket Windows at [[Canterbury Cathedral]] (1200–1230) and the windows of [[Lincoln Cathedral]] (1200–1220). Enormous windows were also an important element of [[York Minster]] and [[Gloucester Cathedral]].

Much of the stained glass in Gothic churches today dates from later restorations, but a few, notably Chartres Cathedral and [[Bourges Cathedral]], still have many of their original windows{{sfn|Wenzler|2018|p=28}}

===Rose windows===
Rose windows were a prominent feature of many Gothic churches and cathedrals. The rose was a symbol of the Virgin Mary, and they were particularly used in churches dedicated to her. The French Gothic cathedrals of Chartres,<ref name="Jantzen1984">{{cite book |last1=Jantzen |first1=Hans |title=High Gothic: The Classic Cathedrals of Chartres, Reims, Amiens |year=1984 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-00372-6 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d989DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64}}</ref> Notre Dame de Paris, Reims, and Laon have them in the west façade, and in the transepts as well.<ref name="Marten2022">{{cite book |last1=Marten |first1=Bettina |editor1-last=Borngässer |editor1-first=Barbara |editor2-last=Klein |editor2-first=Bruno |title=Global Gothic: Gothic Church Buildings in the 20th and 21st Centuries |year=2022 |publisher=Leuven University Press |isbn=978-94-6270-304-9 |page=56 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e35fEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 |chapter=Tradition in the Age of Progress: Notions on Gothic Church Archicture in the United States}}</ref> Amiens Cathedral,<ref name="Lillich2011">{{cite book |last1=Lillich |first1=Meredith Parsons |title=The Gothic Stained Glass of Reims Cathedral |year=2011 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-0-271-03777-6 |page=107 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f3id0xseq6EC&pg=PA107}}</ref> Strasbourg Cathedral<ref name="Stanford2016">{{cite book |last1=Stanford |first1=Charlotte A. |title=Commemorating the Dead in Late Medieval Strasbourg: The Cathedral's Book of Donors and Its Use (1320-1521) |year=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-16398-5 |page=103 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFM3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT103}}</ref> and Westminster Abbey also have them in transepts.<ref name="Jenkins2011">{{cite book |last1=Jenkyns |first1=Richard |title=Westminster Abbey |year=2011 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-06197-2 |page=29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9ha1hrIUuMC&pg=PA29}}</ref> The designs of their tracery became increasingly complex, and gave their names to two periods; the [[Rayonnant]] and the [[Flamboyant]]. Two of the most famous Rayonnant rose windows were constructed in the transepts of Notre-Dame in the 13th century.

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Rose Façade Cathédrale de Laon 150908 2.jpg|[[Notre Dame de Laon]] west window (13th century)
File:Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris - Rose Sud (DBW24-0421).jpg|South rose window of [[Notre Dame de Paris]] (13th century)
File:Cathedrale nd chartres vitraux015.jpg|South rose window of Chartres Cathedral (13th century)
File:Reims, Große Fensterrose West.jpg|West rose window of [[Reims Cathedral]] (13th century)
File:MK09074 Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg Grande Rose.jpg|Grand rose of [[Strasbourg Cathedral]] (14th century)
File:Orvieto, cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta (070).jpg|[[Orvieto Cathedral]] rose window (14th c.) 
</gallery>

=== High Gothic architectural elements, 1180–1230 ===

* Flying buttresses developed
* Higher vaults were possible because of the flying buttresses
* Larger clerestory windows because of the flying buttresses.
* Clerestory windows had geometric tracery
* Rose windows became larger, with geometric tracery
* The west front of Notre-Dame set a formula adopted by other cathedrals.
* Transept ends had ornate portals like the west front

===Rayonnant Gothic architectural elements, 1230–1350===

* Cathedrals increasingly tall in relation to width, facilitated by the development of complex systems of buttressing
* Quadripartite vaults over a single bay
* Vaults in France maintained simple forms but elsewhere the patterns of ribs became more elaborate.
* Emphasis on the appearance of high internally.
* Abandonment of fourth stage, either the deep triforium gallery or the shallow tribune gallery, in the internal elevation.
* Columns of classical proportion disappear in favour of increasingly tall columns surrounded by clusters of shafts.
* Complex shafted piers
* Large windows divided by mullions into several lights (vertical panels) with geometric tracery in the arch
* Large rose windows in geometric or radiating designs

===Flamboyant Gothic architectural elements, 1350–1550===

* The design of tracery no longer dependent on circular shapes, developed S curves and flame-like shapes.
* Complex vaults with Flamboyant shapes in the ribs, particularly in Spain and Central Europe, but rare in France
* Many rose windows built with Flamboyant tracery, many in France.
* Large windows of several lights with Flamboyant tracery in the arch
* The Flamboyant arch, drafted from four centres, used for smaller openings, e.g. doorways and niches.
* Mouldings of Flamboyant shape often used as non structural decoration over openings, topped by a floral finial (''poupée'')