French Gothic architecture
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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French Gothic architecture is an architectural style which emerged in France in 1140, and was dominant until the mid-16th century. The most notable examples are the great Gothic cathedrals of France, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims Cathedral, Chartres Cathedral, and Amiens Cathedral. Its main characteristics were the search for verticality, or height, and the innovative use of the rib vault and flying buttresses and other architectural innovations to distribute the weight of the stone structures to supports on the outside, allowing unprecedented height and volume, The new techniques also permitted the addition of larger windows, including enormous stained glass windows, which filled the cathedrals with light. The French style was widely copied in other parts of northern Europe, particularly Germany and England. It was gradually supplanted as the dominant French style in the mid-16th century by French Renaissance architecture.
See also
- Building a Gothic cathedral
- Early Gothic architecture
- Rayonnant
- Flamboyant
- French Gothic stained glass windows
- High Gothic
- Southern French Gothic
- Gothic cathedrals and churches
- Gothic architecture
- Romanesque architecture
- Architecture of cathedrals and great churches
